99ers against KAC

“These are the teams you want to beat”

The first classic against the KAC went to Manuel Ganahl and the 99ers - but the second went to the Klagenfurt team.(Bild: GEPA)

The 4-0 loss to record champions KAC on home ice three-and-a-half weeks ago was a painful low blow for the 99ers - on Sunday (17:30), something has to be put right in the Advent rematch in the Liebenauer Bunker. ÖEHV team forward Manuel Ganahl is eager to break the agonizing "eight-percent barrier" against his "old love", with whom he celebrated the 2021 championship title as captain.

The prestigious series against the KAC got off to a good start with a 4:2 win in Klagenfurt, but the 0:4 in Graz recently vividly exposed a major problem for the 99ers: 38 shots on Dahm, no goal - in return, the KAC beat Gunnarson four times with 16 shots! Friday in Salzburg it was the same picture: 41:34 shots on goal - 2:3 n.V.!

"We're struggling with our efficiency," growls coach Harry Lange, "we have more shots on goal than our opponents in every game, but an eight percent chance conversion rate is not enough. Until that's fixed, we can't allow anything at the back."

"These are the teams you want to beat," says 34-year-old Graz returnee Manuel Ganahl, looking forward to the Reds after eight years in KAC kit (502 games!), "we can show a real reaction to the last few weeks and underline that we can keep up with the big boys. We're already further ahead as a team than we were at the start, but we're giving away goals too easily in defense and we need to work on our efficiency."

Manuel Ganahl (left) and Thomas Hundertpfund once together at the KAC(Bild: Santner)

Graz today is very different to the Graz that the Bludenz native left in 2015: "A lot has changed. There is now a president (An. Herbert Jerich) who is pulling us along with a lot of passion. But we started from scratch and people have to realize that not everything can work overnight."

Friendship takes a break
The summit with his old KAC friends is of course something very special: "I was there for eight years, that's half an eternity in ice hockey. I made a lot of friends in Klagenfurt, we got married there in the summer and a lot of KAC players were there. Captain Thomas Hundertpfund was my best man, he's my best friend. But we are both very competitive, neither of us is prepared to give anything to the other." But the two have the same goals: "We both want to make the play-offs!" And the likelihood of another reunion is very likely: "Because the title always goes through Salzburg and the KAC."