Kapfen­berg or Wattens: Who will lift the cup?

Image information: Thrilling first final between Wattens Penguins vs. Kapfenberger Kängurus - Photo Wattens Penguins/Markus Ocvirk

The first Ö Eishockey Liga final turned into a true ice hockey celebration at Innsbruck's TIWAG Arena. 1.748 fans witnessed a thrilling 2:2 draw between the Wattens Penguins and the Kapfenberger Kängurus. The decisive clash for the championship title now takes place in Leoben on Saturday. Styrian ice hockey fans, too, can provide a fitting final backdrop and atmosphere, as they already demonstrated in the 7:4 semi-final win over Hohenems. The situation could hardly be simpler: the winner of this game will be champions – that is how the calculation works under the CHL format following the draw in the first leg at Innsbruck's Olympiaworld.

As in the first leg, the performances of both goaltenders will play a major role in Saturday's decisive game. Both Oliver Zirngast for Kapfenberg and René Huber for the Wattens Penguins are masters of their craft. Zirngast has a save percentage of 92,5%, while Huber has even reached 93,1% this season. The leading scorers will also once again be in the spotlight. Kapfenberg's top three scorers are Lukas Draschkowitz with 42 points (11 goals and 31 assists), Florian Hoppl with 35 points (18 goals, 17 assists) and player-coach Kris Reinthaler with 29 points (6 goals and 23 assists). Wattens are led in this ranking by Lukas Schwitzer with 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists), Daniel Frischmann with 26 points (9 goals, 17 assists) and Valentin Schennach with 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists).

Wattens head coach Jaroslav Betka was delighted with the first final: "I think the game in Innsbruck was the best possible advertisement for Tyrolean ice hockey as a whole, especially for the newly established Ö Eishockey Liga! Thank you to the many Tyrolean fans who supported us fantastically and were rewarded with an exciting game." Following the highly attractive and thrilling first leg, the Slovak coach is now fully focused on the decisive game: "I watched our game twice again on Sunday after the match. Unfortunately, after two outstanding periods, we had to accept the 2:2 due to unnecessary communication errors in defence. From now on, all our focus is on the second final game in Leoben. I will study the opponent again on video across several games and prepare my team tactically for them."

According to Betka, the Penguins are to give everything once more in order to achieve the big goal: "If nothing unforeseen happens during the week, we will travel with our full squad. Our motto is that we now want to win the title. We have worked hard for six months for this, and now we want to reward ourselves with the title. We will go ‘all in’ in this match, throwing every ounce of energy we have into the balance for another 60 minutes, perhaps even 70 if there is overtime. In any case, we can leave Leoben's ice rink with our heads held high should we ultimately fall short of the big goal!"

Kapfenberg player-coach Kris Reinthaler knows after the first leg where he needs to make adjustments in the final preparation phase for the decisive second leg: "Unfortunately, we started the game too poorly. Our skating was not good, we were too slow to close down the opposition, gave Wattens too much space and were also too slow to loose pucks. It went on like that for two periods, as we could not get into the game, and it was largely a skating issue. Wattens also played very hard. With the 2:2, it is not a bad starting position, a draw away from home. In any case, we need to – or rather, will – perform better on Saturday and play much faster ice hockey in terms of skating."

The Kängurus want to play their usual ice hockey in Saturday's home game, according to the coach: "From the first minute, we will look to play our power hockey, get the puck out of our own zone more quickly and impose our game on Wattens for 60 minutes, rather than only for 20 minutes as was the case last Sunday." Reinthaler does not see his team as favourites ahead of the second leg against Wattens either: "I do not think we are seen as favourites, nor do we see ourselves as favourites. We are more the team that nobody had on their radar to reach a final, and that is a good thing. We will not change that in the final either!"

Excitement is therefore guaranteed on Saturday from 19:00 at the Eishalle Leoben for the Ö Eishockey Liga championship final. Wattens or Kapfenberg? One thing is certain: one of these two opponents will be champions this weekend.

The game will be broadcast live on the Online Sport livestream

Final, second leg:
Kapfenberger SV Eishockeyclub vs. WSG Swarovski Wattens Penguins
Sat., 19 March 2022, 19:00, Eishalle Leoben - broadcast on the Online Sport livestream

Final, first leg:
WSG Swarovski Wattens Penguins vs. Kapfenberger SV Eishockeyclub 2:2 (0:0,2:0,0:2)
Sun., 13 March 2022, 17:00, TIWAG-Arena Innsbruck
Wattens Penguins scorers: Valentin Schennach (38:02), Christoph Hörtnagl (39:52)
Kapfenberger Kängurus scorers: Lukas Draschkowitz (46:36), Stefan Trost (49:24)