Tornado Luxembourg Suffer First Defeat of 2026 at Home Game

On Saturday 24 January 2026, Tornado Luxembourg played their 15th match in Group A of Division 2 of the French Ice Hockey Championship against Renards d’Orléans, in front of 1,121 spectators at a sold-out Kockelscheuer Ice Rink.

Ahead of the fixture, Tornado Luxembourg, coached by Christer Eriksson, sat sixth in the standings, level on points with Évry-Viry, whom they had beaten in overtime in their previous match. Tornado went into the game against Renards d’Orléans on the back of two consecutive wins, including a 5-3 victory over league leaders Brest. The visitors, however, arrived on a three-game winning streak and currently share third place with Châlons-en-Champagne, sitting seven points ahead of the Luxembourg team.

The visitors made the stronger start to the game, opening the scoring in the fifth minute through Aleksis Burkits. Six minutes later, while Tornado were shorthanded, Roberts Vitols doubled the lead for Renards d’Orléans. The visitors struck again in a power-play situation, with Burkits scoring his second goal of the game past Adrian Eriksson, as the opening period ended 3-0 in favour of Renards.

Head coach of Tornado Luxembourg, Christer Eriksson, told Chronicle.lu that his team failed to find its rhythm early on. “It was not there from the beginning and the whole team was down. We didn’t come into the game,” he said, adding that during the break he urged his players to be more proactive. “We were standing still and reacting instead of taking action. Hockey is a very intense game and you have to be first in the situations. It was a little bit better afterwards, but not as good as I know we can play.”

The second period was more evenly contested, with chances at both ends. Midway through the period, Tornado forward Dmytro Danylenko broke through on goal, but his one-on-one effort was deflected onto the crossbar by Hugo Jones. A few minutes later, Tornado went on the power play, but instead of reducing the deficit, they conceded twice on quick breakaways, with Maxime Ransbotyn and Aleksis Burkits extending Renards d’Orléans’ lead to 5-0.

Tornado only found the net after gaining a two-man advantage following penalties against the visitors. Julien Vogt pulled one back by finishing a pass at the far post, before the hosts struck again just three seconds before the end of the period, with Matthias Pibernus reacting quickest in front of goal to score on the power play, sending the teams into the final period with the score at 2-5.

Reflecting on the possibility of a comeback, Tornado head coach Christer Eriksson told Chronicle.lu that his side needed an early goal in the third period to stay in contention. “We needed to score very quickly, but we didn’t have the power. They were stronger than us and it was a relatively comfortable evening for them,” he said. “Of course I am disappointed with the result, but even more with our performance, because we couldn’t deliver as I know we can, especially at home with so many people around. At the same time, we are a club that is still growing. This is only our second season at this level.”

The spectators at the Kockelscheuer Ice Rink did not see any goals in the final 20 minutes of play. The result allowed Renards d’Orléans to avenge their 4-6 home defeat in mid-November.

Tornado forward Dmytro Danylenko said the team struggled to find its usual rhythm and intensity, which made it difficult to recover later in the game. “We didn’t start the match the way we wanted to. We lacked intensity and speed in our decision-making, and after conceding twice while on the power play it became very hard to come back,” he said. “We now have time to work on our mistakes, and I want to thank all the supporters for coming in such numbers. We really felt that support and we hope to see them again soon at Kockelscheuer.”

With three matches remaining in the regular season before the start of the play-offs, Tornado Luxembourg currently have five regulation wins, two overtime wins, one overtime defeat and seven regulation losses. Up next is a home fixture against Coqs de Courbevoie, who currently sit ninth in the standings, with the game scheduled to take place on Saturday 7 February 2026 at 19:00.