GUEST PREVIEW - SALZBURG

 GB's Previews - Red Bull Salzburg

In this league, Salzburg stands out as a well-rounded team with one notable weakness. They boast the league’s best power play by a significant margin, operating at an impressive 34%, and lead in scoring efficiency with 12.94% (for context, that's not far behind the vaunted Oilers PP of last season in the NHL - Seb). However, their Achilles' heel is their penalty kill, which, despite their strong roster, ranks last in the league at just 73% (for context - that's bad lol - Seb). They mitigate this weakness by taking few minor penalties.

Salzburg's offensive lineup is both creative and highly efficient. Their top four players each average more than a point per game, a testament to their firepower. Leading the charge is Peter Schneider, a well-established name in the league with four seasons under his belt. Schneider has consistently averaged at least a point per game throughout his tenure—an outstanding achievement.

Troy Bourke is another standout, showcasing his speed and skill. With 20 points this season, he has proven to be a constant threat, although he has cooled off recently with just three points in his last five games.

Ryan Murphy deserves special mention as well. In 16 games, he has amassed an impressive 19 points, including a remarkable eight points in his last five games, accompanied by a +4 rating. His recent form makes him a player to watch closely.

Between the pipes, Salzburg’s goaltending situation is evenly split without a clear number-one choice. Atte Tolvanen has appeared in 11 games, posting a save percentage of 90.9%, which is solid but unremarkable (he is now reportedly applying for Austrian citizenship so he can be Team Austria's goalie. As many pointed out, he is nowhere near good enough to be Finland's! Also, yes - he is the brother of Eeli Tolvanen of the NHL's Seattle Kraken - Seb). He relies on his athleticism, though his average height limits his ability to fully dominate the net. David Kickert, on the other hand, has played 8 games with a save percentage of 87.9%, which is well below league standards. Kickert’s slightly taller frame helps him in the butterfly position, but his performances have been inconsistent. Personally, I hope to see him in goal on Friday (tee-hee - Seb).

To sum up, Salzburg plays an aggressive and fast-paced style, avoiding dump-ins and relying heavily on quick transitions. This approach aligns well with our counter-attacking strengths, providing us opportunities to exploit their weaknesses. However, it’s worth noting that Salzburg's participation in the Champions League has increased the workload on their key players, which could lead to fatigue late in games. On the flip side, they are performing exceptionally well, having already secured a spot in the quarterfinals.

Good luck, everyone!

Bonino Beginnings

Apologies for the lack of a match report for the Asiago game - I was in hospital on Monday and needed to rest up on Tuesday evening. I'll do another short one some time this week, possibly alongside the one for Graz tonight.

For now, Nick Bonino has arrived!

What does this mean for the team?

- Bonino was never a high scorer in the NHL, but that doesn't mean he won't be at this level.

- He was a standout defensive centre. Will he be able to teach our players to be more responsible in that regard? It'll be interesting to track his effect on the average goals conceded and goals scored.

- Will he be going straight on the first line? Coach Karhula liked having a defensive centre on the top line last year, with Bičevskis. Does that mean Kale is our 2C? Tomaževič could go back to wing, if Bičevskis and Beričič stick at 3C and 4C. In this case, I assume Červeny's temporary contract doesn't get extended. How would that look?

MAHKOVEC - BONINO - LAVOIE

SABOLIČ - KERBASHIAN - TOMAŽEVIČ

ZAJC - BIČEVSKIS - SIMŠIČ

SODJA - BERIČIČ - MEHLE

(Kapel and Kumanović in reserve; Pance and Červeny out injured)

That's a pretty saucy lineup, I'm sure you'll agree. Hopefully he's playing tonight. However, it would make sense for a home debut and a grand reveal on Friday, so perhaps that is the more likely option. 

GUEST PREVIEW - ASSAILING ASIAGO

Asiago Preview by GB

Asiago’s success heavily depends on their top two attacking lines and their potent power play. The performance of their third and fourth lines, however, has been underwhelming, often allowing opposing teams to outplay them. This imbalance leaves Asiago’s top lines scrambling to catch up and salvage games.

A testament to their offensive strength is the fact that the league’s top three point scorers all play for Asiago. Matteo Gennaro leads with 25 points in 20 games, closely followed by Nick Saracino with 23 points in 18 games, and defenseman Randy Gazzola with an impressive 23 points in just 16 games. Gazzola, in particular, has been a key contributor, racking up 19 assists and elevating the offensive threat of every other player on the ice when he’s active.

As previously mentioned, Asiago’s special teams are a cornerstone of their game. Their power play ranks second in the league, while their penalty kill is third, underscoring how crucial these units are to their overall performance. Gazzola’s form and the space he’s given are pivotal; his ability to dictate the pace and create opportunities cannot be overstated.

One glaring issue for Asiago is the disparity between their top performers and the rest of the roster. Only six players boast a positive plus-minus rating, a stark contrast to our previous opponent, Linz, who has 14 players in the positive. This highlights the pressure on Asiago’s stars to carry the team and emphasizes why this is a must-win game for us.

Despite their flaws, Asiago can be devastating when their stars are given room to operate. This is the team that demolished Bolzano 8–2 on the road, trounced Salzburg 5–1 at home, and convincingly beat Graz twice, 4–1 away and 4–0 at home. These results have earned them the moniker "giant slayers," and for good reason. However, many of those victories were against teams that underestimated Asiago, something Olimpija must avoid repeating.

In goal, Asiago has a clear standout in Evan Cowley, who maintains a solid 91.2% save percentage. A tall and athletic netminder, Cowley is quicker and more agile than Linz’s Tirronen, which explains his superior numbers.

Key points to focus on in this matchup include minimizing minor penalties, capitalizing on Asiago’s mistakes, particularly through effective forechecking, and ensuring Gazzola is denied the time and space to showcase his elite passing ability.

GAME 18 - OLL VS BWL

 OLIMPIJA 1 - 4 BLACK WINGS LINZ

This was a pretty awful display in front of a big Ladies' Night crowd. The marketing team will not be pleased, as we will not be capturing many of the new audience after a showing like that. It is definitely one to draw a line under (and any other metaphor you fancy), so the report will be short. 

Why did we get beaten so convincingly at home after two good performances against tough teams? Why are we regressing rather than progressing in the standings?

- Regular injuries amongst the forward group are preventing line chemistry from forming.

- It look like we didn't have much left in the tank after the KAC and Bolzano games this week.

- I am hesitant to bring up individual players, but it cannot be ignored that Alex Lavoie, brought in (along with Sabolič, in fairness) to replace Trevor Gooch's monster point output, has still not scored a goal this season.

- We rely too much on dump-ins which usually just give possession to the other team. Kerbashian and Crnović are both adept at carrying the puck in to the offensive zone, but the former has been very unlucky with injuries and the latter doesn't always make the lineup. 

- On the flipside, we seem to struggle to contest opposing carry-ins, thereby gifting the other team bounteous chances and possession whilst only creating sporadic offense ourselves, usually on rush chances the other way. On this subject, when we do manage to gain some offensive zone possession, we turn the puck over with alarming frequency, leading to plenty of rush chances for the other team on top of their more structured looks.

- Other teams are getting better, whether it's simply through cohesion or through effective signings (see GB's guest previews for specific mentions of these).

I may update this with more usual match report information, but I may not. It was that brutal a game.

The big surprise, however, did not disappoint. Nick Bonino, who played for the NHL's New York Rangers for a few games last season, will be joining us next week. Hopefully he can lift the squad and instil some better habits going forward. 

GAME 17 - HCB VS OLL

 

HCB 2 - 1 OLL OT/SO

To dam the tide of potential negativity that comes after a loss like this, let's construct some hydroelectric positivity:

- We took a point off a top-2 team in the league. 

