Captain Thomas Raffl
"I want my team to be 100% ready from the start again and we play our game. Every team that comes to Salzburg wants to put in the best performance. It will be a tough game for sure, but we will put in a lot of work again and have a good chance to win the game."
The opponent
The Moser Medical Graz99ers, who missed the playoffs last season, underwent a break in the summer. The 51-year-old Swedish head coach Johan Pennerborn, who took over a fixed squad in Graz last year, has brought a lot of Swedish ice hockey know-how to Styria in the summer, replacing quite a few notable departures of established players such as Daniel Oberkofler, Daniel Woger or Andrew Yogan. A total of 13 players left the club in the summer.
In their place, three 'real' Swedes who bring a lot of experience from one of the world's best hockey nations - such as Daniel Viksten, who among other things in the 2021/22 season with Färjestad SHL champion and contributed 22 goals and 26 assists - and three other imports who have played most recently in Sweden, now run in black-orange. With 27-year-old Patrik Kittinger, a forward who once also trained for three years in the Red Bull Ice Hockey Academy is now playing permanently in the Graz99ers' ranks after a brief guest appearance last season.
The Styrians have often been an unpleasant opponent for the Red Bulls in the past. Also in the last Salzburg championship season, the Red Bulls lost three times against the Grazers, could only win the first game of the season.
win2day ICE Hockey League
EC Red Bull Salzburg - Moser Medical Graz99ers
Sun, 17.09.2023; Eisarena Salzburg, 15:00 clock
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