HC Pustertal

Hockey Club Pustertal
Greatest successes
Coppa Italia 2011 Supercoppa 2011, 2014, 2016 Italian runner-up in 1982, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 Series B champions 1972, 1969, 1968 Alps Hockey League runner-up in 2019
Club information
history	EV MAK Bruneck (since 1954) HC Pustertal (since 2001)
Location	Brunico , Italy
Nickname	Wolves (lupi)
Club colors	Yellow black
league	Alps Hockey League
Venue	Rienz Stadium
capacity	2050 seats
Head coach	Axel Kammerer
captain	Armin Hofer
AlpsHL 2018/2019	1st place, runner-up

The HC Pustertal ( Italian : HC Val Pusteria ) is an Italian ice hockey club from Bruneck , South Tyrol , which plays in the Alps Hockey League . The greatest success so far came in the 2010/11 season by winning the Coppa Italia . In the same season, in the following season 2011/12 and in the seasons 2013/14 and 2015/16, HC Pustertal made it into the final of the Italian championship. The team plays its home games in the Rienz Stadium , which has a capacity of 2050 spectators. The club colors are black and yellow .

history

First throw in the puck final game 2010/11 Pustertal-Asiago

The association was founded in 1954 by the president Ernst Fan as EV MAK Bruneck . At the beginning of the club's history, the team played and trained on a natural ice rink in Bruneck. After winning Serie B , the wolves (Italian: Lupi ) rose to the top ice hockey league in 1972. Before that, they failed in 1968, 1969 and 1972 due to the limited usability of the "Rienzstadion". A short time later, the club received an artificial ice facility as a venue. In the 1972/73 season, the club appeared for the first time in the highest Italian league, namely in Serie A. In the same year, the youth sector was formed in Bruneck, which is still one of the largest and best organized in Italy. The "wolves" managed to stay in the highest Italian league for 30 years. The best result in the A1 series was second place in the 1981/82 season, when they only had to admit defeat to HC Bozen . For the 2001/02 season the club was finally renamed from EV Bruneck to HC Pustertal . The good youth work in Bruneck soon bore its first fruits: after just a few years, some youth teams managed to secure a championship title.

The last seasons

2007/08 season

The team around coach Jens Hellgren found their rhythm slowly, but always stayed in the front of the field in the table. The departure of Eriksson was noticeable, and the handicap was a bit unhappy in the center position. Despite bad luck with injuries ( Bobby Russell , Zdeněk Sedlák ) the handicap almost reached the championship round. In the relegation round it was about the allocation of the playoff places, where Ritten waited again with the first in the table . As outsiders, the “Wolves” defied the Rittners from “Game 4”, all in all a decent season.

2008/09 season

With "Zimmerhofer-Hobag (ZH)" as the main sponsor and rookie trainer Stefan Mair , a competitive team was signed, which, however, did not play very successfully at the beginning of the season. The fans remained loyal to the team (for the first time the average was 2,000 fans per game) and they were rewarded. In a real final on the last match day against Alleghe , Mika Alatalo's empty net goal meant her first semi-finals in 25 years. For the third time in a row, the playoff opponent was called Ritten. In the best of 7 series, HC Pustertal managed to win, overall Ritten was the better team.

2009/10 season

Furthermore, "ZH" was the main sponsor and Stefan Mair the coach of HC Pustertal. The season started very well for the "Wolves": after a short time they managed to take first place in the table. HC Pustertal was able to hold the top of the table for 144 days. It only had to be given to SV Ritten shortly before the end of the regular season . At the end of January, the team got into a minor crisis: shortly before the Italian Cup final, a series of defeats followed. In mid-January, the team was reinforced with Tomaž Razingar , Andrea Carpano and Gigi Da Corte for the crucial phase of the championship. After the second place after the regular season, HC Alleghe waited in the quarterfinals , which was defeated with four victories in a row. A short time later it turned out that the "Wolves" will meet Asiago Hockey (later champions) in the semifinals . After 0: 2 deficit in this series, HC Pustertal did not succeed in asserting themselves and they lost the best-of-seven series with 2: 4. After the season, Marko Tuomainen , Jan Vodrážka and Gigi Da Corte ended their careers. The average number of spectators in the Rienz Stadium was just under 2,000 people, as in previous years.

