HC TIWAG Innsbruck “Die Haie” (4/13) – Hockey-News.info – All news about national and international ice hockey
The pre-season is coming to an end and the new ICEHL season is just around the corner. Time to take a look at the teams and delve into the squads the 13 clubs are starting the new season with. We introduce the squads, you do the evaluation: With our survey tool at the end of the article.
Founded in 1994, HC Innsbruck made its debut in Austria’s top division, the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL), in 2003. After a short break in the years 2009 to 2012, the Tyrolean returned to the Oberhaus for the 2012/13 season and have been an integral part since then. In recent years, the playoffs have been missed, and the last participation in the “postseason” was several seasons ago – in 2018 the Vienna Capitals lost 4-2 in the quarter-finals. Since then, the playoffs have been pursued. In the past few years, there have been some excellent performances, especially in the storm department, but in defense and in goal you haven’t managed to bring in calm and consistency. Did that happen this year? Do you have to have the sharks on the bill this year?
TRAINER
Even if a lot happened in Innsbruck, there is a well-known face on the coaching bench. Mitch O’Keefe has been part of Innsbruck’s coaching staff since 2018, and the 38-year-old Canadian has held the position of head coach since 2020/21. In their first season, the Innsbruckers presented themselves as a dangerous team, 130 regular goals means the second highest value, on the other hand they conceded the most with 140 goals. Even in the past season, in which the Tyroleans only finished 11th, they conceded more goals than they scored themselves. The coaching staff definitely needs to find a way to turn this ratio into positive territory. For O’Keefe, who, among other things, guarded the goal of HK Jesenice during his playing days, the 2022/23 season will be his first third season as main trainer.
GOALIE
There were absolutely no changes in the position of the goalkeeper. With the 34-year-old Austria goalie René Swette and the American Tom McCollum, the Tyroleans are starting the expected season with exactly the same goalie duo as last year. There McCollum was the clear number 1 and drove in 20 victories. Swett won four bets. Both netminders came up with a catch rate of 90.1%, but McCollum’s goal-against average was slightly below that of the Austrian. If Innsbruck advances into higher regions of the table, both cracks will have to improve a little – 156 goals in 49 games and thus an average of 3.18 goals against were definitely too many last year.
Squad 2022/23 (under contract) | Goal: Tom McCollum, René Swette Defense: Storm: |
Confirmed additions: | Senna Peeters (Halifax), Tyler Coulter (Stjernen), Tyler Cuma (Dornbirn), Jamal Watson (Guildford), Brady Shaw (Fehervar), Adam Helewka (Cleveland Monsters), Anders Krogsgaard (Bremerhaven), Corey Mackin (Hasten), Noah Kerber (Red Bull Salzburg) |
Confirmed Departures: | Tim McGauley, Mike Huntebrinker (SVK), Ben Betker (Fehervar), Zach Magwood (Krefeld), Luis Ludin (Kitzbuehel), Antonin Boruta (Trebic), Alex Dostie (Stjernen) |
Possible additions/contract extensions: | |
Possible departures: |
DEFENDER
The Innsbruck defense will look a little different in the expected season, because no fewer than three cracks from last year’s defender squad have found a job with new employers. Joel Messner will not return to the Inn after his loan, he will defend next year at the Slovakian club HKM Zvolen. With Messner, the Haie lost their defender with the best points. In the “best-case” scenario, Jamal Watson should close this gap. The 27-year-old Canadian, who can play both forwards and defenses, picked up 51 points in 54 games for EIHL club Guildford Flames last year. For him, Innsbruck WILL be the second station outside of North America. Ben Betker moved to Fehervar within the league and Antonin Boruta also left the Tyrolean capital. The defensive gaps were filled with Tyler Cuma, who played 37 games for the Haie in 2019/20, and Denmark’s Anders Krogsgaard. Krogsgaard, 26, has been a defender for the Fischtown Pinguins for the past two seasons, amassing 25 points in 56 games – there’s a good chance the Dane will emerge as the ‘best’ defensive signing.
The Austro cracks Daniel Jakubitzka, Franz Hackl and David Lupinski are on board again – with Noah Kerber, a 19-year-old crack and native of Tyrol from Salzburg moved to the Inn. Simon Bourque was the second best defender with 27 points – his contract runs until the end of the 2022/23 season. Jan Lattner, who has already played over 500 games at EBEL/ICEHL level, is still part of the defensive lineup. In his three seasons for the Haie, the experienced Czech collected 87 points in 147 games. Remarkable: Only two cracks in the defensive squad are over 30, so the Tyroleans are sending a very young defense onto the ice. It remains to be seen whether this is the answer to the problems of recent years.
STRIKER
In recent years, the Haie have had one thing above all: a qualitatively strong offensive that was able to score a lot of goals. Last season, six players scored ten goals or more, with Tim McGauley and Zach Magwood two of them hitting the 20 mark. But this is where the first big problem becomes apparent: Both of the Haie’s top goalscorers are attacking for other clubs this year. McGauley was with the Kassel Huskies in the DEL2, Magwood will also go hunting for points in Germany’s second division – he slips on the jersey of the Krefeld Pinguine. With Michael Huntebrinker they lost another point collector, after McGauley’s 50 points Huntebrinker’s 47 was the second best Haie value. The American remains Joel Messner’s team-mate, and he also moves to Zvolen. Only Daniel Leavens remained from the top 4 forwards. The 29-year-old winger was loaned to the Selber Wolves towards the end of the season, but is back up for the Haie today.
You have to give the sharks credit: they always manage to put up a powerful offensive, so you can expect a lot from this year’s newcomers. Brady Shaw came to Tyrol from runner-up Fehervar and impressed last year with 36 points in 45 games – in the playoffs he has seven goals and eleven points in eleven games. Almost the most traditional man, a crack from the Norwegian club Stjernen Hockey to Innsbruck, Tyler Coulter is going to the Tyrolean capital in his third season outside of North America. Last year, the winger delivered 20 goals and 48 points in 43 games – his offensive qualities are also undisputed. In return, Alex Dostie switched to the Norwegians and left the Haie after just one year.
With Corey Mackin, an American was steered into the ICEHL, he stormed in the HockeyAllsvenskan last year and collected 31 points with HC Vita Hästen. The Tyroleans attracted attention with the commitment of the U20 national player Senna Peeters, who had received a number of offers from ICEHL clubs, but decided on HC Innsbruck. After four years abroad, the 20-year-old Belgian is returning to the Alpine Republic. The newcomer quintet is completed by Adam Helewka, who at the age of 27 has already played 251 AHL games and gained experience abroad. Among other things, the US crack stormed for the Kazakh KHL club Barys Nur-Sultan. Last season, he had 17 points in 37 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets farm team. Notable: Helewka was Dominic Zwerger’s teammate with the Spokane Chiefs for two years.
Also on board are Austro cracks Nico Feldner, Lukas Bär, Thomas Mader, Clemens Paulweber, Martin Ulmer, Luca Muigg and Dario Winkler. With 24 points, the 23-year-old Feldner was the best red-white-red crack in Innsbruck.
There was a lot of rotation in the attacking department, but the additions should cushion the losses of the top strikers quite well. Many eyes will also be on the power play units, last year Innsbruck had the third worst overtime game in the league with 17.3%. There is certainly still plenty of work ahead of Mitch O’Keefe’s coaching staff. However, HC TIWAG Innsbruck “Die Haie” should not lack offensive quality again.
Now it’s your turn: Where do you see HC Innsbruck in the coming season?
Image: fodo.at