- The improvement from where we were this time last season is immense. 

- To say that we should have beaten KAC and Bolzano this week is something that would have been hard to fathom last year, where it took till November to have a home win.

- The Penalty Kill was outstanding, going 6 for 6.

- Horak was quasi-divine in net, with a casual 97.6 save % at 5 on 5 and then save after save in the shootout. 

As good as hydroelectricity is, it comes with the danger of washing away the previous reality that existed before the dam. Let's not let that happen. I talked with my Dad yesterday, who used to be a professional sportswriter. He advised me not to allege bias in the officiating. That was my most difficult task of the day. See below:

- Ege gets high-sticked in the goalmouth and is bleeding from both nostrils. The high sticking stopped him from following up a net-front chance. Nothing gets called - this should have been a double-minor. One for the high stick, one for drawing blood. How this doesn't get called is absolutely beyond me.

- Kerbashian gets boarded by Valentine (more on him later) and starts bleeding profusely from his mouth. There is blood on the ice and all over his jersey. The play started off fine, but Valentine clearly pushes Kale's face into the boards at the end of it. No minor penalty, no double minor. Again, in what universe is this not called?

IIHF rules for blood on a double minor - it's used as evidence of injury. Apparently the refs didn't consider Ege bleeding from both nostrils as an injury, but then they didn't count the high stick, either!

60.3 Double-minor Penalty - When a player carries or holds any part of his stick above the shoulders of the opponent so that injury results, the Referee shall assess a double-minor penalty for all contact that causes an injury, whether accidental or careless, in the opinion of the Referee.

41.1. BOARDING A boarding penalty shall be imposed on any Player who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the Boards violently or dangerously. The severity of the penalty, based upon the impact with the Boards, shall be at the discretion of the Referee. There is a considerable amount of judgment involved in the application of this rule by the Referees. 

I think we were owed at least a minor penalty on each of these, with more observant referees giving us a double minor on Ege's and potentially a major on Kerbashian's.

- On the flipside, Bolzano got six penalties to our one. The distinct impression I currently hold is that if we bloodied their players we would get instantly called on it. 

- I am sure it is not the league's stance, but according to these referees, you are absolutely fine to take out the opposing team's top line centre for the final minutes of a very tight game with no repercussions whatsoever. Good to know! 

- Bolzano giving Valentine the MVP, after he did nothing noteworthy apart from illegally taking out Kerbashian, was pretty despicable of them. Obviously we don't like the Carinthia teams, but I think we can add Bolzano to our list of rivalries this season. Take the man's number for next time, fellas (44).

Lineup changes

The cavalry has arrived - Zajc and Vodlan rejoin, with Kapel demoted to 13th forward. What is up with Zajc this season? Has he got a recurring injury or something? Or is it performance-related? He's been in and out of the lineup, which is unusual for him.

Sodja gets bumped up to the 3rd line, which makes me feel strangely sad - it just doesn't look right for him to be playing on a line without Beričič! 

Stars of the game

* Lukaš Horak - It's an absolute travesty that this performance did not result in a victory. What more can he do? He was locked in for a shutout until a screened shot pierced his shield wall. He then went on to dominate in the penalty shootout, bringing out a gobsmackingly-good scorpion save (my favourite live moment of his from last year, too), but tame penalty after tame penalty on our side couldn't help him out.

** Aljoša Crnović -  I'm not going to deny that I enjoy being right. Carry-ins to the offensive zone are more effective than dump-ins in creating scoring chances (see Dom Luszczyszyn's work at The Athletic), and in my view only two players seem to be able to do this consistently and effectively. Those are Crnović and Kerbashian. Mašič has looked out of sorts so far this season, with turnovers galore, so perhaps reuniting Crnović with Pavlin on the top pairing and giving Mašič some time off to work on his game could help. In that scenario, Hebar or Bohinc would come in as 7th defenseman, both of whom I enjoy watching and believe have considerable potential to develop.

*** Žiga Pavlin - I thought the captain consistently used his body, length and stick well to disrupt Bolzano's dump-ins, attacks and rush chances. If you were a young defenseman watching this game, as the Olimpija juniors seated near me were doing, you were in for a treat of a display. Well done, sir.

Notable contributions: Penalty kill going 6/6!!!

Analytics

Just PDO, still getting used to tracking the basic shots and saves, so I will build up to doing the fancier stuff.

P1: 7 shots, 16 saves, 1 goal scored.

P2: 5 shots (4 more on PP), 11 saves (4 more on 2 PKs)

P3: 3 shots, 11 saves (4 more on 2 PKs), 1 goal conceded.

OT: 2 shots, 5 saves (4 more on 2 PKs)

5 on 5 shooting %: 1/17 = 5.88 (down from 33 last game)

5 on 5 save %: 42/43 = 97.6 (up from 81 last game)

PDO = 103.48 

We are in the 'dull' zone of Boston Hockey Stats' PDO breakdown of the NCAA last season. I didn't think this game was dull at all, but high save percentage and low shot percentage leads to some tight and low-scoring games. I think I prefer that to the rollicking 5-7 scores!

Slightly above 100 means we are not playing in a 'lucky' or an 'unlucky' fashion - this is pretty much who we are. Which is a good thing, as barring the low shooting percentage  (5%), which should revert to the mean of around 10% in pro hockey, we were playing well against a very good and high-scoring team.

Game flow

P1

1749 HIGH DANGER CHANCE

Crnović finds Zajc, who has an open net at the back post but doesn't take it cleanly and it squirms wide.

1130 GOAL OLIMPIJA

Crnović with a gorgeous carry-in to the offensive zone and a beauty of a pass back to Zajc who just about gets it home.

L3 +1

Crnović and Pavlin +1

1-0

1040 Horak comes up big with a double save.

945 A funny sequence as Ćosić kicks it from the neutral zone back into the offensive zone twice in succession. 

914 Huge stop by Horak. Pavlin fails to pinch in the offensive zone and Tomaževič can'r get back to help out with the 2 on 1. 

Some embarrassing turnovers in the offensive zone from us.

1-0

P2

HCB have two good chances in the first 30s.

Just as I'm writing 'no penalties so far'...

1417 PEN OLL

Atwal for interference, 2 mins. To me, he just outmuscled the overmatched forward, but the refs think differently.

The commentator says Horak had a 'sensazionale' save. Bičevskis does a great job at the end essentially sitting on the puck to waste time.

1038 Horak glove save on a 3 on 1.

More mind-numbing offensive zone turnovers, unforced errors in tennis parlance.

Lavoie's search for a first goal continues...

552 PEN HCB 

Slash on Beričič, 2 mins.

Decent possession in the first minute, but messy final minute.

337 PEN OLL 

Mahkovec for something unannounced. Interference? Hit to the head? Roughing? It's unlucky as the HCB player's head was lowered, so what would have been a shoulder to shoulder hit was not. 2 mins.

120 Double save by Horak. HCB turning the pressure valve right up to end the period. 

1 Tomaževič with a strong faceoff win to see out the period.

1-0

P3

1718 GOAL BOLZANO 

They hit the post on a 2 on 1, which Pavlin disrupted, but then a point shot is deflected up and in.

1-1

1643 3 on 2 rush for HCB

1533 3 on 1 rush for HCB

1502 PEN OLL

Sabolič for a high stick. Accidental.

PK contesting the zone entries 4 across. Seems like a new tactic.

Italian camera team still picking out pretty ladies in the crowd, à la Noughties football coverage. Love to see a bit of tradition ^^

We look pretty toothless at the moment, just absorbing HCB pressure.

11 - still no shots on goal so far this period for us.

