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In yesterday’s final, they clinched the championship title by defeating countrymen Färjestad BK in Bratislava. Joonas Vihko was the big hero for Luleå, he scored both goals in the 2-0-win. He opened the scoring after 11 minutes with a powerplay goal. The scoreline stayed there until late in the third period, when Vihko with 7 minutes left stole the puck from the Färjestad goalie and scored the decisive goal. In Luleå’s net, David Rautio got the nod even though Johan Gustafsson recorded a shutout in the semifinal win against Vienna Capitals. Rautio played great in goal and pulled off a shutout against Färjestad. Deserving championsThis is the second year which Luleå participated in the tournament. They made the Red BullsContinue Reading

The quarterfinals in Red Bulls Salute were played on Thursday evening. The happy quartet advancing to the semifinals is Luleå Hockey, Tappara, UPC Vienna Capitals and Färjestad BK. The semifinals will be played on Saturday, with the championship game set for Sunday. In Bratislava, HV71 faced Tappara in the early game and it was a close game between the second placed Swedish team and the 6th placed Finnish team. The Swedes got the opening goal when Jesper Fasth made it 1-0 HV71 in the middle of the first period. Tappara equalized in the second period when defenseman Teemu Aalto fired home 1-1, and the remainder was anyone’s game. Despite a number of power play opportunities, both goalies kept the scoreContinue Reading