Background
It's the game of the Monday round: HCB Südtirol and the Red Bulls face off, pitting the two most successful teams in the league, based on the number of wins. Salzburg enters the game with a 10-game winning streak, while Bolzano has only lost once in their last eight games. The Red Bulls sit in third place with 64 points, followed by Bolzano with 63 points, but with two games in hand. Their head-to-head record this season is also evenly matched, with both teams managing one away win.
Salzburg's strength lies in the team cohesion they've rediscovered in recent weeks. This is reflected in the Red Bulls' play, as they apply pressure with four lines, boast the league's best defense, and are no longer stingy with goals. They've scored a total of 20 goals in their last four games.
Head Coach Doug Shedden will likely need to find the right words to motivate his team in Bolzano. The 64-year-old Canadian, with extensive coaching experience in the Finnish Liiga, the Swiss National League, and the German Ice Hockey League (DEL), replaced his predecessor Kurt Kleinendorst on the bench on December 15th and has since lost only once in seven games. Yesterday, Bolzano won the South Tyrolean derby against HC Pustertal 5-3 in Bruneck, while the Red Bulls recorded a dominant 6-1 home victory against the Vienna Capitals.
Thomas Raffl Reaches Personal Milestone
It's an impressive number: When Thomas Raffl takes to the ice in Bolzano on Monday, he will be playing his 1,000th game in the win2day ICE Hockey League! Only Thomas Koch, who also played for the Red Bulls from 2006 to 2011 and ended his career with KAC in 2023, has reached this milestone before him. Raffl played his first Bundesliga game in 2003 with his hometown club, EC VSV. In November 2010, his long journey with the Red Bulls began (interrupted only by one season in North America), a journey that continues to this day.
The 39-year-old Red Bulls captain has played 234 games with VSV. The forward has played 765 games so far with EC Red Bull Salzburg, including 169 playoff games. This means the father of one daughter is not far from becoming Salzburg's all-time leading game player. Only two players who are already retired from ice hockey have more games played for the Red Bulls: Dominique Heinrich (796) and Matthias Trattnig (768).