1121 Tomaževič is through on goal - shoot! Instead, he passes to Sabolič and the attack fizzles out with an interception. As Shoresy would say, get the puck on net! 

1040 NO PEN HCB - Ege gets high sticked for all to see on a net-front chance from a Gregorc pass. Hello referees?! His nose is bleeding?? (See top of article for more)

Shortly after, Kerbashian gets bloodied on the boards - refs discuss but nothing for that, either. Seriously?! (See top of article for more)

536 left and we get our first shot on goal in the period.

330 Another mishandle by Mašič. Is he ok?

Beričič is playing 1C with Kale out.

PEN OLL 

Ege trips a HCB player as he falls to the ground.

1-1

OT

39s left of the Ege penalty. Starts 4 on 3. Bičevskis, Gregorc and Pavlin are out there.

Mašič and Mahkovec get decent shots on goal. 

207 Horak saves a 1 on 0.

51s left PEN OLL

Simšič collides with another player for a 'slew foot'.

1-1

SHOOTOUT

HCB X Horak saves

OLL X Lavoie with some weak dekes

HCB X Horak saves

OLL X Sabla can't elevate it and it's well saved.

HCB SCORE - Helewka, a dangerous player identified in the GB Preview, gets it under Horak's glove.

OLL SCORE - Kerbashian gets some revenge, going glove side as blood still streaks down his chin.

OLL X Mahkovec tries the same thing he did successfully last shootout. They are going to do some basic scouting, Marcel...

HCB X hit the post.

OLL X Kerbashian again? I need to read the rules of shootouts in this league ^^. Great save but again, we need to elevate the puck over the pads. Easier said than done, especially when you've been brutally boarded minutes before.

HCB X Horak saves.

OLL X Sabla.

HCB X Horak SCORPION SAVE OMG!!!

OLL X Mehle - tries to stop and shoot but it's another tame penalty by a Olimpija player.

HCB X Horak saves.

OLL X Gregorc. 

HCB X Horak saves.

OLL X Kerbashian again.

HCB SCORE Helewka finishes us off.

ENDS 1-2 OT/SO

Final stats

Penalty Kill = 6/6 = 100%

Powerplay = 0/1 = 0%

Final thoughts

At the start of the game, Coach Karhula said that we needed to "keep the focus" and "eliminate weird moments". We did both of those, so mission success in that regard. It's a shame Bolzano scored on a heavily-screened shot, as Horak was otherwise dead set on a shutout. Referees will make mistakes but missing two extremely obvious calls in quick succession at the end of the 3rd period cannot happen again if the league wants to maintain competitive integrity. 

Dropping 5 points over the last two games when we should have won both is tough, but both HCB and KAC are strong teams, so it's not the end of the world, or season. As G.B. said in his preview, Linz are much more of the mediocre variety, so we must beat them at home tonight. Forza Zmaji!

GUEST PREVIEW - LINZ

G.B.'s second guest preview

Black Wings Linz Team Review

When discussing Black Wings Linz, the word that inevitably comes to mind is average. They showcase an average power play at 10.9%, an average penalty kill at 80.4%, and an average scoring efficiency of 9.94%. These figures are unremarkable and fail to excite. However, Linz possesses key strengths that have propelled their recent rise in form.

Key Improvements

One pivotal factor has been the addition of two impactful players after the season began: Ken Ograjenšek and Luka Maver. Both have significantly bolstered Linz's offensive performance, transforming what was a predictable attack into something much more potent.

Another defining feature of Linz is the physical profile of their roster. On average, their players are among the tallest and heaviest in the league—ranked second-tallest and fourth-heaviest. This physicality translates to a style of play built around battles along the boards and around opponents' nets. While they won’t outskate most opponents, their experience is unparalleled. Linz players have collectively logged 5,462 games in this league, far exceeding the next-most experienced team (VSV with 5,076). For perspective, Olimpija’s roster totals 3,047 games.

What to Expect

Linz’s game revolves around physical plays in the corners and heavy traffic in front of the net. Expect players like Brian Lebler or Luka Maver to consistently plant themselves near goalie Lukaš Horák, making life difficult for our defense.

Players to Watch

• Brian Lebler: A household name for fans of the league, Lebler is a tall, skilled forward with excellent reach. He’s adept at playing dirty when necessary and rarely gets penalized for it.

• Shawn St-Amant: The antithesis of Lebler, St-Amant is of average size but compensates with remarkable speed and skill. Last season, he racked up an impressive 50 points in 44 games during the regular season.

• Luka Maver: A versatile player with traits similar to Lebler, Maver brings more speed to his game. He’s been a key addition this season and a player worth keeping a close eye on.

Goaltending

Goaltending is Linz’s Achilles' heel. Their clear number one is Rasmus Tirronen, a towering presence at 191 cm who offers excellent net coverage. However, his lack of agility and explosiveness has contributed to a disappointing 89% save percentage. Backup Thomas Höneckl is a seasoned veteran of the league, but his career has been defined by mediocrity. Playing around 20 games per season, Höneckl has never truly established himself as a starting goaltender.

Conclusion

To beat Linz, our team must neutralize their physicality and manage the traffic in front of our net. This will require sharp defensive play and unwavering focus. While Linz has clear weaknesses in goaltending, their experienced roster and physical approach make them a challenging opponent.

GAME 16 - OLL VS KAC

 OLIMPIJA 5 - 7 KAC

GRETZKY-ERA HOCKEY SCORES ABOUND IN THE ICE LEAGUE AS TWO GAMES GO 5-7

OLIMPIJA DESERVE THE VICTORY BUT LET THEMSELVES DOWN

Lineup changes

Kerbashian returns to his rightful place as the top line centre. Rejoice! 

Simšič is back on the wing, this time on the second line - if history is anything to go by, this won't be for long!

Zajc and Pance are both out. Kumanović slots in on the 3rd line left wing. No 13th forward today - where is Vodlan?

Mehle goes down to the 4th line to reunite the 'kid line'. 

Defensive pairings remain Mašič-Pavlin, Gregorc-Atwal, Ćosić-Ege. Crnović and Bohinc are the 7th and 8th D men.

Stars of the game

* Kale Kerbashian (PPG) - Fan MVP and back like he never left! Scored a PPG straight away and unlocked the offensive zone time and time again as he did before. Great passing and movement throughout. Welcome back, we missed you!

** Miha Beričič (Would Beat Jake Paul) - first time I've seen an ICE league player take their gloves off and throw punches. What a beauty for defending his teammates like an absolute warrior. Rightfully called the KAC player who backed down various epithets relating to his masculinity. Honestly might get a Beričič jersey off the back of this (after I get Kerbashian's lol).

*** Robert Sabolič (1G 2A) - would have been first star if not for a late (and fatal) unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Outside of that, 3 pts and looked very dangerous. 

NEW Stats section

I had ambitions to track all sorts of things this game, such as Corsi for and against for each line and pairing, but I lost track of things (pardon the pun). I will aim to do more in the way of analytics in the away games, where I can pause the stream and replay. For live games, I will (at least) do the PDO calculation.

Here is the quote from Boston Hockey Stats' Substack article (https://blog.buhockeystats.com/p/diving-into-the-stats-sheet):

PDO

PDO, sometimes called SPSV% is an attempt to quantify “puck luck”. ... Teams will usually end up with PDOs around 100. A team with a PDO greater than 100 is probably not as good as they seem, and a team with a PDO less than 100 is probably better than they appear.

You calculate PDO by adding the shooting percentage and save percentage together.

Shooting percentage = 5/20 = 25%. NHL average is about 10%, so we did well there.

Save percentage = 30/37 = 81%. Well below Horak's usual standards, but it was a crazy game.

