Title deci­sions in para ice hockey and women’s ice hockey

Eight head-to-head meetings, seven wins, a goal difference of 45:3 – that was the record of Carinthian Steelers Klagenfurt in the regular season of the para championship. Anyone who believes this already makes Klagenfurt clear favourites for the title may be surprised. Although the Steelers won the clear majority of the meetings this season, the Panthers showed, particularly in the final two games at the end of February, that they are a force to be reckoned with. The Styrians won 2:0 and only narrowly lost 3:4 in the very last game.

This makes next weekend’s final a wide-open affair. The title will be decided over two legs, with games taking place on Saturday and Sunday.

The same applies in the DEBL 2, where the Final 4 is coming up this weekend. SPG Kitzbühel/Kufstein will face SC Samina Hohenems 1974, while Red Angels Innsbruck take on EC Graz Huskies. The regular season was dominated by the Tyrolean teams. SPG Kitzbühel/Kufstein suffered just one defeat, 1:2 against Innsbruck, and secured 1st place ahead of Red Angels Innsbruck with eight wins. The Huskies and Hohenems were well behind them.

The two Tyrolean teams therefore head into Saturday’s semi-finals as favourites. The final and the match for 3rd place will follow on Sunday.

EWHL semi-finals, DEBL 1 quarter-finals

Graz Huskies are the only domestic representative to have reached the final four of the European Women´s Hockey League. The Styrians will face Hokiklub Budapest in the semi-finals, played in the CHL format, on Friday and Saturday. They will take to the ice as underdogs against the Hungarians, who won the regular season convincingly with 21 wins and just one defeat. The other semi-final sees HC SKP Bratislava (SVK) take on MAC Budapest (HUN).

Villach Lady Hawks, EC Graz Huskies II and EAC Women Capitals are three domestic teams to have reached the quarter-finals of the Dameneishockey Bundesliga.

The Villach side enter the play-offs as favourites. Following their title win in 2023, they remained unbeaten in the Preliminary Round. They dropped just one point in their 2:1 win after SO against Huskies II. With 127 goals, they also boast the league’s strongest attack.

They first face Angels Dunaujvaros (HUN) away from home this Sunday in the quarter-finals. Lady Hawks won both previous Preliminary Round meetings 8:0 and 4:3.

EAC Women Capitals can also look back on a strong season, having finished the Preliminary Round in 3rd place. They now face MAC Marilyn Budapest (HUN) in the quarter-finals. The Hungarians only just reached the quarter-finals in 8th place.

The Preliminary Round ended with a narrowly negative record of 8 wins and nine defeats for Huskies II, who will face HDK Maribor (SLO) in the quarter-finals.

Outlook

What happens after this weekend? The EWHL title will be decided on 16 March. A week later, on 23 and 24 March, the DEBL final tournament will take place. The title in the women’s national championship will be awarded on 22 March.

In the youth competitions, the bronze medals will be awarded on Sunday in the U18 International League and U20 International League. Next week will also see the title decided in both age groups. While the U11 will crown its champion this Saturday, the titles in the U13, U15 and U17 will be decided between 17 March and no later than 23 March, depending on the length of the respective final series.