Ivo
Jaschick's
Eye on Europe
Ivo Jaschick Reports from
Germany
NOV 14 -- REPORT FROM THE TUI NATIONS CUP
The German Hockey League 2005/06
In the German Hockey League (DEL) – now in
it‘s 12th season – there are 14 Teams (Augsburger Panther,
Berlin Polarbears, Duesseldorf Metro Stars, Foxes Duisburg, Frankfurt
Lions, Hamburg Freezers, Hannover Scorpions, ERC Ingolstadt, Iserlohn
Roosters, Kassel Huskies, Cologne Sharks, Krefeld Penguins, Adler
Mannheim and Nuremberg Ice Tigers). The last four teams at the end of
the regular season are playing the Play-Downs in a best of seven series.
At the end the loser has to step down into the second division. But this
year the league decided to “copy” the American NHL where no team is
going into another division at the end of a season. So it is the last
chance for a team to come to heaven (DEL) & go to hell (2. Bundesliga).
Last year the US hockey fans were whining but the hockey fans all over the rest of the world were laughing (Okay, I only know the German fans were very happy while they had the chance to see the magic of many NHL stars. Now the lockout is over, every star player is back in the world‘s best league and so everything is going back to be normal.)
also: Check out our
German League photo gallery!
All photos by Mathais Lehmann
Augsburger Panther
(www.aev-panther.de):
It looked like they have build a totally new team. The new coach is the
Candian Randy Edmonts who has no experience in the DEL. With the Swedish
goalie Rolf Wanhainen they have also a new man between the pipes. Only
the defence is nearly the same: Only one substitute (Martin Lindmann)
for Rich Brennan and John Miner. The offence was totally remodeled –
three guys stayed and six were added. It is very hard to say if they
will be better than last year when they lost the ¼ final. They will
fight for a playoff berth.
Berlin Polarbears
(www.eisbaeren.de):
Last years champion lost some keyplayers (G Oliver Jonas (Cologne
Sharks); Lockout player G Olaf Kolzig (back to Washington); D Richard
Persson (Klagenfurt/Austia); D Shawn Heins (Hannover Scorpions); F Alex
Barta (Hamburg Freezers); F Rob Shearer (Linz/Austria), Erik Cole (back
to Carolina) and Florian Keller (ERC Ingolstadt). Up to now they “only”
added two youngsters, D Rene Kramer (18) & F Alex Weis– but they are
playing very well and will fight for a top spot.
DEG Metro Stars
(www.deg-metro-stars.de):
The best deal in the pre-season was to hire general-manager Lance
Nethery. The new manager had been very successful before. As a player he
was collecting a lot of points in various teams, as coach he won three
championships with Adler Mannheim and as manager one with the Frankfurt
Lions (their first). With his good connections to the hockeyworld
overseas he started to build a new team that should come into the
playoffs – after they missed it last year. He gave the Ferraro twins
Peter and Chris a contract – who played the lockout season in Sweden –,
hired Chris Schmidt (Manchester Monarchs) & Craig Johnson (who could
chose his new teams because many wanted to have him). Nethery also
installed a new coach: Don Jackson. The first games showed that they
will make the post season this time.
Foxes Duisburg
(www.ev-duisburg.de):
It was unexpected that Duisburg now is playing in the DEL. But they
earned it while winning last season`s final game in Straubing. Dieter
Hegen – former goalgetter also in the nationalteam; last year was his
rookie season as coach – was building a team that can compete in the
DEL. 4 of 8 defencemen are new – the Canadians Stephane Robitaille,
Francois Groleau, the Swede John Wikstrom and the German Andrej Teljukin.
The offence is strengthened by 7 newcomers. Steve Brule, Robert Francz
and Trond Magnusson already have DEL experience. They have to fight for
being part of next season`s DEL.
Frankfurt Lions
(www.frankfurt-lions.de):
Manager Lance Nethery built this now high regarded team. Key players are
F Patrick Lebeau, F Dwayne Norris, F Jason Young and goalie Ian Gordon.
Two years ago they won the first championship for this franchise and
last time they lost in the semi-finals. This year coach Rich Chernomaz
and the new manager Karl-Heinz Fliegauf only added four Canadian
players: D Patrick Boileau, D Philippe Plante, F Daniel Corso and F
David Gosselin. “Cherno” will lead the lions back into the finals!