25% + 81% = 106

On Boston Hockey Stats' graph for the NCAA, we would fall into the 'fun' category of PDO. This is because this game saw us sport a high shooting percentage but a low save percentage, which resulted in lots of goals both ways.

Streamlined Game Flow 

(before you say it's not that streamlined, a lot happened this game!!)

P1

1748 PEN KAC

Kumanović gets taken out by a hit to the head. The refs initially don't award a penalty, even though Lovro is down on the ground like he's been shot by Lee Harvey Oswald from a Texas Bookstore, but eventually they decide to award a major penalty for 5 mins. On review, they downgraded it to a minor 2 min penalty. A very confusing set of decisions, but at least we get something out of it. I hope he is ok. With no 13th forward, this immediately puts us on the back foot. 

1705 SHORTHANDED GOAL KAC

KAC break 1 on 0 and Horak is beaten 5-hole (in between his pads). Not a good start.

0-1

1556 PEN KAC 

Delay of game. An impressive one from a KAC defender, who absolutely launches the puck into the stratosphere for no apparent reason. 8s of 5 on 3 coming our way.

1542 POWERPLAY GOAL OLIMPIJA 

With 1:46 left on the PP, Mašič sets up Kerbashian to work his magic in front of the net. What a way to announce your comeback! 

1-1

1350 GOAL OLIMPIJA

Mahkovec collects Mašič's trickling shot and beats the goalie. Marcel is our leading points-getter and looks to be getting better and better as the season goes on. Is it too early to ask him not to leave for a big-spending Austrian team next year? They can have Predan, gladly, but please don't let them have him...

2-1

1152 PEN OLIMPIJA

Bičevskis high stick.

1025 PEN OLIMPIJA

Yet another Pavlin high stick. We're getting one every game these days!

Gregorc, Ege and Kerbashian are on for the 5 on 3.

KAC look very messy in the ensuing 5 on 4. I think they were trying to enter the zone with speed, but it was not pretty.

647 GOAL OLIMPIJA

Simšič! Tomaževič creates space in the net front area and Nik drives to the net and scores. Ege on the assist but Blaž did a lot of work here.

3-1

554 KAC hit the bar and it satisfyingly bounces up and back into Horak's awaiting glove. Close!

321 PEN KAC

2 minute minor for roughing after one of their players got sat down after shooting at Horak on a dead whistle.

151 PP looks out of ideas already, with the usual 'let's just cycle and pass it for an extremely-telegraphed pass to Sabolič for a slapshot'. He's good, but if the goalie can smell it coming a mile off, it'll be hard to score from.

145 Ege hits the post!

5s left GOAL KAC

KAC sneak in while we are switching off for the end of the period and a backhand beats Horak. Such a momentum killer. It was well-worked but we cannot let that happen.

3-2

P2

1300 Smash Attack

1037 GOAL KAC

KAC get a quick deflection in after a good cycle and possession. We couldn't get a line change in and appeared very tired.

3-3

938 PEN OLL

Atwal gets his customary 2 mins roughing penalty. You have to think he has a certain reputation amongst the refs around the league now, as I don't think he really deserved it. Got applause for it from the crowd.

638 Kerbashian with a great pass against the grain for Mahkovec, who hits the post.

514 Ćosić impressively handles a puck behind the net, shaking off two forecheckers. A teammate immediately turns the puck over once he passes it to them, which sums up Olimpija hockey sometimes.

321 GOAL KAC

KAC hit the post and then bundle the rebound in. Seemed like they were on a PP for a bit there, but it's just suffocating 5on5 possession. Looking like the KAC from last year.

3-4

2 get our first shot on goal for a long while.

3-4

P3

1841 GOAL OLIMPIJA

Sabolič with a sensational dish to Gregorc across the ice, who waits, waits and strikes! Tomaževič with the secondary assist. 

4-4

1810 PEN OLL

A proper fight?! Sort of! Mehle starts a ruckus behind the opposition net and Beričič and Sodja step in to help him out. For the first time I have ever seen, a player throws down their gloves and gets punching - it's Beričič! The KAC player wusses out of the fight, though, and Miha shouts at him in disgust all the way to the bench. As a Liverpudlian might say, 'boss that, lad'. Anyway, Mehle gets 2 mins for roughing and Beričič and Mr KAC Scaredy-Cat get 5 each for fighting.

1108 GOAL OLIMPIJA

Crnović shoots from the point and Sabolić deflects it in! We go ahead!

5-4

Horak is using a shiny new stick - is that where the new contract money is going? Well spent, I say!

915 GOAL KAC

Scores are level again. We go for a dangerous line change, leaving the ravenous KAC attackers with time and space. They punish us.

5-5

755 Kerbashian goes around the world but his backhand is over the top of the net.

446 GOAL KAC, PEN OLL 

Pretty soft one from the blue line that goes straight in, as far as I can tell. To make things even worse, Sabolič decides to hack away at the guy who just scored, which - obviously - draws a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Game over, I would imagine.

5-6

411 POWERPLAY GOAL KAC

Of course they score. Got to have the game sense to stop yourself from throwing the game away even if you are a bit pressed by the opposition players. You'd think a 36-year old KHL veteran would realise that.

5-7

209 We go empty net, but nothing happens either way.

ENDS 5-7

Final stats

Sabolič 1G 2A

Mahkovec G

Simšič G

Kerbashian PPG

Mašič 2A

Crnović A

Powerplay = 1/3, 33%

Penalty Kill = 4/5, 80%

Special teams were very good tonight, and we would have gone 100% on the PK if not for Sabolič's unsportsmanlike conduct at the end.

Final thoughts

We really should have won that.

I heard a lot of discourse about the refs tonight. I think I've made my stance reasonably clear - I was told on my first game in Hala Tivoli that the Austrian refs seem to consistently favour Austrian teams over us. Despite the risks of confirmation bias, I do feel that has been the case over the last two seasons. However, let me zig when you expect me to zag. Here are three key things that were within our control that cost us the win:

- letting in a shorthanded goal in the first period. Just can't do that at home and expect to win.

- letting in a goal with 5 seconds left in the 2nd period, where we simply switched off and let it happen. This is something we keep doing and it is infuriating. There's a reason that coaches all over the hockey world repeat 'play the full 60 minutes' ad nauseam. 

- giving up 3 goals after leading 5-4 with 10 mins left in the 3rd period.

- Sabolič drawing an entirely avoidable and unnecessary unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for roughing a KAC player right after they scored the go-ahead goal (5-6) with a few minutes left. 

Regarding the last one, what do you expect to happen there? It doesn't matter that KAC have been getting away with a few crosschecks - you cannot put the team in that position. Clearly Pastor Martin Golob's visit to the squad didn't work well enough, as the best revenge there is in that moment is the Christian 'turn the other cheek' and go down and score the equaliser. It is certainly not to give them a penalty that they score from and it's game over. As a 36 year old veteran, he should know better. If it's Mehle or one of the other young guys, it's more understandable. But it wasn't.

I did give Beričič the 2nd star for fighting, so I'm hardly a pacifist. Yet there is a time and place for it. Have some situational awareness! In that moment, we have to be squeaky clean and not give the refs a chance to call us for anything.

I'm being harsh here, but it was so frustrating to see Sabla throw away all the brilliant offensive stuff he did this game on something like that. There was no use arguing with the refs after the game, either - we'd already lost. Do better next time, as self-righteous people like to say.

I won't write too much more, but something to monitor is that our stronger offense this season is leading to a weaker defence. We are creating more chances but giving more up the other way. It'll be the coaching staff's main goal for the rest of the season to keep the former and relinquish the latter.

