Club History

The foundation of the club was already a curiosity: President Dr. Ernst Lüfter incorporated the first hockey team into "MAK" Bruneck (Motorbike-Car-Club) because of organisational reasons. The strenuous "pioniers" played for a couple of years on natural ice as "EV MAK Bruneck".
After having won three Serie-B-titels (second Italian league) the claim for an artificial ice facility become louder. The promotions 1968, 1969 and 1972 only failed because of the defined usability of the "Rienzstadium" which was only an ice rink at the time.

A new era began in 1972/73: the club took part in the Serie A (first Italian league) and the organized juvenile sector began. Today it is one of biggest and most successful in Italy!
The "wolves" represented South Tyrol in the first league for 30 years without interruption (only the arch rival HC Bozen could achieve this in the last decades).

The EV Bruneck had its best time in the beginning of the 1980s when it achieved a second and a third place in the first Italian leauge.
The juvenile teams were always were important for the club, especially for the current president of the team Roman Erlacher and could achieve many championship titels. Most Serie A-players come from the juvenile teams.

Unfortunately the EV Bruneck had also big problems: the "ice sports team" has always been one of the poorest club in the hockey business. The artificial ice facility (1971) and the roofing of the stadium (1991) were great financial challenges.
Today the "HC Pustertal" (the new name of the club) belongs to the inventory of the Italian ice hockey movement. The biggest crises could be solved with the help of the clever entrepreneur Franz Senfter.


Review of the last ice hockey seasons:

2000/01 - Serie A - 7th position: difficult season because of many injuries. The 7. position out of 9 teams meant the elimination in the quarter finals against Bozen and a financial problem which led to the relegation to the Serie B in the following summer.

2001/02 - Serie B - 3th position: The HCP was the best team over the whole season and dominated the second Italian league. Nevertheless, the players lost their nerves in the semifinals against Kaltern and the team got eliminated. The relegation was the right decision because of the reduced costs, and attendancy did not collapse.

2002/03 - Serie B - 4th position: The second league had a much higher level than the year before, attendency rose and due to new teams there were more "South Tyrolian derbies". The "wolves" were one of the best teams and were eliminated only in the semifinals against Eppan. The mood in the club became much better. More spectators, some great young talents and the enlargement of the Serie A made a comeback in the first league possible. However, the season was overshadowed by the accidental death of Oskar Degilia, a young promising player.

2003/04 - Serie A - 10th position: The first 10 teams qualify for the Serie A, and the HC Pustertal achieved the 10th position after a dramatic series against Turin and played in the "little finals" against Varese. The stadium is always full and ice hockey in Bruneck is fashionable again.

2004/05 - Serie A - 8th position: the goal was not to become 10th and being relegated. The result was the 8th position and more than 1,000 fans came on average to the games which meant the 2nd position in the spectators ranking in the Serie A! The HC Pustertal could achieve at least one point against every team (except for the HC Bozen) and is the positive surprise of the year. There has never been such good ice hockey in Bruneck in the last 10 years.

2005/06 - Serie A - 7th position: the upward tendency continued. In the first half of the season the HCP was one of the best teams, but in the second half a negative series slowed the ice hockey euphoria down . The play offs were decent and the final result was the 7th position. The victories against Bozen and Milan were unforgettable.

2006/07: Serie A - 6th position: The season did not begin very well and after first third of the season the HCP was one of the worst teams. With new players the team cought up and an unprecedented hockey euphoria began. The HC Pustertal had more than 1,300 spectators on average which meant position 1 in the ranking! Many games at home became ice hockey parties. The team got eliminated in the quarter finals against Ritten, but the season was probably the best in a long time. The unforgettable highlight of the season was the 10:4 victory against Bozen.

Some Numbers and Facts:
Foundation 1954
1st Serie B–participation 1966
Title Serie B 1967/68, 1968/69, 1971/72
Serie A–participation without interruption from 1972 to 2001
Serie A–comeback 2003
Vice Champion 1981/82

Most important presidents: Dr. Ernst Lüfter (1954 – 1974!!!!), Pepi Schmidhammer (1980 – 1985), Werner Waldthaler (1987 – 1991), Adolf Seeber (1991 – 1996);
Aktuell Roman Erlacher (since 1999).

Most important coaches: Carmine Tucci (Serie B), Heinz Bader (German national player), Gianfranco Da Rin (Cortina), Tibor Vozar, Jaroslav Pavlu (both Czechoslovakia), Anders Kallur (NHL-star/SWE), Kurt Suen, Real Paiement (juvenile selection Canada), Nikolai Kazakov (Dynamo Moskov), Miro Frycer (NHL-star), Lasse Lundström (SWE)

Most important players from Bruneck: Martin Crepaz (863 games in 22 years EV Bruneck!!!!), Gerd Mayr, Franz Pramstaller, Thomas Tinkhauser, Reinhold Oberhofer, Peter Arnold, Reindl Oberjakober and many others. Currently Armin Helfer is the best player: He won five Italian championships with Milan and plays currently in the first Austrian league for Innsbruck

Most important international players: Miro Frycer (CZE, 432 NHL games), Rick Bragnalo (ITA/CAN, 9 years EVB), Bill Stewart (CAN, 274 NHL games), Maurice Mansi & Stephane Figliuzzi, Vladimir Jeremin (RUS), Igor Dorofejev (RUS), Jorma Peltonen (FIN), Mike Busniuk (CAN, 168 NHL-games), Larry Trader (CAN), Sandy Moger (CAN, 241 NHL-games), Niklas Eriksson (SWE, olympic champion 1994)

Most important officers: Eugen Gabrielli, Kurt Suen, Franz Lochmann, Peter Baumgartner (International Ice Hockey Federation), Paul Seeber (International Ice Hockey Federation), Adolf Seeber, Walter and Kalle Ausserhofer.

Most important collaboratores: Hermann Pitscheider, Nolli Huber, Remo Machacka, Toni Fischnaller, Lois Fröhlich, Gottfried Arnold, Wimmo Brunner, Martin Lochmann, Herbert Arnold, Heini Degilia AND MANY OTHERS!