Red Bulls open with fireworks

The Belarus Federation uses this event as a test for the 2014 World Championship and the crowd answers  to the invite: the 15,000 seats arena has a good attendance for a Friday afternoon match.

The Continental Cup offers this year a bonus prize besides the trophy: a place in next Champions’ League, an unique chance for teams outside the Big Seven.

The Austrians, with American defender Erik Reitz playing his first ever game for Red Bulls since his arrive in late October, immediately showed their will to keep the Cup in Mozart city: 2 goals in the first 3 minutes, scored by Ryan Duncan and Andre Lakos, unanswered until 14:15 when Rouen managed to reduce the score with a move finalized by sniper Carl Mallette.

In the second period Red Bulls had various chances to add another goal but didn’t capitalize an evident superiority: a post hit by Marco Pewal and some good saves by veteran goalie Fabrice Lhenry kept the score uncertain until 25:27 when Daniel Welser finalized a good pass by Ramzi Abid. In the last second Lhenry again kept the score close.

Rouen’s hope survived until 43:24 when Ryan Duncan easily converted on a choral move that showed all the difference between the teams. This goal was a real knock-out for the French: Red Bulls scored twice in less than a minute, wasting other chances while Rouen seems totally groggy.
The game was virtually closed after ten minutes, Red Bulls left its print on the tournament and will again be a strong contender for the hosts. Rouen appeared a weaker team compared to 2 years ago, slower and less creative.


As MVP were chosen Carl Mallette for Rouen and Red Bulls’ goalie Reinhard Divis.

A few words from the press conference about the game: Red Bulls coach Pierre Pagè simply commented: "Great, great game by the team. I warned the guys about a supposedly too easy game, but the team showed a great concentration". The Canadian coach also spent some words on Reitz: "He arrived in late October, he is a great player, was captain for many teams he played with but we thought he needed time to adapt himself at a new style of life and recover from a long time of inactivity, but today showed us he is a player we can count on".

 

Advanced player search

Tweets by @eurohockey