The Vienna Capitals and Red Bull Salzburg have strengthened themselves for the decisive phase in the ICE Hockey League with national team strikers from the league competition. As the clubs announced on Wednesday, the Capitals brought Simeon Schwinger from Dornbirn, table leader Salzburg hired goalscorer Brian Lebler from Linz.
Lebler has already made himself the top scorer of the season five times, always in the dress of Linzer, for whom he has played since 2011 with the exception of 2015/16 (Ingolstadt). Overall, the 33-year-old has scored 317 goals and 233 assists in 561 league games for the Black Wings. “In the last two years, not reaching the play-offs with Linz was and is really hard for me. I always want to play for the championship at the highest level,” explained Lebler in a Salzburg broadcast.
The 24-year-old Schwinger has scored nine goals and nine assists in 44 games for the “Bulldogs” this season. Schwinger offers new offensive opportunities, “on the other hand, he gives us the necessary depth for the play-offs,” said Capitals coach Dave Barr about the twelve-time team player in a statement on Wednesday. As fourth in the table, the Viennese have a good chance of qualifying directly for the quarter-finals. The Capitals are guests at Olimpija Ljubljana on Thursday and the Pustertal Wolves on Friday.
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