Finally, I want to say that, despite being a huge The Prodigy fan, I think the choice of song for entry to the arena, 'Smack My Bitch Up', was probably not an appropriate one if you want to get more female fans in. Perhaps not one to play for Ladies' Night on Friday!

GUEST PREVIEW - BOLZANO BREAKDOWN

I am very excited to announce that a friend of the blog, known only as 'G.B.', has offered to do some guest writing for game previews. As this blog is inspired by SeahawksDraftBlog, who also have a guest preview writer, I happily agreed. As I'm sure you'll agree, he does some fantastic work. Please enjoy! 

- Seb (OHB's usual writer)

Bolzano Preview by G.B.

Bolzano is a team that poses a constant threat with all four attacking lines, allowing them to maintain a high-tempo style of play throughout the game. Their Powerplay (PP) operates at a league-average efficiency of 20.7%, but their Penalty Kill (PK) is a significant weakness at just 77.4%. Notably, Bolzano is highly prone to minor penalties, accumulating 83 penalty minutes—the second-highest in the league.This presents a key opportunity for our team: if our Powerplay unit is effective, our chances of winning increase dramatically. ( - now Kerbashian is back, hopefully we can be more efficient on the PP - Seb)

Defensively, Olimpija must remain vigilant, as Bolzano boasts an impressive scoring efficiency of 11.23%. Their ability to capitalize on opportunities makes defensive awareness critical.
In goal, their primary netminder, Harvey Sam (#38), has a save percentage of 92.2%, slightly above the league average and a career-best performance for him, as he typically hovered around 90%. Their backup, Vallini Gianluca (#35), is more familiar to us, having previously competed in the Alps Hockey League and the Ice Hockey League. Vallini also maintains a strong save percentage of 92%, making both goaltenders evenly matched in skill and style. Both rely heavily on their explosive movements and are of average height for goaltenders.

Key players to watch include Adam Helewka (#13) with 16 points, Anthony Salinitry (#71) with 13 points, and top defenseman Cole Hults (#98) with 12 points. On the other hand, Michele Marchetti (#68), who usually plays on the second line, has struggled to find form this season, recording only 4 points in 17 games.

Update - going forward

Friends, Romans, Countrymen - lend me your ears!

I am going to take the blog in a slightly different direction from now on. Most of it is staying the same, but I feel the 'Game Flow' sections have been too bloated with unnecessary details. As a result, I plan to significantly trim down this section. 

To replace it, over the break I have been teaching myself about hockey analytics. I plan to incorporate more statistical tracking and analysis to help ground my 'final thoughts' in more data-driven foundations (sorry, I know this sounds like a LinkedIn post now).

Anyway, I hope this is useful. If I ever bump into him again, I plan to ask Coach Karhula if there is anything in particular he would like me to track and analyse for the team. I would love to work for the team one day, so here's hoping! 

Please check out this fantastic Substack article on hockey analytics if you are interested. I will be quoting from it to help explain the things I am tracking in each game and why they are useful.

https://blog.buhockeystats.com/p/diving-into-the-stats-sheet 

Horak update - it's two more seasons!

 After being told that Horak had re-signed for another season at the game on Saturday, and my writing saying I wish it was longer - a new press release says that my wish has been granted! See below for the translated version:

Hockey club Olimpija Ljubljana has extended its cooperation with Czech goalkeeper Lukaš Horak for the next two seasons. Horak, who has become an indispensable member of the team, will also defend Zmajev in the 2025/26 and 2026/27 seasons.

Lukaš Horak joined HK Olimpija Ljubljana before last season and with his defenses became a favorite of Ljubljana fans. Game after game, he proves that he is one of the best goalkeepers in the ICE league. "I am very happy to stay with Olimpija. The team is getting stronger every year, the goals are getting higher and higher, and the fans are amazing. Ljubljana is a wonderful city in which I feel great. These are the reasons why the decision to extend the cooperation was very easy," said Lukaš Horak at the signing of the contract. Anže Ulčar, director of HK Olimpija Ljubljana: "Lukaš represents the foundation of our team, which is getting stronger and stronger. We quickly found a common language, as Lukaš was also very interested in staying. This means a lot to us. In addition to being a great goalkeeper, he is also very dedicated to the club and our common goals. It's his heart that makes him even better, so we're very happy that he's staying with us."

GAME 15 OLL VS INN

 OLIMPIJA 4 - 2 INNSBRUCK

POTATO WEEK ENDS SWEETLY WITH ANOTHER 4-2 WIN

TEAM ANNOUNCE NEW CONTRACT FOR HORAK AS HE WINS MVP

Lineup changes

As expected, Červeny is out - no announcement on the severity of his injury as of yet. Simšič moves up to first line centre and Kapel returns on the 2nd line, so it seems he wasn't injured and was scratched (as I had suggested). I am happy he's back, actually, as we had too many left handed forwards and it was impinging on our shooting capability in the o-zone. Hebar comes in for Crnović as the 7th defenseman. 

Stars of the game

* Lukáš Horák - finally won MVP after deserving it almost every game and made it even better by signing a contract extension to keep him here next year. I'm only sad it wasn't a longer extension! Thank you, Hory! This time, he made spectacular saves galore and had another quadra-save, which delighted his new fan club that followed him around all game. No other player on the team has such crowd affection shown for them!

** Marcel Mahkovec (PPG, A) - currently our leading scorer and looked properly dangerous out there tonight. His game just keeps on growing. The reigning Young Player of the Season indeed!

*** Tian Hebar (A) - great point shot that Pance tipped for the first goal. It's the first time we've seen him in a while and it was the first time that he seemed really effective in his defensive and offensive contributions, causing turnovers in the neutral zone and making plays in the offensive zone. I don't mean this in a bad way - being a young D-man is really difficult. But it's fantastic to see such a leap of progress from him. As much as I like Crnović's game, I want to see more playing time for Hebar from now on as Hebar's play still has more room to grow.

Notable contributions: Simšič filling in at centre on short notice, yet again. What a valuable guy to have on this team, as, unfortunately, we have needed him over and over when I am sure he would prefer to be back on the wing. He played well on the top line today despite not having the chance to settle into some chemistry with any linemates this year. We appreciate you, Nik!

Game flow

P1

Innsbruck start fast.

1855 Horak lays out for a save.

1752 Glove swipe through traffic from Horak and we get a 'dneska ne' on the screen ('not today' in Czech).

1625 Horak handles a late deflection and passes it away.

1436 Another Mašič turnover leads to a 3 on 1 - Horak stops the puck with an insane octopus roll. There's a chance back the other way, but I'm still too busy processing Horak's save to register it properly.

Sharks are very much in the driving seat thus far, which is an interesting sentence to write.

1209 Mahkovec circling shot on goal.

1130 Pavlin lays out to stop 2 on 1, Horak makes a post save.

1057 Another Horak body save.

1038 Beričič shoots on the rush and it's blocker saved.

944 GOAL OLIMPIJA - Hebar shoots from the blue line and Pance tips it in! Zajc also gets an assist.

4th line +1

3rd(?) pair +1

1-0

8 It's opening up for us now.

725 Pavlin gracefully intercepts a net front crossing pass.

644 Scintillating helicopter glove save by Horak.

615 Nice move started by Mašič being brave enough to skate right down centre ice results in Simšič's shot going just wide.

427 Hebar with a fantastic dispossession in the neutral zone.

146 Good first line chances for Mahkovec and Simšič.

105 Big block by Pavlin that Horak stick taps appreciatively.

38s Horak glove save on a 2 on 1. Atwal takes the pass but misses it on the way past.

27s Simšič blocks one heading to the net.

Sharks are finding a lot of space again.

7s Horak makes yet another save off a faceoff. This pressure is worrying.

