Vienna Capitals are an
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
club that participate in the
Erste Bank Hockey League
The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...
. Founded in 2001, the Capitals play their home games in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, at
Albert Schultz Eishalle
Erste Bank Arena (also known as Albert Schultz Eishalle) is an indoor sporting arena located in Vienna, Austria. The arena has a capacity of 7,022 peoplealbertschultzeishalle.atHalle 1 Eissportzentrum Kagran and was opened in January 1995. It un ...
. In the
2004–05 season, the Capitals claimed their first Austrian Championship in defeating
EC KAC.
History
The Vienna Capitals were founded in 2001, after the disbandment of
Wiener EV
Wiener Eislaufverein (Wiener EV, WEV; Vienna Ice Skating Club) is an ice-sports club located in Vienna, Austria. They were founded in 1867 and the club’s greatest successes have been in ice hockey, figure skating, and speed skating. The club a ...
in 2000, to continue the legacy of ice hockey which has been present in the federal capital since 1914. They began competition in the EBEL in the
2001–02 season, under coach
Kurt Harand. With good performances, they established themselves in mid-table and finished the end of the regular season in fourth place. In the quarterfinals, the Capitals swept the
Graz 99ers
The Moser Medical Graz 99ers are an Austrian professional ice hockey team from Graz, Styria. The club was founded in 1999 after the previous club, EHC Graz, folded prior to the 1998–99 season due to financial difficulties. The Graz99ers started ...
4: 0 before losing in a sweep to
EHC Linz
The Steinbach Black Wings Linz are a member of the Austrian Hockey League. They play their home games in Linz, Austria at the Keine Sorgen EisArena.
History
The EHC Black Wings Linz was founded in 1992. After several years in the Austrian minor ...
in the semifinals.
In their fourth year of competition, with
Jim Boni
Giacinto "Jim" Boni (born June 4, 1963) is an Italian-Canadian professional ice hockey coach and executive, convicted of manslaughter.
Playing career
Born in Frosinone, Italy and raised in Canada, Boni played professionally in Italy and Germa ...
now the head coach after the disappointment of the previous seasons and a revised squad, the Capitals claimed their first Austrian title in the
2003–04 season. Behind the acquisition of goaltender
Frédéric Chabot, the team managed to form a tight-knit unit and ended the regular season top of the league with eight points ahead of the runner-up, The EC KAC. In the semifinals, the Capitals defeated EC VSV in four games and met EC KAC in the final. The first six games of the final series were won by the respective away team, before Vienna won the seventh game 6-2 for their first league title in their history, and the first Viennese club to win in 43 years.
150px, left , thumb , Logo of the Capitals from 2001 to 2011.
In the following seasons, the Capitals made repeat semi-finals appearances; however, in more recent years the Capitals would suffer from a lack of developing prospects compared to other Bundesliga teams. This was due to the fact that Vienna did not offer a consistent training facility, and team affiliate EHC Vienna ceasing its partnership. Beginning in the 2007-08 season, the league enforced a scheme that allowed each EBEL team the commitment of only five transfer card players; as a substitute, the so-called points rule was introduced. With the Capitals handcuffed by the lack of available talent Capitals president Hans Schmid tried abolishing the points rule in order to freely acquire players in the future. This sparked heated discussions among the clubs, where it was argued according to the EU labor rules that every hockey player should be allowed free choice of employment, of which any regulations would be illegal.
In preparation for the
2011–12 season, the Capitals competed in the
2011 European Trophy
The 2011 European Trophy was the second European Trophy, a European ice hockey tournament held annually. It was also the sixth tournament since its predecessor, the ''Nordic Trophy'', was launched in 2006. The regulation round began on 11 August 2 ...
for the first time in franchise history. They would win just 1 game out of 8 to finish last in their division.
Venue
The home games of the Capitals were played to crowds of up to 4,500 spectators at the comprehensive
Albert Schultz Eishalle
Erste Bank Arena (also known as Albert Schultz Eishalle) is an indoor sporting arena located in Vienna, Austria. The arena has a capacity of 7,022 peoplealbertschultzeishalle.atHalle 1 Eissportzentrum Kagran and was opened in January 1995. It un ...
in Vienna's Danube City. In February 2009 it was announced that the capacity of the hall would be expanded to 7,000 spectators with a retractable roof. Renovation work began after the 2008–09 season and was completed before the 2010–11 season to the cost of 40 million euros. In addition to increasing seating capacity, a parking garage was built and new video screens and VIP boxes were installed.
The Capitals have been the EBEL's best drawing club in attendance, pulling in an average of 4,800 over the years.
Players
Current roster
Updated 9 July 2019.
References
External links
Vienna Capitals Official Website (German)
{{Austrian Hockey League, state = collapsed
Ice hockey teams in Austria
Ice hockey clubs established in 2001
2001 establishments in Austria
Austrian Hockey League teams
Sport in Vienna