Season 2016/17

In the 2016/17 season the club was one of the founding members of the cross-border Alpine Hockey League .

season	league	Games	Victories (overtime)	draw	Defeats (overtime)	Gates	Goals conceded	Basic round	Season end
2007/08	Series A1	32	12	8th	12	90	98	5	Loss in the relegation round against Ritten
2008/09	Series A1	42	20th	-	16 (6)	151	138	4th	Loss in the semi-finals against Ritten (4: 1)
2009/10	Series A1	40	23 (2)	-	13 (2)	153	113	2	Loss in the semi-finals against Asiago (2-4)
2010/11	Series A1	40	26 (2)	-	10 (2)	158	126	1	Loss in the final against Asiago (2-4)

team

Squad for the 2019/20 season

goal 29 Colin Furlong March 24, 1993 33 Hannes Stoll 10/08/1999 Defense 7th Ivan Althuber 03/28/1994 65 Tobias Brighenti 10/22/1996 22nd Danny Elliscasis 02/16/1993 62 Armin Helfer ( C ) 05/31/1980 9 Armin Hofer 03/19/1987 58 Roland Hofer 06/24/1990 24 Maximilian Leitner 05/04/1999 86 Gianluca March 04/18/1997 5 Markus Steinkasserer 01/14/2002

Storm 40 Raphael Andergassen 06/14/1993 21st Simon Berger 07/30/1999 23 Massimo Carozza 05/19/1996 54 Davide Conci 03/29/1996 25th Yuri Cristellon 01/01/2001 79 Alex De Lorenzo Meo 03/17/1997 47 Lukas De Lorenzo Meo 09/11/2001 3 Markus Gander 05/16/1989 11 David Laner 02/20/1998 12 Jack Lewis 05/25/1992 6th Max Oberrauch 04/26/1984 93 Fabrizio Pace 10/11/1995 55 Alessio Piroso 09/26/1996 88 Tommaso Traversa 08/04/1990 8th Alex Zecchetto 05/24/2000

As of August 29, 2019

Coaching and support staff for the 2019/20 season

Surname	nation	function
Axel Kammerer		Head coach
Matej Hočevar		Assistant coach
Michael Pohl		General manager

Known (former) players

(Team membership and position in brackets)

Niklas Eriksson (2005-2007, attack) The former Swedish international attracted a lot of attention in his first season in Bruneck and developed into a leading player for the team. After confirmation in the summer of 2006, he was elected captain of the team the following season. After another very good season, he ended his career.	Maurizio Mansi (1989–1993, 1997–1998, defense) Maurizio Mansi played in the Wolves jersey for the first time in 1989. He then stayed in Val Pusteria for four years. After returning towards the end of the 1997/98 season, he developed into an important part of the Bruneck back team in the remaining season and gave it new security and stability.	Miroslav Fryčer (1991–1992, attack) Miroslav Fryčer played with the Wolves in parallel in Serie A1 and in the Alpine League. In attack he was particularly noticeable thanks to his many assists. Shortly after his season in Bruneck, he ended his career.	Bill Stewart (1986–1988, defense) Bill Stewart played for the first time in the Italian A1 series in 1986, namely with HC Pustertal. He was signed to Brunico with great expectations. After his one year stint in Bruneck, he moved to various teams in the Italian league before ending his career in 1995.
Jan Alston (1992-1993, attack) Jan Alston, who is well known in European ice hockey, played for several years in Italy and also for a year for HC Pustertal. In a total of 22 games, he scored 44 points (29 goals and 15 assists).	Philippe DeRouville (2004-2006, goalkeeper) Philippe DeRouville played in the Puster Valley for a total of two years. After a very good first season, the club decided the following summer to extend his contract for a year. In the Pustertal he achieved an average catch quota of 90.1 percent in the first season and 89.2 percent in the second.	Sandy Moger (2006-2007, attack) Sandy Moger was particularly noticeable in the Pusteria Valley because of his small playing stick: he cleverly lurked in front of the opposing goal and deflected shots from his teammates in a way that was unsustainable for the opposing goalkeeper. Together with Niklas Eriksson, he ended his career after the 2006/07 season.	Rem Murray (2009-2010, attack) Rem Murray signed on in the summer of 2009 with great expectations. In the team, the experienced NHL player quickly became a leading player and also developed into a role model for the club's youth.

