Today at home

The hungry KAC man continues his ghost hunt

If Matt Fraser and the KAC win again, there will be food for the red "KAC Man".(Bild: F. Pessentheiner)

Here we go again! With a home win against Pustertal today, the KAC can secure four match pucks for a place in the final. However, Fehervar serves as a cautionary tale. With the "KAC-Man" (in PAC-Man style), the club has come up with a funny play-off motto.

The PAC Man is a video game from 1980 - in which the PAC Man can go on a ghost hunt after eating points. And for this season's play-offs, the marketing department has transformed the character into the "KAC Man". In each round, he has to catch four ghosts (representing four victories) in the opponent's colors - currently yellow because of Pustertal. Each time to the tune of the Red Jackets' fan chants. "It's a cool idea and really well implemented," grins KAC striker Manuel Ganahl.

There are even fan articles
With the "KAC Man", the club wanted to create a play-off motto, which was then implemented with the multimedia partner "Pixelpoint". "With pucks and T-shirts, there are also fan articles from the "KAC Man" - they are always better received," says Hannes Biedermann, head of the Red Jackets' communications department.

KAC striker Manuel Ganahl scored the important 1:0 away from home.(Bild: f. pessentheiner)

Hunt for four match pucks
Striker Ganahl is of course hoping that the third yellow ghost will be eaten in today's home game (17:30) - because that would give the Klagenfurters four match pucks for a place in the final. "But we have to show three strong periods this time. We switched too much to administration in our 4:2 win away from home after the great start - I didn't like that," said the scorer of the 1:0.

"Go all the way!"
Because with a high tempo over 60 minutes, they could continue to put the South Tyroleans under pressure. "That's simply our game this year. I hope we've learned and will now go all out in the home game."

The KAC defense around goalie Dahm must be difficult for the South Tyroleans to crack again.(Bild: f. pessentheiner)

Fehervar squandered a 2:0 lead
The 2:0 lead in the series looks comfortable - but Szekesfehervar, who finished second in the basic round, serves as a warning. The Hungarians also led 2:0 against Pustertal in the quarter-finals, but were then knocked out 3:4. The difference: Back then, Pustertal had lost both away games and then tied 2:2 at home. Ganahl: "Of course the 2:0 feels good - but nobody is taking it lightly, we will step on the gas again, driven by our great fans."