The website of EC KAC Klagenfurt in the ICE Hockey League posted an announcement that you might find interesting if you’re within driving or flying distance of Marco Kasper’s hometown of Klagenfurt, Austria.
Kasper’s been playing shinny hockey in a league called the “Sunshine Hockey League,” skating in 4-on-4 games against European pro leaguers. His Lendhafen Seelöwen are going to be one of the semifinalists in the league championship playoffs on Thursday and Friday:
Sunshine Hockey League at the the Heidi Horten-Arena
Europe’s first summer ice hockey league championship will be held on Thursday and Friday at the Heidi Horten Arena.
For the first time, this year, Sunshine Hockey League, Europe’s only Summer ice hockey league, this week is turning to the home stretch of its premiere season. Since May 30th the eight teams have played in a total of 28 games, all of which were held at the Hockey Training Center in Ferlach, to compete for four places in the Final tournament, that will now be held in the home arena of the Red Jackets, the Heidi Horten Arena.
The two semi-final matches will be completed on Thursday evening: At 6 p.m., the Slowenain Rams will battle Hyänen Hockey, whose roster includes former Klagenfurt forward Rok Kapel. At 8 p.m. the players from the Lendhafen Seelöwen will face off against the HC Krocha, and both teams have a lot of KAC alumni.
Tickets for the entire semi-final day are available at the price of only €10,00 (or €50,00 for VIP) in the SHL online ticket shop and from 5 p.m. at the main entrance the Heidi Horten Arena. The two teams winning on Thursday will then contest Friday (7 p.m.) the grand finale against each other.
Lots of red and white prominence
In the Sunshine Hockey League and especially in the squad of the Lendhafen Seelion, numerous players are represented who are current or former members of EC-KAC:
In the semi-finals on Thursday, the current Redjackets Thimo Nickl, Maximilian Preiml, Oliver Lam and Finn van Ee may be expected to participate.
Klagenfurt’s NHL export, Marco Kasper, whose team will also include ex-KAClers such as Gregor Biber, Ian Scherzer, Jakob Lippitsch and the classic brothers Stefan and Thomas, will also be playing against the SHL’s regular season champion. David Maier, Tobias Sablattnig, Fabian Hochegger and David Waschnig were also in action for the “Sea Lions” in recent games.
The special SHL rules
The Sunshine Hockey League is generally played according to the IIHF rulebook, but it is supplemented by special rules and guidelines that promote speed.
Only four players per team are on the ice, and two half-periods of 20 minutes are completed. In each tenth minute of the game a hit is scored, including double, and in terms of penalties, the fouled team may decide whether to perform a power play or a penalty shot as a substitute.
The rules known from the Champions Hockey League also apply in special teams: A power play remains in full length, even if a goal is scored, and if there’s a shorthanded goal, a penalty-killing ends immediately. I
n the grand finale on Friday, the session is extended to three periods of 15 minutes each.