1-0

P2

1920 Mašič gets ambushed by two forecheckers and the turnover leads to a casual quadra-save by Horak.

18 Sharks coming out hot again.

1720 Double hit from Sodja, yes please!

1657 GOAL INNSBRUCK - in a flash, the puck goes from the boards to a wide open centre ice, where it gets put in the top corner. Defensive holes are being exploited. It's disappointing to concede, but it does reflect the flow of the game thus far.

1st Pair -1

4th Line +0

1-1

1524 Sabolič receives the puck in a wonderfully central position but he takes too long to wind up his shot and the window has closed - he loses it and they go down the other end...

1515 GOAL INNSBRUCK - off the ensuing rush, the Sharks score. That is a frustrating one - we should have been the ones to score, but they end up doing so!

2nd line -1

2nd pair -1

1-2

1416 Beričič passes back in a good position after a linked move, but he misses everyone and the Sharks have a chance down the other end.

It's end to end stuff here, with little structured hockey on display.

1238 Smash Attack - a defensive zone faceoff - we've had too many free burgers recently, apparently!

1209 2nd pair turns it over in the d-zone and INN have a high danger chance net front.

1127 PEN OLL - Tomaževič clearly holds an INN player and gets penalised for it.

PK does well, with clears and line changes. 

954 Simšič has a breakaway chance that is blocker saved.

939 Horak pad saves on a 1on0.

846 Sabla enters the zone with speed, Kapel winds up and it's right into the goalie's body. Need to do better there for the man who is a team-low -7 so far this season. More on this in an upcoming article...

738 PEN INN - Ege gets high sticked. It was a delayed penalty, which I am nervous about since our own goal, but we emerge unscathed. PP1 is now Mahkovec, Lavoie (who takes faceoffs), Tomaževič, Sabla and Mašič.

725 Hack and whack for the PP unit.

700 shots and blocks galore.

645 PPG OLIMPIJA - Mašič shoots from the point, it's saved, but Mahkovec is there to pounce on the rebound! Tomaževič gets an assist, but I didn't see his contribution.

2-2

532 GOAL OLIMPIJA - Zajc roofs it after a 1-2 with Sabolič! Bičevskis plays a key role here after brutally causing a turnover in the offensive zone, well played.

4th Line (with Sabla) +1

3rd pair +2

3-2

459 GOAL OLIMPIJA  - Simšič scores thanks to another screen from Lavoie! He may not be scoring, but at least Lavoie is helping others to do so! The announcer was still going through the last goal! Mahkovec and Lavoie on the assists.

1st Line +1

1st Pair +0

4-2

432 Tomaževič nearly scores another goal mid-announcement!

315 3rd line and pair pass well in the o-zone. Ćosić's eventual shot is pad saved.

111 1st line nearly catches the INN GK out of his net.

22s Big Sabla hit in the d-zone knocks an INN player over. I love seeing him do that, keep it up!

4-2

P3

Kumanović was warming up during the interval and it looks like he replaced Pance on the 4th line. Whether this was an injury replacement, we do not know. Hopefully nothing serious, we can't afford to keep losing forwards!

1624 Lavoie hits the post, and is furious with himself after. I really want to see one go in for him, it must be tough having been the leading French league scorer to now be goalless in 10 games. I believe in him!

1542 PEN OLL  - Simšič high sticks.

It's Bičevskis and Zajc as PK2.

Horak with blocker, glove and toe saves.

1232 We let an INN player skate rings around us, but eventually Gregorc and Horak stop him.

1117 Zajc to Kumanović in a 2 on 1 is well saved by their goalie. The d-man got something on Zajc's pass, which made it harder for Lovro, but he still did well. I would love to have seen him score there.

956 Sabla is in on goal on another 2 on 1, elects to shoot and it's saved.

915 Pavlin intercepts another cross-goal pass.

600 Horak glove save.

551 Horak net front stop.

547 Horak glove save. 

4 Period of weird possession losses in the d-zone, with two more glove saves from 61.

3 It's all Sharks now.

235 Double save from Horak, both pad.

Innsbruck try to go empty net in the last two minutes, but keep getting penalised when we regain possession and look for the empty net.

229 PEN INN - trip on an empty net chance.

115 INN player goes down after a block, but Simšič can't take advantage and shoots wide. (This is different to Červeny's, as blocking hurts but Červeny had clearly been injured on a freak play.)

43s Kapel does some good work.

23s left - a second empty net try for INN.

17s left - PEN INN - 2 INN players go to the box after yanking down our players going for the empty net. 5 on 3.

Sodja goes down with 2s left clutching his hand, oh no!

ENDS 4-2

Final thoughts 

I love the way we are playing at the moment. We are attacking much more effectively and scoring bounteous goals, including on the formerly dormant powerplay. This bodes very well for the rest of the season. One thing I do not like, though, is the amount of unforced defensive errors we keep committing. Horak is good enough to save us on most of those, but we need to reduce the quality of shots/chances that we are giving up. Now, I am aware that I could be criticised for always focusing on our team's deficiencies when we give up goals. Sometimes, the opposition do something great and they score! It happens! Whilst acknowledging this, I do think that most of the goals we give up are down to our mistakes rather than opposing brilliance. Horak is so good that if given half a chance he will stop the puck going in. When we concede, it tends to be some kind of defensive breakdown that leaves even a goalie as good as 61 with no real chance of saving it. Even then, he still sometimes does, somehow!

It's an international break coming up, so they won't be training together as a whole, but I hope that over that time the coaching staff will come together to plan how we plug these defensive holes and continue to make gains on the powerplay. If we do that, automatic playoff entry should be assured.

The break comes at a good time for us, as the injury bug has been biting. Pance left after the 2nd period and Sodja went down with 2 seconds left in the game. Červeny looks to have been seriously injured this week and Kerbashian hasn't started skating yet (although that is coming soon). I like Kumanović and Vodlan, but we are running out of depth if we keep losing players. Let's hope we can heal up over the break.

GAME 14 - OLL VS PIV

 

OLIMPIJA 4 - 2 PIONEERS VORARLBERG

LAVOIE RETURNS BUT ČERVENY EXITS; WE GO 1-0 WITH THE ONKOMAN BLUE JERSEYS

DESERVED WIN MARRED BY YET MORE DISAPPOINTING REFEREEING

Lineup changes

Mahkovec moves up to the first line. Simšič is finally back on the wing on the 2nd line. The kid line stays the same. Červeny is back as the first line centre and Bičevskis moves all the way down to the 4th line. Lavoie returns to the top line after extended time off. Kapel is not in the squad tonight, is he injured?

Stars of the game

* Lukaš Horák - another vintage display that covered most of our errors in team defence. 

** Alexandre Lavoie - it was so nice to have him back tonight. The first line had far better shape with him in the lineup and he provided an excellent screen for Ege's goal.  

*** The hockey gods - our star centre goes down early in the season. Our new winger is out for weeks, too. Now, our replacement centre goes down with a nasty looking injury. Do they not want us to do well this season? What have we done to deserve this? Why do they not want Simšič to play wing?!

Honourable mentions: defensive scoring! Mašič, Atwal and Ege all score tonight, with an ENG for Mahkovec. Mašič was given the MVP award. Atwal has the second ever Smash Burger G.

See the special note article published earlier today for a deep dive onto the decision not to stop play when Červeny went down injured, which led to a PIV goal.

Game flow

P1

B. Summer of PIV looks very young - turns out he's 17!

PIV bring 7 fans.

1444 Mašič wins it in the offensive zone, but promptly loses it. This leads to a 3 on 1 the other way, and we are lucky that PIV do not connect to take advantage of the wide open back post. Mašič is still a young defenseman, but he has not played anywhere near the standard he set when he joined us mid-season last year.

