Vienna Caps call for bravura against KAC Salzburg
With a skeleton squad and without a traditional coaching team, the Vienna Capitals delivered a bravura piece on Tuesday. Without nine regular players, head coach Dave Barr and Co. Christian Dolezal, the Viennese fought their way up in the quarter-finals of the ICE ice hockey league with a 3-2 win in the decider against KAC. The Caps will now meet RB Salzburg from Thursday (7.45 p.m./live Puls24), the second “best of seven” semi-final series will be contested by Fehervar and VSV.
Farm team trainer Philipp Ullrich and sporting director Peter Schweda had twelve U25 players in action, but were able to fall back on Bernhard Starkbaum at short notice. After a positive quick test, the team goalkeeper – like defender Matt Prapavessis – was able to test himself with a negative PCR test in the afternoon and secured the climb with a strong save, especially in the finish, after James Sheppard (43.) and Matt Bradley (51. ) shot the party.
“Incredible, I’m so proud,” said captain Mario Fischer. “Everyone just played it and didn’t try anything extravagant. No one wanted to play themselves into the display, but everyone integrated themselves into the service of the team and into the team with simple actions. It was a really good performance,” said the defender.
The health situation, the longer break and the balance sheet (3:1 in the season duels and 6:2 in the play-off matches) still speak for Salzburg from Thursday. “We made good use of the training days,” said Thomas Raffl, who ignores the circumstances. “We know exactly what the Viennese are capable of and are optimally prepared by our coaching staff, even if in the play-off each player puts an extra 20 percent on the ice. In any case, we can hardly wait for it to finally start,” said the captain.
Salzburg versus the Caps is a duel between the semi-final regulars: Salzburg is in the semi-finals for the ninth time in a row, the Capitals for the fifth time in a row. The other encounter looks very different. Fehervar has qualified for the top four for the first time, and VSV is in the semi-finals for the first time since 2016. The Villachers easily won the decider against Olimpija Ljubljana on Tuesday and are now aiming for their first appearance in a final in 15 years.
“I’m really proud of the team. Winning game seven is something very special,” said VSV coach Rob Daum, whose team continues against rested Hungarians. “They have a lot of depth in the squad, they are big and strong. They are an absolute top team and have also proven against Pustertal with four victories en suite that they are among the favorites for the title,” said Daum. Thanks to second place in the regular season, which also means their CHL debut, the “Adler” initially have a home advantage, to the trainer’s delight: “It’s important that we play the first match at home and don’t have a long away trip after the tough series .”
So while VSV is still in the running, local rivals KAC have lost a play-off series for the first time since 2018 and with a bitter record in “game seven”. Since beating Salzburg in the final in 2009, the record champions have lost all four playoffs. “In the end, Vienna was maybe hungrier, but definitely more carefree,” explained coach Petri Matikainen after his team had gambled away the chance of the title hat-trick.