Blocked shirt numbers

The following numbers are no longer assigned:

• # 4 Martin Crepaz
• # 26 Oskar Degilia

Club-internal records

Best statistics during team membership
category	Surname	number
Most games	Martin Crepaz Gerd Mayr Thomas Tinkhauser	863 (in 22 seasons) 637 (in 18 seasons) 583 (in 17 seasons)
Most goals	Martin Crepaz Rick Bragnalo Wladimir Jeremin	306 (in 22 seasons) 286 (in nine seasons) 189 (in seven seasons)
Most templates	Martin Crepaz Rick Bragnalo Wladimir Jeremin	524 (in 22 seasons) 423 (in nine seasons) 259 (in seven seasons)
Most of the points	Martin Crepaz Wladimir Jeremin Maurizio Mansi	830 (in 22 seasons) 448 (in 7 seasons) 388 (in five seasons)
Most penalty minutes	Reinhold Oberhofer Martin helper Christian Mair	747 (in 16 seasons) 615 (in 13 seasons) 444 (in 11 seasons)

(Statistics at the end of the 2008/09 season ).

Trainer

Born in Bolzano, Stefan Mair was the coach of HC Pustertal for three seasons from 2008 to 2011. During his tenure in the Pustertal he achieved a continuous increase. While he finished the 2008/09 season (assistant coach Mike Ellis ) in fourth and the 2009/10 season (assistant coach Teppo Kivelä ) in third place in the table, he was runner- up in the 2010/11 season (again with Teppo Kivelä at his Page). After three successful years in Bruneck (including first title win for HC Pustertal at the Italian Cup 2010/11 ), his contract was not extended.

time	Trainer	assistant
1966/67	Donald Bush
1967-1969	Carmine Tucci
1969/70	Dennis Macks
1970/71	Carmine Tucci
1971-1973	Bryan Whittal
1973-1975	Heinz Bader
1975/76	Ilkka Laaksonen , Kaarle Tie , Sepp Olsacher
1976-1988	Břetislav Guryča
1978-1981	Gianfranco Da Rin
1981/82	Leon Devoin
1982/83	Tibor Vozar
1983-1985	Jaroslav Pavlu
1985/86	Karol Havasi
1986/87	Not so with Kallur
1987-1989	Kurt Suen
1989/90	Fredrik Nusström , Gianfranco Da Rin
1990/91	Réal Paiement
1991/92
1992/93	Steve Smith
1993/94	Frank Carnevale
1994-1996	Nikolai Kazakov
1996-1998	Miroslav Fryčer
1998/99	Rick Bragnalo , Diego Scandella
1999-2001	Diego Scandella
2001	Richmond Gosselin
2001/02	Matti Heikkila
2002/03	Frank Zbontar
2003-2005	Michael Shea
2005/06	Let Lundström	Mikael Kvarnström
2006/07	Rolf Nilsson	Mikael Kvarnström
2007/08	Jens Hellgren	Tommy Andersson
2008-2011	Stefan Mair	Mike Ellis (2008/09) Teppo Kivelä (2009-2011)
2011/12	Teppo Kivelä	Mikko Luovi
2012/13	Paul Adey	Herbert Frisch
2013/14	Mike Busniuk , Mario Richer	Christopher Oly Hicks
2014/15	Mario Richer	Elmar Parth
2015/16	Mario Richer	Elmar Parth
2016/17	Mark Holick	Ivo Machacka
2017/18	Mark Holick , Petri Mattila	Ivo Machacka
2018/19	Petri Mattila	Ivo Machacka
2019/20	Petri Mattila	Matej Hočevar

Venues

Audience statistics for the last few years
season	Home games	spectator	Spectators per game
2001/02			500
2002/03			750
2003/04			873
2004/05			1,030
2005/06			930
2006/07			1,420
2007/08			1,567
2008/09	21st	40,551	1.931
2009/10	25th	43,881	1,755
2010/11	28	48,350	1,726
2011/12	28	52,100	1,860

→ Main article : Rienzstadion

The team plays its home games in the 2,050-seat Rienzstadion , which was the most popular ice stadium in the Italian premier league with an average of 1,454 visitors in the 2006/07 season . In the 2007/08 season the numbers increased to an average of 1,800 visitors and in the 2008/09 season to 2,000 visitors per game. In the 2009/10 season the club achieved an average attendance of 1,721, which was the second-highest in the Italian championship this season after that of HC Valpellice . The stadium was sold out ten times in this championship. 34,431 people watched the "Wolves" games in the regular season of this season.

