Ice hockey play-offs:

Salzburg (not) the opponent of choice for Black Wings

Linz captain Brian Lebler snapped(Bild: Scharinger Daniel)

It will be emotional on the ice every other day from Sunday, and it was already emotional at the end of the Black Wings' Friday training session before the start of the ice hockey hit in the quarter-final series Salzburg - Linz: Brian Lebler, the captain of the EHC, for whom the Bulls are (not) the desired opponent, went berserk.

Leaving the ice, he first smashed his stick, angrily hit the bench, then a door in front of the locker room entrance, before smashing a wooden frame in the locker room: Black Wings captain Brian Lebler went completely berserk after practice yesterday! "It's an intense time emotionally and physically, so you have to be understanding. I don't know what the reason was, I'm not making more of it than it is," said coach Philipp Lukas about the captain's outburst. His team found out the evening before who and what Linz would be facing in the quarter-finals: champions Salzburg!

Short journey, low costs
Many had expected the EHC to be left with the pick for fourth-place Bolzano - before third-place Salzburg struck and selected the Wings as their opponent for the best-of-7 series. What the Linz boss likes! "My dream ticket", says President Peter Nader - also because of the short journey, including many traveling supporters, and because it's cheaper than several trips including overnight stays to South Tyrol.

"Great challenge"
"For me, the pick is no surprise. Salzburg is definitely a great challenge for our organization and the team and has dominated the league for years," says Lukas about the champions of the last two years. Admittedly, they are even more difficult to beat over a long series, in which four wins are needed, than in one game.

4:8 points so far
There's no time to fret that Linz would have been spared the Bulls with one more point in the basic round anyway: tomorrow is game 1 of a possible 7 away from home. Lukas, whose team has picked up 4:8 points against Red Bull so far this season, ahead of the cracker: "It will be a tough task - but every task is doable!"