The starting position
Sunday's home game against the Vienna Capitals concludes a 3-game week that the Salzburg team would like to end with a win. After the successful CHL game on Tuesday in Växjö, Sweden, the Red Bulls lost yesterday at home against HC Pustertal Wölfe by 5:6 after a penalty shootout after leading 4:1. Today it's all about recovering well and mobilizing strength for tomorrow's game, to which the Capitals can travel with the sense of achievement of yesterday's 2:1 home win against Asiago. The reigning Austrian champions also have a special bone to pick with the Viennese, as last season Salzburg lost the first three meetings with the Capitals despite their sporting slump and only managed to win the fourth duel.
The Vienna Capitals made some changes after a difficult season last season - they even missed out on the play-offs after finishing 11th in the basic round - and have consolidated somewhat as a result. After eight games so far, the Viennese team are in 6th place in the table with 4 wins and 4 defeats and have inflicted their only defeat to date on the strong Graz99ers, among others.
New Head Coach Gerry Fleming, who replaced Marc Habscheid on the bench in the summer, is mainly responsible for this. The 56-year-old Canadian came to Vienna via Berlin, Frankfurt and Kloten, among others, and also celebrated a DEL title with the Berlin Eisbären in 2021 as assistant coach.
Ten new additions to the lineup have replaced eleven departures after last season. In terms of goals conceded, the Capitals are ahead with 17 goals, while the Red Bulls have conceded 22. With 14 goals, however, they have scored significantly fewer than the Red Bulls (28). Top scorer is Zane Franklin ahead of Willie Raskob (both 6 points), followed by Peter Krieger and Dominique Heinrich (both 5 points). Aljaž Predan, with the Red Bulls from 2015 to 2023, has also scored a goal and an assist for his new club.