In October 2008 the association entered into a partnership with an electrical company in Bruneck. In return, the company received the naming rights to the stadium, which was renamed "Leitner Solar Arena". The Rienz Stadium is one of the first sports stadiums in Italy to market their naming rights. When the agreement was passed, it was assumed that the Leitner Solar Arena company would add a photovoltaic system to the roof of the Leitner Solar Arena . However, as some voices were raised in the same year about the new stadium in the school zone in Bruneck, it was decided not to install a photovoltaic system for this reason. Before the 2014/15 season, it was renamed "Rienzstadion" .

Club culture

Fans

Yesterday

The "BYW" fan club was founded by various young people in the early 1990s. The club was in a somewhat difficult situation at this time and was about to relegate to Serie B. The fan club existed in this form and with this name until around 1998. In the summer of 2003, after the euphoria in the semifinals of the series A2 against Eppan, combined with the return to the A1 series , a "new" fan club was founded: the "WOLVES 1896".

A new banner, new fan club jerseys, a new drum and Bengali fires and smoke bombs and new euphoria should turn the Rienz Stadium into a fortress again.

Year after year, not only did the fan club become more prestigious, but also the participation of the “rest” of the audience in the Rienzstadion, which has always been a major concern. In the 2006 and 2007 seasons there was the best average attendance in the A1 series, combined with a unique atmosphere at the "Wolves" games.

today

The fans of the HC Pustertal loudly support their team at every home game and thus ensure a goosebumps atmosphere in the Rienz Stadium . The fan club still bears the name "WOLVES 1896" and has its own sector in the home of the "wolves". Whether small or large, a visit to the Rienz Stadium is a unique experience for everyone.

With a very creative and elaborate pregame show (copied from the Kölner Haien ) one tries to attract even more spectators to the stadium. The fans spared no effort for this pregame show: A specially created tunnel with torches in front and a matching darkened hall prepares the players for an upcoming home game. In the pregame show, certain actions are also built into the sponsors, such as the distribution of small flags for each viewer. Many fans from outside Pusteria also praise the great atmosphere in the stadium on the Rienz , which comes from the "Wolves 1896".

Furthermore, the fan club organizes one or more fan buses for some important away games.

Rivalries

Due to the regional proximity to HC Bozen and SV Ritten , games against this team are particularly explosive. Since then, HC Bozen has been considered the archenemy of the "wolves".

mascot

"Rufus", a little wolf, has served as the mascot since 2009 and wants to get the audience in the mood for the game with his presence on the ice. The name for the mascot was suggested by a spectator at a competition.

Farm team regulation

From 2010 to 2012, SV Kaltern from the Italian A2 series was the farm team of HC Pustertal. In the 2012/13 season, HC Pustertal worked with HC Meran as a farm team. The purpose of the farm team regulation is the "exchange" of youth players who get match practice in the A2 series or can prove themselves in the A1 series at HC Pustertal.

Web links

• Official website
• HC Pustertal at sonice.it

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Alps Hockey League: Neumarkt is there. In: www.sportnews.bz. Retrieved December 4, 2016 . 
2. ↑ eliteprospects.com . In: eliteprospects.com , August 29, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
3. ↑ Preview Fiat Professional Wölfe - HC Bozen - "Retired Numbers" under the hall roof
4. ↑ HCP ends an era: Stefan Mair no longer confirmed , accessed on April 30, 2011.
5. ↑ sonice.it: coach of HC Pustertal
6. ↑ Agreement between HC Pustertal and the company Leitner Solar AG: ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Bruneck: Leitner Solar Arena )
7. ^ Rufus - HC Pustertal. In: hcpustertal.com. Retrieved October 10, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Farm team regulation of the HC Pustertal and SV Kaltern: ( page no longer available , search in web archives: Nuovo accordo di farm team tra due formazioni altoatesine )