You can build on that. Although it was “only” the first of a total of eight preparatory matches for the ice hockey championship that begins on September 16 against Villacher SV, the result gives reason to be confident. Steinbach Black Wings Linz, who had missed the play-offs in the past two seasons, started with a 6-0 (2-0, 3-0, 1-0) thrashing of Olimpija Ljubljana under new head coach Philipp Lukas , that’s the Slovenian league competitor who even qualified for the Champions Hockey League.
In front of almost 700 fans in the Linz AG Eisarena, Andreas Kristler (1st/pp), Stefan Gaffal (16th), Captain Brian Lebler (26th/pp, 29th/sh), Alexander Lahoda (34th) and new acquisition Logan Roe (59th) in the shooting list. The Norwegian centre-forward Michael Haga was very conspicuous – because he acted quickly and very cautiously. Julian Pusnik (convalescent) was missing, as was goalkeeper Leon Sommer and defender Lorenz Lindner.
The latter two are currently in Edmonton, where Austria’s U20 national team lost 4-2 to Germany at the start of the senior world championships.
The Black Wings are still looking for a center forward, the goalkeeper positions are related. The Finn Rasmus Tirronen and his representative Thomas Höneckl (he finished the final third) did an excellent job against Ljubljana, which gives self-confidence for the next tough task.
On Friday in a week (7 p.m.) none other than the reigning German champions Eisbären Berlin will appear in the hall on the Untere Donaulände.
Much to the delight of Lebler, who not only scored in over and under numbers, but also put his stamp on the subsequent penalty shoot-out, which was held for practice purposes. The goalgetter was the only one to score in the shootout.
Source: Nachrichten
