Tournament in Zell am See

One comeback is a definite no-show at the Salute

Will be back in the Bulls line-up on Friday: Captain Tom Raffl, who is not yet thinking about ending his career.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Everything should be in place for the Bulls trio of Tom Raffl, Peter Schneider and Lucas Thaler at the Salute tournament on Friday and Saturday in Zell am See. However, the relocated video cube will remain dark.

Some even saw the 3:5 test game as a good omen. Because the Eisbullen also started the 2023 season against EV Zug in Zell with a defeat (1:4). At the end of the season, they won Ice Hockey League title number nine, their third in a row. The performance of Oliver David's team was quite appealing. The Bulls coach was satisfied: "Good forecheck, good transition, good penalty killing and good implementation of some tactical changes in training." The goals were scored by Benji Nissner (as in last year's 1:4), Troy Bourke and Junior Philipp Krening.

Junior Philipp Krening (right) scored right at the start of the test game against Zug.(Bild: Gintare Karpaviciute - EC Red Bull Salzburg)

At the end of the first week of shared ice shifts, there was a Saturday off and some very good news: "Raffl, Schneider and Thaler, who had been ill recently, will be at Salute." While it was a last-minute precautionary measure by David for Schneider, the special program for Raffl had been fixed for some time. The 38-year-old captain doesn't have to play every game, especially in view of the Olympic qualifiers.

Burning for the new season: Bulls captain Tom Raffl.(Bild: Gintare Karpaviciute - EC Red Bull Salzburg)

The muscleman doesn't want to think about a possible last season, nor about what might come afterwards. "When one door closes, another one usually opens," is his credo. To which he immediately adds: "Or you don't close one door at all"

So while the trio will jump into the Red Bull Salute against the Swiss champions ZSC Lions on Friday, another comeback will have to be postponed. The video cube that was moved from Salzburg's Volksgarten to Zell has given up the ghost in its new surroundings.

"The search for replacement parts is underway, but unfortunately it won't work for the tournament. We hope that everything will work again for the start of the Alps Hockey League," says Manuel Pichler, Vice President of the Salzburg Ice Hockey Association, who was also on the phone on Friday.