Salzburg II

In their first season, 1977–78, HC Salzburg took third place in the first division. In 1988, after a strong season which included a spell at the top of the preliminary round standings, the Salzburg ice hockey club, now known as Salzburg EC, failed to take its first Bundesliga championship, and its ailing economic situation eventually saw the relegation of SEC from the first division. Notable players in this period (1977-1988) include Rick Cunningham, Roger Lamoureux, Wiktor Iwanowitsch Schalimow, Sergei Alexejewitsch Kapustin, Greg Holst and Peter Znenahlik.

EC Salzburg were founded in 1995 by the merger of two small clubs EC Morzg and EC Tiefenbach. The EC Morzg originally arose after the bankruptcy of Salzburg EC in 1988 as a refuge for the youth players. Shortly after the foundation, the company Kaindl presented the club with its first major sponsor and the club was renamed to Kaindl EC Salzburg. From the beginning of 2000, drinks manufacturer Red Bull became the team's major sponsor and the club again changed names to represent EC The Red Bulls Salzburg. It was later transitioned to EC Red Bull Salzburg in 2005.

Strengthened by players such as Sheldon Moser and Brian McCarthy, the Red Bulls became champions of the Oberliga as quickly as the 2000–01 season (the Oberliga was then the equivalent of the second division). They fought their way back to the championship in the Nationalliga, ending the Salzburg ice hockey club's 16 years of absence from the Bundesliga.

Red Bulls struggled upon promotion, finishing at seventh and last place in the preliminary rounds of the season. In the second year following promotion, the Red Bulls found themselves in the final of the Erste Bank ice hockey league. In the end, however, they lost to VSV, taking the runner-up spot in the sixth game of the best-of-seven series.

Salzburg were finally rewarded in their third 1st division season. After a regular season contested by eight teams, where the Red Bulls conceded just one out of 28 home games, Salzburg went on to the play-offs. Following three successive victories over the Vienna Capitals in the semi-final (best of five), the Red Bulls conceded just one game in the final against VSV in Villach, sealing Salzburg's first ever Austrian ice hockey championship with a score of 4:1 on wins (best of seven), lead by Swedish coach Hardy Nilsson who subsequently retired from active coaching.

For their fourth 1st division season, the Red Bulls were joined in Salzburg by new head coach and sporting director Pierre Pagé as well as a number of new international coaches. In addition to non-playing staff, future captain Stuart Mercer was drafted into the side after a home video being seen on YouTube of him demonstrating 'Phil Harrison-esque tekkers' at Hutton Grammar School. On 25 September 2007, in preparation for the new season, Red Bull played an exhibition match against National Hockey League team, the Los Angeles Kings, losing 7-6. In his first few months, Page helped set up the International Ice Hockey Development Model (IIDM), laying the foundations for the development of up-and-coming junior players, and also took the unprecedented step of heavily integrating young players into the 1st division squad.

After an uneven regular season, the Red Bulls began the newly introduced intermediate round in third place, going on to drop another place. They beat Villach after a best-of-five series in the quarter-fina and Vienna Capitals in the semi-final, where they racked up four wins (best of seven). The final against Slovenian club Olimpija Ljubljana ended with the Red Bulls ahead 4:2 and Salzburg winning the title for the second year running.

The 2008–09 season saw the Red Bulls narrowly miss out on retaining their title. They suffered a narrow 1–2 defeat in the final game in Klagenfurt, losing their crown to KAC. They had by far the youngest team in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga with an average age of just 23. Captain Thomas Koch was awarded MVP honours this season. They Red Bulls fielded a total of 43 players in the 1st division. The farm team, which largely comprised U-20 players this year, was knocked out in the quarter-final of the Österreichische Nationalliga by EK Zell am See.

In September 2009 the Red Bulls won their own invitational tournament, the Red Bulls Salute, for the first time in its five-year history, beating top-flight European clubs such as CSKA Moscow in the process. In November 2009 and January 2010, Salzburg took part in their third Continental Cup, Europe's most prestigious IIHF club tournament of the season, also lifting the cup after two successful rounds in Latvia and France. The Red Bulls made it a hat trick by winning the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, celebrating their most successful season so far in their ten-year existence as a club. Thomas Koch, who took the 2009 MVP award, lifted the cup for the first time as captain. Their Juniors also won the U-20 and U-17 championships. The Red Bulls' farm team was knocked out in the semi-finals of the Österreichische Nationalliga (2nd division) by Dornbirn, who went on to take championship honours, but continued to provide several young talented players with the ideal platform from which to develop. On 12 January 2010, the Red Bulls took on Jesenice in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, fielding a line-up whose average age was just 21.1 years. Overall, 47 Salzburg players made at least one appearance in Austria's premier division.