Carinthian Steelers cham­pions for the fourth time

More thrilling than ever before. That is how the two final games of this year's Para ice hockey championship can be summed up. The final two regular-season encounters had already promised high drama. The Styrians celebrated their first win of the season with a 2:0 result, before narrowly losing 3:4 in the final game.

In the first final on Saturday evening, the Panthers took the lead twice but ultimately suffered a 2:3 defeat. Sandro Kalegaris scored both the equaliser to make it 2:2 and, just a few minutes later, the Steelers' winner.

On Sunday morning, the Styrians once again scored first, with captain Michael Sauer giving them a 1:0 lead. Once again, the defending champions turned the game around, and once again the final two goals were scored by Sandro Kalegaris. The Steelers also won the second final 4:3. It is the Carinthians' fourth consecutive title.

Stefan Eberdorfer, Carinthian Steelers: "The last four games were evenly matched. You can see that Para ice hockey is developing in Austria. We hope for more teams, so that we can hopefully have three or four teams in the future."

Para Championship Final

Steirische Panther Graz vs. Carinthian Steelers 2:3 (1:1, 1:1, 0:1)
Sat, 09 March 2024, 17:30, Graz
Graz goalscorers: Michael Sauer (9th minute), Johannes Paul Huber (30th minute)
Steelers goalscorers: Kai Habeler (16th minute), Sandro Kalegaris (34th, 41st minutes)

Carinthian Steelers vs. Steirische Panther Graz 4:3 (1:1, 3:2, 0:0)
Sun, 10 March 2024, 10:00, Klagenfurt
Steelers goalscorers: Timo Ropp (10th minute), Klaus Steinbauer (26th minute), Sandro Kalegaris (36th, 38th minutes)
Graz goalscorers: Michael Sauer (8th minute), Kevin Sieß (35th minute), Johannes Paul Huber (37th minute)