Friday, 28. August 2026 |
South Tyrol Summer Classic - Preview: Red Bull München Takes on HC Lausanne
Our Form
Three games, two wins—and plenty of promising moments. That’s how we can sum up our guys’ first preseason games. What stood out: Both against Linz and most recently at the Red Bulls Salute against the Czech champions, Pardubice, Munich stepped up its game in the final period and was rewarded for its hard work. That’s how we turned a deficit into a victory in each game. The power play is already clicking, too; we scored a power-play goal in each of the three games.
In goal, both Mathias Niederberger and Antoine Bibeau have already shown strong early form. The two goalies have been alternating so far and have both made brilliant saves.
Overall, however, Munich’s play still lacks consistency over 60 minutes. Our opponents were able to create periods of pressure—and thus scoring chances—partly due to some careless turnovers while moving the puck forward. That’s how we let a lead slip away in the closing minutes against Salzburg.
Highlights: EHC Red Bull München vs. HC Dynamo Pardubice (August 22, 2026)
The Opponent
Lausanne HC is the next top-tier opponent awaiting us in the preseason. Dominik Kahun, who most recently played for the top Swiss team for just over a year, naturally knows his former club inside and out. “Lausanne is one of the best teams in Europe. They’ve really bolstered their defense,” says our returning player. Among others, offensive defenseman Colin Miller—who most recently played for the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL—joined Lausanne this summer. In total, the 33-year-old Canadian has played 635 games in the world’s top league.
“But they also have really good players up front, like Damian Riat, Drake Caggiula, and Austin Czarnik,” says Kahun. With 51 points (19 goals, 32 assists), Czarnik was also the team’s top scorer last season. In fact, the offense was the team’s standout feature last season; Lausanne scored 155 goals—only three teams did better.
However, they fell short of winning the first championship title in the club’s history. Head coach Geoff Ward’s team, which finished sixth in the standings after the regular season, was narrowly eliminated in the playoff quarterfinals with a 3-4 loss to Genève-Servette HC.
In preseason, Lausanne has played two exhibition games so far. They suffered a 3–4 loss in a shootout against HC Fribourg-Gottéron but secured a 4–2 victory over the Pinguins Bremerhaven.
The Matchup
Munich and Lausanne are two teams that share a similar playing style. Both teams place great emphasis on forechecking, strong skating, and clean, quick passes out of their own zone. Both clubs have set their sights on the highest goals for the upcoming season and have bolstered their rosters accordingly. This means that all fans can look forward to some truly top-tier hockey. “It will certainly be the toughest game so far,” Kahun predicts.
But two real tests of our mettle also await us in the form of the HCB Südtirol Foxes from Bolzano and the Brûleurs de Loups de Grenoble. The two teams will face off on Saturday immediately after our game—so it’s not yet clear who we’ll face the following Sunday in the final or the third-place game.
The Aftermovie for Red Bulls Salute 2026
// Highlights
The host team from Bolzano recently advanced confidently to the playoffs as the fourth-place finisher in the regular season of the Austrian win2day ICE Hockey League. Their run ended in the quarterfinals against Olimpija Ljubljana (1–4). Forward Cole Schneider was the team’s leading scorer (18 goals, 35 assists). Among the new additions is defenseman Zac Leslie, who joined from the Straubing Tigers in the PENNY DEL, while goaltender Louis Domingue brings NHL experience to the team. Head coach Antti Karhula is also new to the team.
The Finn and his team will face Grenoble, last season’s runner-up in the Ligue Magnus, France’s top league. It wasn’t until the final that the multiple Champions League participant narrowly missed out on the tenth title in the club’s history against Bordeaux (1–4). Even forward Christophe Boivin’s 24 playoff points (86 points total, 31 goals) weren’t enough to help. The best-known new addition is forward Alexandre Grenier, who most recently played for the Kölner Haie and the Augsburger Panther. Grenoble’s new head coach, Juha Juujärvi, is also from Finland. In the past, the 51-year-old worked at Tappara Tampere as an assistant and video coach.
Player in Focus
Jeremy McKenna is looking to keep scoring this weekend. Our top goal-scorer from last season (20 goals) found the back of the net against both Salzburg and scored the game-winner against Pardubice—and has already gelled well with Yasin Ehliz (also with two goals) and Dominik Kahun (one goal). This line has been one of the most impressive in Munich’s play so far. McKenna as the receiver for his linemates’ passes? A promising strategy that’s paying off so far.
“It’s fun playing on our line; things are going pretty well already. But we just need more game experience,” said Kahun. “But yes: It’s already worked out very well with Yasin and Jeremy,” our returning player agreed. It’s quite possible, however, that head coach Oliver David will shake up the lineups once again during preseason.
Facts and Figures
We’ve faced Lausanne twice so far, but both matches took place years ago. In the summer of 2013, the Swiss won narrowly, 1–0; in August 2016, Munich won 6–3 on the road against the Swiss. Among the goal scorers back then was Dominik Kahun.
Match Day Info
The Südtirol Summer Classic will be held at the Sparkassen Arena, home of HC Bolzano (approx. 7,200 seats). Tickets are available here!
In addition, all games from South Tyrol will be livestreamed on Sporteurope.TV —and, of course, we’ll be covering the action as usual in the live blog on our website.
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