SAPA Fehervar AV19 saw off EC-KAC’s challenge on Friday and took second place off KHL Medvescak Zagreb. Fate – or the game schedule - wants it so that the Bears come to visit the Devils on Sunday night. Lajos Enekes, the Hungarian teams’ assistant coach says: “we were happy to win that game, and we have Adam Munro to thank for it.” The team has gone three-from-three for wins in the Intermediate stage, scoring first in all of those games and building on the lead. “We’ve got a tight schedule which eats into the stamina of players, and that’s why we need to be disciplined and stubborn. Medvescak is one of the strongest teams in the league. We need to stay focused for the whole game. Our opposition has great individuals that work as a team.” Juraj Durco and Balint Magosi will be out of the contest.
KHL Medvescak Zagreb have lost their last game and conceded six goals in the process: “That’s a lot for Lix to concede, but he didn’t have the usual support from our skaters. We talked about this after Saturdays’ morning skate and will try to reduce the amount of errors in the upcoming game.”, Headcoach Marty Raymond explains. „In Szekesfehervar, we need to bring our A-game. The Hungarian team has confidence and I think that they play the best hockey in the league right now.” Slava Trukhno is still sidelined while Medvescak’s main weapon still is Ryan Kinasewich, who ranks fourth in the league for goals and assists.

Olimpija take on Red Bulls
HDD TILIA Olimpija Ljubljana have won their first game of the intermediate stage on Friday to shake off their four game losing skid. Headcoach Hannu Järvenpää loved the game: „It was great. We want the win more than our opposition wanted it. Six goals was great, especially since we didn’t produce an awful lot in the past. We lost Igor Cvetek to a concussion, though.“ Bostjan Groznik will also have to watch from the stands on Sunday since he got his second Game Misconduct of the season. Hannu Järvenpää takes a look ahead:„Salzburg have a very strong team and they are reigning champions. We expect a tough battle in which everyone of us needs to bring their best. We can win against Salzburg if everyone works hard!“ Anze Ropret and Ales Music remain out injured, too.
EC Red Bull Salzburg has yet to win a game in the placement round and newest addition Marty Turco can‘t help them on the ice in Ljubljana. The Red Bulls are 8-from-22 on the road. One of those wins came in Ljubljana, though. Manuel Latusa says: „We need to train hard and get those things from training on to the ice when we play opposition for a whole 60 minutes. We’ need to start wining road games with a look towards the Play-Offs. We to get consistency, then we will win, too.”

Inter-Austrian clash
EC-KAC host leaders EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz. The Red Jackets will be without Andrei Zyuzin, who lacks some paperwork to be finalized. Joe Kirisits and Herb Ratz will likely be back in for the game, adding much-needed depth to the KAC backline. Raphael Herburger says: “Linz doesn’t lead the league for nothing. Our fans will want to see us win, though, so it’s going to be a thriller.”
Leaders Linz still are without Pat Leahy. On Friday, Pat Spannring scored two goals to give the Black Wings the edge in their clash with Salzburg. He’s happy but looks forward to their next game: “We need to skate hard and play hard. Klagenfurt will always be tops for tactics but we have every chance to win there.”

Sunday, 29. January 2012, 17:30

SAPA Fehervar AV19 – KHL Medvescak Zagreb (238)
Live-TV: Sportklub (HUN)
Referees: FUSSI, VEIT, Kaspar, Zehenthofer
Previous matches:
02.10.2011: SAPA Fehervar AV19 – KHL Medvescak Zagreb 3:2 n. V. (1:2, 1:0, 0:0, 1:0)30.10.2011: KHL Medvescak Zagreb – SAPA Fehervar AV19 4:2 (0:1, 0:0, 4:1)
22.12.2011: SAPA Fehervar AV19 – KHL Medvescak Zagreb 2:3 (0:2, 1:0, 1:1)
10.01.2012: KHL Medvescak Zagreb – SAPA Fehervar AV19 3:4 n. V. (1:0, 0:2, 2:1, 0:1)

HDD TILIA Olimpija Ljubljana – EC Red Bull Salzburg (237)
Referees: AUMÜLLER, SCHIMM, Kovacs, Nemeth.
Previous matches:
25.09.2011: EC Red Bull Salzburg - HDD TILIA Olimpija Ljubljana 3:2 n. P.
(0:0, 2:1, 0:1, 0:0, 1:0)
06.11.2011: HDD TILIA Olimpija Ljubljana – EC Red Bull Salzburg 3:2 n. V.
(1:2, 0:0, 1:0, 1:0)
27.11.2011: HDD TILIA Olimpija Ljubljana – EC Red Bull Salzburg 5:6 n. V.
(2:2, 2:3, 1:0, 0:1)
03.01.2012: EC Red Bull Salzburg – HDD TILIA Olimpija Ljubljana 7:6 (1:1,4:2,2:3)

LIVE-TV: ServusTV
EC-KAC – EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz (236)
Referees: BERNEKER, GEBEI, Ettlmayr, Widmann.
Previous matches:
30.09.2011: EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz – EC-KAC 2:1 n. V. (1:0, 0:0, 0:1, 1:0)
18.11.2011: EC-KAC – EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz 5:3 (0:2, 3:1, 2:0)
20.11.2011: EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz – EC-KAC 5:2 (2:1, 1:1, 2:0)
26.12.2011: EC-KAC – EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz 2:4 (0:2, 0:0, 2:2)