MODO and Moscow Tornado finish atop EWCC Groups

11 Dec 2012 | Tyler Bilton

It was a busy weekend for IIHF women’s hockey with the semi-final round of the European Women’s Champions Cup taking place in Finland and Austria and the Women’s World Division II Group B Qualification in Turkey.

Group E featured two of the 2012 EWCC final four clubs, host Swiss champions ZSC Zurich Lions and German champions ESC Planegg (Germany). Rounding out the group was first time Swedish champion MODO Örnsköldsvik and Italian champion Bolzano Eagles.

Despite being hosted by ZSC Zurich, the tournament was played in Dornbirn, Austria. MODO continued their impressive offensive dominance from Group C where they finished there with 20 goals for and zero against, to open the tournament with a 10-0 defeat of Bolzano. They continued their EWCC winning streak defeating ZSC Zurich 3-2 and Planegg 8-3 to finish first and clinch promotion to the final round.

Zurich clinched the second and final spot for promotion with defeats against Bolzano and Planegg. Surprising upset for Planegg after having hopes to make a return to the EWCC Final. Officiating of the tournament was questionable however, as one player said “The officiating was very inconsistent for all games and frustrating for the clubs.” But aside from the officiating, the tournament was a well run, very organized event that saw each team get morning ice times and being able to take in the holiday atmosphere of Dornbirn.

In Group E, Finnish champion Kärpät Oulu hosted Aisulu Almaty (Kazakhstan), Slavia Praha (Czech Republic), and EWCC defending champions Tornado Moscow (Russia).

It was no surprise that the Russian champions continued to show why they are European champions by defeating Aisulu 6-1, Kärpät 4-1, and Slavia 7-2 to punch their ticket to the final round.

It was second place that was a heated contest with Aisulu and Kärpät battling it out in the final game of the tournament to see who would continue. The first two periods saw each club net a goal apiece so the start of the third was tied 2-2. Aisulu started the scoring in the third but Kärpät answered back two minutes later. On the ensuing faceoff, Kärpät went right back at Aisulu and captain Anne Helin scored the eventual game winner securing their trip to the EWCC Final.

So the EWCC Final is set and looks like this:

February 22 – 24, 2013 (Host to be determined)

Tornado Moscow (Russia)

MODO Örnsköldsvik (Sweden)

Kärpät Oulu (Finland)

ZSC Zurich (Switzerland)