Saturday, 10. February 2024 |
Red Bull Hockey Juniors are Austrian AHL champions again!Despite a 2-1 defeat in Zell am See, the Juniors lift the trophy with a 4-3 aggregate score // JuniorsThe Red Bull Hockey Juniors lost 2-1 away against EK Die Zeller Eisbären in the second final game of the Austrian Alps Hockey League championship, but are the new champions with an overall score of 4-3 after their 3-1 home win in Salzburg two days ago. In an incredibly exciting and combative final, the Pinzgau team led 2:0 from the 23rd minute in the sold-out KE-KELIT Arena with 2,800 spectators, but five minutes before the end Kalle Myllymaa scored the decisive and, according to the course of the game, highly deserved goal to make the final score 1:2. The Juniors thus took revenge for last year's defeat in the final against the Zell Polar Bears and celebrated their third Austrian AHL championship title.
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The pictures of the game
Game recap
The Red Bull Hockey Juniors started strongly and had some dangerous moments in the opening minutes. However, Zell am See took the lead in the sixth minute with one of the first opportunities, goalkeeper Simon Wolf had no sight of Leon Widhalm's deflected shot. After that, the home side were better in the game, which now went up and down at high speed. Both teams took it in turns to create good opportunities. Paul Vinzens (16) had perhaps the best chance for the Juniors from the slot, including a follow-up shot that was saved by Zell's good goalkeeper Max Zimmermann. The home side led 1:0 after 20 minutes.
The second period began with a setback for the Juniors. Philip Putnik scored early on (23'), converting a pass directly in front of goal to give Zell a 2:0 lead. But the Juniors did not dwell on this for long and stayed in the game, which remained hotly contested with changing chances. As time went on, the Juniors increased the pressure and forced the game into the right Zell goal, which allowed the home side to launch the occasional dangerous counterattack. In the last five minutes, the Juniors played for the most part as if they were in the power play, but also bit at the Zell defense, which was tight in front of goal. The Juniors came close to scoring the first goal, but had to go into the second break with a two-goal deficit despite their superior play.
Right at the start of the final period, Simon Wolf saved two strong shots from Zell and the hosts were back in full force after the break. The game was open again, but the Juniors kept up their high tempo and kept driving at Zell's goal. From around the 48th minute, the Juniors had the upper hand again in terms of play, while Zell remained dangerous on the counter-attack and tried to slow down the pace. The Juniors were then slowed down by a four-minute short-handed spell (from the 51st minute), but Kalle Myllymaa finally scored from a rebound to make it 2:1 (56'). In the final phase, the boys left almost nothing to chance with a power play, skillfully played the result over time and celebrated their third Austrian championship title after 2019 and 2020.
Captain Lukas Hörl
"This is unbelievable and cannot be described in words. We've been working towards this for four years now and had such a bitter defeat against Zell am See last year. We are so proud of each other. After Zell had equalized our lead from the first leg, there was naturally a lot going on in our heads, but we stayed calm, kept playing forward and just got the thing home."
Alps Hockey League | Austrian AHL Championship Final | Game 2
EK Die Zeller Eisbären - Red Bull Hockey Juniors 2:1 (1:0, 1:0, 0:1)
Goals:
1:0 | 05:44 | Leon Widhalm
2:0 | 22:54 | Philip Putnik
2:1 | 55:15 | Kalle Myllymaa
Spectators: 2.800
All winners of the AHL Austrian Championship
2018/19 | Red Bull Hockey Juniors | Finale vs. EHC Lustenau
2019/20 | Red Bull Hockey Juniors | Finale vs. EHC Lustenau
2020/21 | EHC Lustenau | Finale vs. Red Bull Hockey Juniors
2021/22 | EC Bregenzerwald | Finale vs. EHC Lustenau
2022/23 | EK Die Zeller Eisbären | Finale vs. Red Bull Hockey Juniors
2023/24 | Red Bull Hockey Juniors | Finale vs. EK Die Zeller Eisbären
Juniors set first step// JUNIORS
Juniors celebrate away derby win// JUNIORS
No points against Cortina// JUNIORS
Juniors set first step// JUNIORS
Juniors celebrate away derby win// JUNIORS
No points against Cortina// JUNIORS
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