AHL: Red Bull Hockey Juniors or Zeller Eisbären – who will be Austrian champions?

Just as last year, the Red Bull Hockey Juniors and defending champions EK Die Zeller Eisbären will contest the final for the Austrian Championship in the Alps Hockey League. The first leg of the final takes place at the Eisarena Salzburg on Thursday, with the second leg to be played at the KE KELIT Arena in Zell am See on Saturday. Judging by the two sides' semi-final matches, it promises to be an exciting final series. The tie will be decided under the Champions Hockey League format: the team leading on aggregate after Saturday's second leg will be crowned champions.

07 February 20242 min read

The Red Bull Hockey Juniors needed overtime against EC Bregenzerwald in the semi-finals after a 5:5 scoreline after 120 minutes. The Salzburg side only scored to make it 1:2 in overtime, reaching the final with an aggregate score of 6:5.

The second semi-final tie was even more thrilling: as in the first leg (4:4 after 60 minutes), EK Die Zeller Eisbären and EHC Lustenau were evenly matched, with the Salzburg side only prevailing in the penalty shoot-out, winning 3:2 and advancing to the final with an aggregate score of 7:6.

As a fitting warm-up for the final, the two finalists faced each other directly in the Alps Hockey League Master Round last Saturday. In a fiercely contested match, the young Bulls only prevailed 2:1 away in Zell am See in overtime.

Forward Philipp Krening, who became the match-winner for the Red Bull Hockey Juniors last Saturday with two goals following a long injury lay-off – one of them the overtime winner – is eagerly anticipating the final: "It is an incredible feeling to be back after five months! I am already looking forward to the final. They will definitely be two very cool and hard-fought games."

The Zeller Eisbären are facing injury concerns ahead of the final, with one of their top scorers, Nick Huard, now also ruled out for the rest of the season. Huard played a key role in their semi-final progression, converting the decisive penalty against Lustenau.

The Alps Hockey League's crowd-pullers – around 1.700 fans on average make their way to the KE KELIT Arena in Steinergasse – are hoping for plenty of travelling fans at the first final in Salzburg, the provincial capital. The Zeller Eishockeycracks' objective is clearly defined on the club website: "Our mission? Defending the championship title!"

Eisbären captain Hubert Berger knows that his team will need to pull even closer together because of the absences: "We are all looking forward to the final, even if all the absences do not create the best conditions. It is what it is; you cannot change it, and it can always happen in sport. That is why we have to accept it and stand even closer together as a team to compensate for it. Nevertheless, we believe that we can do it again this year, we are optimistic, will prepare well and are simply looking forward to the final!"

Last year's final was somewhat unusual, but that was precisely what made it extremely exciting. The Red Bull Juniors won the first leg away from home 3:0. In the second leg, the Zeller Eisbären levelled the tie with a 3:0 scoreline after 120 minutes, before prevailing in overtime with an aggregate score of 4:3.