This weekend was the start of the Rookie Cup, a tournament for the U16 ages group set up by the EBEL and funded jointly by the European Union.
The tournament is made up of four groups where the winners advance to the finals, two of the four groups played this past weekend. Fehérvár AV19 played right here in Hungary in Kaposvár whereas UTE played in Münich Germany.
"The European Rookie Cup is a big step forward not just in the development of Austrian hockey, but also for the advancement of European youth hockey. I welcome the landmark support that this tournament has received from the European Union. I also applaud the innovative approach that the organizers have taken to bring these countries together and integrate them into workshops to fight against the biggest threats in our sport." sdai IIHF president Rene Fasel.
The tournament went great for Fehérvár in Kaposvár, they had an eight goal win against the squad from Vienna and in the second game they had a three goal lead but Jesenice was able to come back and tie the game up late, before Volán won in overtime on a Gergő Vincze goal. The closing game was against HK Sarajevo, they had a 102 shots on net and about half of them went in as they won 51-0.
With the group stage win Fehérvár punched their ticket to the finals that will be in April.
In Münich UTE just missed out on making it to the finals as well, they beat the host team 14-1. In the second game they took on the junior team of the Vienna Capitals, UTE was down early but managed to send the game into overtime, the Capitals managed to take two out of the three points and giving the Viennese team a one point lead in the standings. On the final day both clubs won, with UTE beating HK Olimpija Ljubljana and therefore the Capitals will join Fehérvár AV 19 in the finals.
In the other two group stages MAC Budapest will travel to Ljubljana and Miskolc will play in St.Pölten.
Schedule
Kaposvár March 19-23
Munich March 20-23
Ljubljana March 26-29
St.Pölten March 26-29
Finals in Salzburg April 10-12
website: www.rookiecup.eu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/europeanrookiecup