15 games to go

The hunt for the Capitals starts today in Bolzano

Vorarlberg top scorer Josh Passolt should lead his Pioneers into the pre-playoffs after all. Anything but an easy task.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"The schedule could finally do us a favor this week," says Pioneers Vorarlberg head coach Dylan Stanley, who is quite pleased that his team was the only team in the ICE Hockey League not to play on New Year's Day and can therefore go into today's away match against the Foxes in Bolzano (7:45 p.m.) a little more rested.

Even though they were unable to score against the South Tyroleans in their first three games of the season, the Vorarlberg side always put in a strong performance. "Bolzano is a top team that has been at the top of the table since the beginning. We've had some really good games against them and I'm happy with how our team performed against such a strong opponent. We've always shown a good mentality against them."

A good keyword! The Stanley Crew not only have to show mentality in today's duel - but also in the 14 remaining games of the basic round. Because if they still want to make it into the pre-playoffs and thus have a chance of reaching the quarter-finals, as they did in the previous season, they need to score a lot of points.

Feldkirch, whose top scorer Josh Passolt has 18 goals and 15 assists - putting him in sixth place in the league - are currently nine points behind the Vienna Capitals, who occupy the final pre-playoff spot in tenth place, with one more game to play. The good news: The Pioneers have two more games against the Vienna Capitals - in the first two duels, they celebrated a 5:1 home win and a 4:1 away win...