On Saturday and Sunday, both with a 5pm face-off, Milano Hockey Club host Hungarian side Hydro Fehérvár AV19 at the Fiera Ice Arena (M1 Rho Fiera) in a back-to-back double-header.
After four consecutive defeats, the most recent of which came only in overtime in the derby against Bolzano, the Rossoblù are looking to get back to collecting important points and to give their fans a first win in the new arena.
Doug Shedden’s side come into the weekend after a week finally free of road trips, which allowed the group to recharge and work consistently on the ice ahead of the two games.
Viktor Szélig, Milano’s Sport Director, who spent the last ten years as General Manager of the Hungarian club, previewed the matchup:
“I know many of their players well, as they worked with me in the past, but compared to last year they have changed some of their imports. I think they are dangerous if they manage to find the back of the net, because they can rely on an excellent goaltender, the Finn Reijola. At times they have struggled to score, so that could be the key. I believe we can put them under pressure precisely by relying on the quality of our offence. We finally had a quiet week, with some rest, no travel and some very good practices. We hope to get back at least a couple of the five players who were missing against Bolzano and to bring the energy that we lacked a little last weekend.”
Milano Hockey Club go into the double-header against the Hungarians with 16 points from their first ten games. After a strong start to the season, with five wins in their first six games, the Rossoblù have now lost four in a row. In their last outing, played on Sunday at the Fiera Ice Arena in front of 4,000 spectators, Doug Shedden’s side earned a point, falling only in overtime in the derby against Bolzano (3-4).
The double-header against Fehérvár therefore represents an important opportunity to return to winning ways and claim the first home victory of the season.
The situation is more complicated for Hydro Fehérvár AV19, semi-finalists last season, who have collected 11 points from ten games. The Hungarian side have so far recorded two regulation wins and one in overtime, scoring 19 goals and conceding 33. In their last league game they lost 3-2 in overtime to the Graz99ers.
Coach Shedden welcomes back Dal Colle, while a decision on Saracino will be made tomorrow. Allison, Finoro and Houde remain sidelined.
The double-header between Milano Hockey Club and Hydro Fehérvár AV19 will be played at the Fiera Ice Arena in Rho, with a 5pm face-off on both Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October.
Tickets for both games are available through Ticketmaster at the following link:
https://www.ticketmaster.it/artist/milano-hockey-club-biglietti/1507813
Useful information on how to reach the Arena is available on the Milano website:
https://www.milanohockeyclub.it/come_raggiungerci
Both games will also be streamed live on Sporteurope.tv:
https://sporteurope.tv/it/milano-hockey-club
