Alps Hockey League

Polar Bears choose Ländle opponent for the quarterfinals

The Zell Polar Bears (Max Stiegler on the puck) won the championship round with aplomb.(Bild: Johannes Radlwimmer)

In the Alps Hockey League pick, the top 3 teams chose their quarter-final opponents after the "Master Round". With the first pick, the Zell Polar Bears chose Bregenzerwald.

Defending champions Rittner Buam will take on Merano. While Kitzbühel could still choose the Wipptal Broncos, last year's finalist Cortina remained for Jesenice. The quarter-final pairings will be played in a best-of-7 format and in A-B-A-B-A-B-A order. All series begin on Saturday, March 8.

The Zell Polar Bears finished both the first phase of the regular season and the Master Round at the top of the AHL standings for the first time. This is the third quarter-final qualification for the team from the Pinzgau region - but so far it has always been the end of the line in this round.

Zeller have won all their duels this season
Bregenzerwald only finished the basic round in twelfth place, but then really got going and won qualifying round B and subsequently their pre-playoff duel against Gröden 2:1. This is the second quarter-final qualification in a row for the Vorarlberg team and their second appearance in this round overall. The team from Zell has won all three duels this season.