Bolzano, Vienna, Innsbruck and Linz are still fighting for the semi-finals. Red Bulls Salzburg and EC KAC have already made it there. So how do the possible semi-final pairings look like?
The regulations of the ICEHL state that in the semi-finals the best-placed team from the basic round plays against the worst-placed team that is still left. After the regular season, Red Bull Salzburg was in second place and KAC in fifth place.
scenario 1
So if Vienna and Bozen fix the semifinals today, Salzburg would meet KAC and Bozen would duel with the Capitals. In other words: the winner of the regular season, Bozen, against sixth-placed Vienna and second-placed Salzburg against fifth-placed KAC.
scenario 2
Should Linz and Innsbruck advance to the semifinals, the Black Wings would meet Salzburg. Since Salzburg would be the best remaining team in second place and Linz in seventh would be the weakest team. Innsbruck would meet fifth-placed KAC in third place.
scenario 3
Bolzano and Innsbruck win the respective quarter-final series. Then the South Tyroleans (1) would play against KAC (5) and Salzburg (2) against Innsbruck (3).
scenario 4
Linz and Vienna achieve promotion: In this case the duels would be Salzburg (2) against Linz (7) and KAC (5) against Vienna (6).
In Scenario 1, the quarter-finals would be history tonight and the semi-final pairings would be fixed. For scenarios 2, 3 and 4, you would have to wait until Tuesday, because then there would be a possible game 7.
www.hockey-news.info, Picture: HCB/Vanna Antonello