11 It's been a positive start from us so far, with good possession. We are dictating the game.

1022 Mehle hits the post. We are generating chances.

721 Lax net front presence and the rebound from Horak's initial save is nearly bundled in (3rd pair on the ice).

606 Mehle loses it and can't get it back in time, so it's a 2 on 1 chance for PIV that goes wide.

543 PEN OLL - high stick by Pavlin. I have to wonder if it's partly a Peter Crouch thing with Pavlin. Peter Crouch was an English footballer who was so much taller than everyone else he kept getting called for fouls. It wasn't his fault his elbows were at the height of other people's heads! Same perhaps with the towering Pavlin and his stick. He's a tall man, his stick is always high!

4 The PK keeps its box shape really well and denies the PIV PP opportunities.

309 Červeny rips one first time on the move and it's well saved, a pretty impressive effort.

3 PEN PIV Ćosić is plastered into the boards by 91 PIV - it's immediately called a 5 minute major penalty that is under review. They call it a 5 and 20 minute penalty, so the player gets waved off back to the changing rooms. Why not 5 and a game? It's called for boarding.

2 Horak makes a huge diving save on a shorthanded turnover that leads to a 2 on 0. We cannot be doing that at the start of a major penalty. PIV has another high danger chance to follow this - what is happening here?! Thankfully, we soon make up for it...

1:11 PPG OLIMPIJA - Ege uses Lavoie's excellent screen to shoot low blocker side. Pance gets the assist and we get to enjoy Ege's TV machine gun celebration. With it being a 5 minute major, the powerplay continues. The period ends amid a well-set up attack and good pressure.

1-0

P2

The final minutes of the PP are quite messy, unfortunately - the break didn't suit us.

1716 GOAL PIV PIV make a stretch pass that wasn't respected by the kid line. Gregorc has to deal with a 2 on 1, first taking the pass before trying to take the man - he gets neither, the pass goes through and Horak cannot do anything about the free back post. Gregorc obviously knows better than me, but to me I would like to see him fully commit to taking the man and leaving Horak able to take the pass option there. Be aggressive and counter strongly - that's what I would say if I was a coach. Getting stuck in no man's land doesn't help anything. Anyway, it was a tough situation and not really his fault - the kid line forwards were cut up there which left him out to dry. This is what happens when you put three young players together - you will get mistakes.

3rd Line -1

2nd Pair -1

16 PIV looking much sharper after the period break.

1229 Smash Attack!

1101 BURGER GOAL OLIMPIJA - Atwal's power move trickles in! He shoots and a double rebound off the goalie and a PIV defender's leg leads to a goal. I loved seeing him take the initiative and enter the zone himself. If the forwards aren't going to do it, do it yourself! It wasn't necessarily pretty, but it was effective! Well done, Arvin!

Line 2 +1

Pair 1 +1

2-1

1018 Disappointing moment as Zajc is through on goal but elects to pass it backwards and it is intercepted. For a man who is in need of a goal or two, why not shoot there?!

956 GOAL OLIMPIJA - Mahkovec keeps possession well and finds Mašič, who scores net front! Another messy one, but who cares - it's in! Mašič shoved it under the goalie's 5 hole. Mahkovec on the assist.

Line 1 +1

Pair 1 +2

9 Now we are trying stretch passes, good to see!

735 Sabla flattens a PIV defender in the neutral zone, you love to see it!

458 Pance and Ege execute some great rush defence to smother an opportunity for PIV.

345 PIV hit the post! Červeny lost it in the offensive zone and was too busy having a tantrum to get back and help out. 

328 Now it's Sabolič doing the Zajc and trying to find the extra pass when given a good look in front of goal. Shoot, man!

130 Weak defensive zone faceoff and Horak has to save it 1v1.

Some infuriating defensive displays this period.

21s PEN PIV - high stick, this time on Pavlin!

P3 

1809 A nice passing sequence from Pance to Ege to Lavoie, but it's just out of reach for Lavoie at the back post.

843 A messy moment for Horak out of his net. As Steve Dangle would say, 'you're a goaltender! Tend the goal!'.

830 Sabolič and Tomaževič have a 2 on 1 but Blaž misses Sabla's pass.

549 1st line are all around the net and engaging in a hack + whack.

519 PIV hits the post again. Horak saves twice after.

355 Červeny goes down in a defensive sequence and it is obvious that he has broken his wrist, hand or thumb while using his stick to deter an attacker. Whilst he is contorted in pain on the floor, PIV are free to complete a triple pass to the back post to score. Horak does very well to even get close to it. The crowd and Olimpija are furious about play being allowed to continue. SEE MY EARLIER ARTICLE TODAY FOR A DEEP DIVE ON THIS DECISION.

4th line -1 (Pance, Červeny and...)

3rd pair -2 (Gregorc and Ćosić)

3-2

2 PIV goes empty net.

107 ENG Mahkovec! Pavlin assist. We've had three gun celebrations on the TV tonight: Ege shooting, Mašič holstering and Mahkovec aiming!

Final thoughts

We played well tonight and deserved to win comfortably. I am not happy at all with the refereeing decision on PIV's second goal, as my earlier article today explains. The real issue here is that now our replacement centre for Kerbashian is also injured. It was great to get Lavoie back, but the hockey gods have not been kind to us with injuries so far this season. Bičevskis' Faustian bargain to always come back as the top line centre will resume, and Simšič will presumably return to centre yet again. I just want to see him in his natural position on the wing! Is that too much to ask?! 

It was very pleasant to see some defensive scoring come through (3/4 goals tonight), as we have been lacking that thus far. We do need to continue to tighten up our team defence, though, as we gave PIV too many 'unforced errors' to take advantage of. Let's hope for another 3 pts tonight vs Innsbruck.

Special note on the refereeing decision vs PIV

 SPECIAL NOTE ON THE DECISION NOT TO STOP PLAY WHEN ČERVENY WAS DOWN INJURED (WHICH LED TO A PIV GOAL)

The ICE league abides by the IIHF rules. The relevant one is set out below (my emphasis):

IIHF RULE 8.1

"When a Player is injured so that they cannot continue play or go to their Players’ Bench, the play shall not be stopped until the injured Player’s Team has secured control of the puck. If the Player’s Team is in “control of the puck” at the time of injury, play shall be stopped immediately unless their Team is in a scoring position. 

In the case where it is obvious that a Player has sustained a serious injury, the Referee and/or Linesperson may stop the play immediately. Where an injury has occurred to a Player and there is a stoppage of play, a Team Doctor (or other Medical Personnel) may go onto the ice to attend to the injured Player without waiting for the Referee’s consent."

So the refs had the ability to stop the game, but deemed Červeny's injury not to be "serious" enough to warrant immediate stoppage. I think regardless of the goal that it should have been immediate - hockey players are not footballers. If they are on the floor contorting and shouting in pain then it's fair to assume it's "serious". Now, it only says they "may stop the play immediately", so they don't have to, but surely it is the advisable course of action in that instance.

Yes, it's a judgment call in the moment - but they made a call which does not put player safety first, so it cannot be the right one. As the former NHL goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov said, "the solar system is so humongous big" - wait, not that one. "Is only game" - let's remember that. If we aren't putting the safety of the players first, what are we doing here?

Again, regardless of what happened next, Červeny was at risk of further injury when play was allowed to continue. Any situation, any team - stop the game if there is clearly a player on the ice who is on the floor and in considerable pain. Hockey culture guards against flopping and faking, so I am not concerned about that. I hope the team makes an official complaint about that incident through the proper channels, if they are able to do so. For us fans, it lets us wonder: did the fact that it was an Austrian team trailing a Slovenian one affect the referees' decision? I'll let you come to your own judgment on that one.

