Austria’s top domestic ice hockey competition is warming up as the regular season enters its final phase and three teams are battling it out for top spot.
The 2017 champions Vienna Capitals are leading the way, and their performance has been a surprise to many. Indeed, at the start of the season, they were estimated to be one of the outsiders in the competition, according to the implied probabilities on the bigbetbookmakers.com site. But the Capitals have been thoroughly consistent so far, particularly at home, where they had won eight of their last ten going into the Round 39 of fixtures.
Chasing them hard are Graz99, who have all but secured their play-off place on the strength of some exciting attacking play, that has seen them score more goals than any team apart from Red Bull Salzburg. Graz have also dominated in the power play, where they are the most efficient team in the tournament, but they are being closely chased by EC KAC, who have hit top form in January. The 2013 champions won four in a row going into Round 39 and still pose a threat to the top two.
Red Bull Salzburg, who have dominated this competition in recent seasons, winning seven of the last ten editions, were once again rated among the favourites at the start of the season, but they haven’t made their usual impact on the competition and are trailing the leaders in fourth. In fact, Salzburg are in danger of ending the season with nothing to show for their efforts after they failed to reach the final of the Champions League, going out to Red Bull Munich in the semi-final.
Italian side HCB are faring the best of the non-Austrian teams and they are close behind Salzburg with a cushion ahead of the Hungarians Fehervar in sixth. HCB are in good form, but so are their Hungarian rivals, who have forced their way into the top six with a string of solid performances.
Linz Blackwings and Dornbirn Bulldogs are also still in contention for a play-off spot, but Linz have hit a patch of bad form at the wrong time, losing four in a row and struggling on their home ice, where they’ve recorded a string of five consecutive defeats that led to them slipping out of the top six. The Bulldogs appear to have a better chance of breaking into the play-off places, particularly if Brendan O’Donnell can continue his strong goalscoring form. The Canadian has found the net 26 times so far this season, to lead the league, and his contributions will be key to Dornbirn’s play-off chances.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, there appears to be little hope for Medveskak Zagreb. Going into Round 39, the Bears had lost an astonishing nineteen games in a row, including a humiliating 13-0 thrashing by Vienna and were nine points adrift at the bottom. Panaceo VSV are also struggling, thanks to a lack of goals and a poor record against the power play.