GAME 13 - OLL VS AVS

 OLIMPIJA 1 - 2 FEHERVAR

Dragons make a valiant effort but come up short against Fehervar's castle walls

Lavoie and Kerbashian much-missed firepower; Fehervar cannons expose our underbelly with two quick strikes

(Ok, that's enough of the dragon attack metaphors)

Lineup changes

Like a Donald Trump-run company, there were promotions and demotions galore this week!

Pavlin is promoted to the 1st pairing with Mašič, like last year. Atwal and Ege move down to the 2nd and 3rd pairs, respectively, so it's Gregorc-Atwal and Ćosić-Ege. 

3rd Line is now a 'kid line', as they say in the NHL, with Sodja and Beričič promoted from the 4th line to join Mehle. Zajc and Simšič are demoted to the 4th line, joining Pance.

Still no Lavoie; I bumped into Kerbashian pre-game and had another lovely interaction with him and his partner - he said his time to resume skating has been delayed until after the next week's break.

Why the changes? Perhaps it was a response to the dispiriting Graz game. It seems like an attempt to spark the team and a few underperforming players. Spoiler alert - I think the changes worked, mostly, with the 'kid line' looking particularly exciting, but we still lost. More on that later.

Stars of the game

* Lukaš Horák - He made probably the best save I have seen live (other than his scorpion kick save away to Villach last year) - a diving paddle save à la Adin Hill and Braden Holtby in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. What a beast.

** The new 3rd line / 'kid line' - Mehle, Beričič and Sodja made for exciting and effective viewing on the ice. I hope to see them kept together!

*** The new 4th line / 'veteran line' - Similarly, I liked how Pance, Simšič (G) and Zajc (A) played together as a very experienced 4th line.

Other notable contributors: I thought Blaž Gregorc had some really nice moments tonight, both offensively and defensively. 

Game flow

P1

1940 Kapel SOG dropped by goalie; a positive start.

1902 Atwal takes a walk to the bench mid-play. Quite strange!

1826 Nice move from the new 3rd line. Mehle has a good look saved.

1801 PEN OLL - Pance trips someone, apparently, but it's a very weak call by the refs.

1757 PEN AVS - high stick. 4 seconds later and it's not us who have relinquished a PP but Fehervar this time! Tomaževič, Sabolič, Gregorc and Ege are out for the 4 on 4.

1602 GOAL OLIMPIJA - 1s left of the 4 on 4 - a turnover in the neutral zone leads to a well-taken Simšič goal! Usually when my friend wears his no. 12 jersey, Nik doesn't score. Finally, he does! Zajc on the assist. The 4th line demotions have worked!

1-0

1539 PEN AVS Mehle fights with 43 of AVS. They both go to the box, but then no. 40 AVS also goes. I honestly could not hear what the announcer said in English - I wrote down "chain to the cake?!"... Anyway, it's a PP for us.

1335 Mahkovec hits the post.

1231 GOAL AVS - Fast skating followed by a power move slices right through us and although Horak saves the first shot, the rebound is put in. It's unfortunate, as Crnović, Ćosić and Simšič were all around the goal area but the puck eludes them.

4th Line = -1

3rd Pair = -1

1-1

1204 GOAL AVS - Oh no - another dagger strike. Mahkovec turns it over in our zone and Bičevskis and Pavlin get split for a straightforward goal over Horak's glove. On the replay, it looks like Pavlin just waits and watches the guy shoot. I'd like to see a more active stick from him next time, especially with his long reach. In fairness, it was a quick-developing play. But it's another that has caught us off-guard and we are now trailing the best defensive team in the league.

1st Pair = -1

1st Line = -1

1-2

630 Dangerous pass across our goal from Fehervar.

536 PEN AVS - trip on Červeny. 3 SOGs.

456 Bičevskis hits the post! We really could have done with that goal.

Lots of powerplay passing but not many cross seam passing attempts. These are crucial against big goalies like AVS's as we have to get them moving side-to-side to create space in the goal to hit, otherwise it's just a man mountain staring your shots down. It's easier said than done, but this constant passing around the outside followed by tame shots from the perimeter will not cut it against the best in the business.

246 Gregorc with two key stops at the blue line to prevent a 2 on 0 breakaway. Well done, sir!

29s - a beautiful, flowing move by the 2nd line and pair but Atwal's shot goes wide.

1-2

P2

1653 Great backcheck by Zajc to break up a rush; I am sure the coaches will be happy to see effort like that.

16 Atwal does very well on the boards, using his body first and his stick second. You can tell he coaches in his summers, this is good technique.

1456 Good forecheck by Tomaževič to cause some chaos in the AVS defensive zone.

1312 Smash Attack.

1204 Wonderful pass from Gregorc to spring Mahkovec who gets a shot on goal. 

1108 Tomaževič turns it over and two 1 on 0 chances follow. Both saved by Horak.

439 Spinarama and shot by Ćosić draws positive sounds from the crowd.

245 The puck goes over the glass and AVS want a delay of game penalty, but the refs stick with their deflection decision.

123 Sodja with a nice footballer move to disrupt an AVS attack with his feet.

Trip on Ege not called.

1-2

P3

Kerbashian wistfully surveys the ice from the bench during the interval. We miss him being out there, too!

1843 Ege to Mehle deflection saved.

1720 Weak zone entry by Červeny, we have to do better than that. AVS almost instantly get the puck back. It's good to try to bring the puck in rather than dump it, but make more of an effort than that!

1556 Atwal gets 10 minutes(!) for misconduct. The refs must have been out to get him here, as he has form in chatting to opponents. 10 minutes seems ridiculous, though. Thankfully it's not a powerplay.

1220 PEN AVS - trip on Pavlin

1208 Sabla back post shot is well saved.

1059 We try the same sequence of Mašič to Sabolič on the right and then Tomaževič on the left three times in a row... All to little effect. The crowd are not impressed and we look creatively bankrupt.

652 Sabolič with a great looping pass to Kapel at the back post, but again it's well saved.

606 Crnović power move and dangle-y puckhandling is saved.

It's a shame if we can't find the equaliser as we have played better than Fehervar, we just haven't been able to finish. Lavoie and Kerbashian being absent is not helping this, as they were signed to provide just that.

316 DNESKA NE - Horak with an absolutely outrageous paddle save!!! Kolin rubs Horak's stick at the next break.

We go empty net and have a couple of shots on goal, but they are the same low danger perimeter shots that Reijola of AVS has easily swallowed up all night. They miss the empty net and we go out with a whimper in the last few seconds.

1-2

Final thoughts

What are the hallmarks of Coach Karhula's Olimpija team? Strong 5 on 5 play, great goaltending, a poor powerplay and occasional defensive meltdowns. We saw all of these today. Ultimately, this was a really good performance against a very strong team that was marred by two goals in 27 seconds. I think a fair result would have been a 1-1 taking us to overtime, and an ideal result would have been a 1-0 shutout. 

There are two ways you can view this - one is that we outplayed a top team and came very close to beating them. Another is that we are doomed without Lavoie and Kerbashian - our finishing is not good enough to beat the top teams without them. Fehervar's goalie has a 0.960 save percentage this year and looked Connor Hellebuyck-esque, at least in stature. We currently don't have enough firepower to beat someone like that consistently. Not many teams do, but I think we should aspire to be a top tier team in this league that can do that. With a full team, we just might be able to.  

Two winnable games coming up today and tomorrow against Vorarlberg and Innsbruck - let's keep making positive steps. The lineup changes helped us, so hopefully we can build on those and get healthy again.