Hamburg Freezers
(www.hamburg-freezers.de):
With Boris Rousson the Freezers have a good goalie. His back-up, Steffen
Karg, came from Ingolstadt and has solid statistics. The defence is
mainly in “Canadian hands”: Darren Van Impe, Paul Manning, Alan Letang
and Shane Peacock. The offence was made new. Only three younger guys and
Jacek Plachta stayed. 6 players from other DEL-teams and Bennoit Gratton
from Switzerland have to be integrated by coach Mike Schmidt who took
over the coaching position during last season. So it will be difficult
for the “Freezers” to make the play-offs.
Hannover Scorpions
(www.hannoverscorpions.de):
On the paper this team from the lower part of the standings made the
greatest step forward. They changed nearly half of the players and got
some key players – in every section (goalie, defence, offence) they
improved.
Although the goalie has not been a bigger problem they hired the 33 year old Canadian Trevor Kidd who played last season in the second Swedish league in Örebrö. The defence was strengthened by last years champion Shawn Heins (Polarbears Berlin), Sascha Goc (brother of SJ center Marcel Goc) and Brad Burym. The offence got more power while hiring five Canadian forwards Todd Warriner, Mike Green, Brad Tapper, Steve Guolla and Marty Murray – they all are well known by every opponents goalie. But nobody knows what is going on with Marty Murray. After suffering a serious knee injury during the last played NHL season nobody knows if he will be able to come back in the same shape. But nevertheless the Scorpions will be found in the upper region of the standings.
ERC Ingolstadt
(www.ercingolstadt.de):
Now in the 4th DEL season the “Panthers” would like to win
the championship. The last two years they lost the semi-finals. Coach
Ron Kennedy made some changes in his team so that their goal (champion
2006) can come closer.
Their goal is protected by one of the best goalies in th league – Jimmy Waite. The defence was strengthened by Sebastian Steingroß (Hannover Scorpions) and Jason Holland (Manchester Monarchs/AHL) and also their offence got only some additions. Yannic Seidenberg (one of the best WHL players {03/04}) came from Cologne); Christoph Höhenleitner (2. League), Sean Tallaire (Nuremberg), Florian Keller (Polarbears) & Bjorn Barta (Augsburg Panther) should give more power.
Iserlohn Roosters
(www.iec.de):
The Iserlohn Roosters are a smaller market team with an arena for 4500
spectators. This decisive year (after this hockey-year you can not go
down into division 2) they have to stay in the DEL and then they will
start to enlarge and modernise the old arena. Since they are in the DEL
(00/01) they haven`t appeared once in the play-offs – but sometimes it
was very close. Last year with the help of Mike York (NYIslanders) and
John-Michael Liles (Colorado Avalanche) they could smell the play-off
air – but finally they didn`t come in.
So coach Doug Mason gave his team a new face. The goalkeepers Dimitrij Kotschnew and Leonardo Conti are staying between the pipes. The defence became better through the additions of Markus Pöttinger (DEG), Mats Trygg (SWE) and Kirk Furey (Huskies). In the offence 11 players had to go and 8 new came. Only three (Michael Wolf, Matthias Potthoff, Alexej Dimitriev) are not first League proofed. Doug Mason will integrate Brad Purdie (Freezers), Ladislav Karabin (Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg), Linus Fagemo (SWE), Mark Greig (Kassel Huskies) & Vitalij Aab and will create a team that will last but not least arrive in the play-offs.
Kassel Huskies
(www.huskies-online.de):
The Huskies – also a small market franchise - had been a member in the
DEL since the league was founded in 1994. Three years later they lost
the finals – and last year they lost the play-downs and had to go into
the second league. But another team (Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg) was
suspended and the Huskies stayed in the League. With “Bernie” Bernhard
Engelbrecht as the new coach they started to rebuild the Huskies around
F Tobias Abstreiter – many of the former players were looking for new
teams to play with after the team had to go down.
Engelbrecht will have a difficult/taff job to prevent the Huskies from next season being in the second league.
Kolner Haie {Cologne Sharks}
(www.haie.de}:
This team`s has the biggest arena (18.800} in league – and a real good
team. 8 players from the German national team {G Oliver Jonas, G Thomas
Greiss (SJ), D Lasse Kopitz, D Andreas Renz, F Sebastian Furchner, F
Eduard Lewandowski (Pho), F Tino Boos. In the defence you can find a lot
of top hockey players such as Mirko Luedemann, Stephane Julien and Brad
Schlegel (see article before) and two youngsters (Torsten Ankert,
Michael Hrstka). The offence is led by the “dino-line” now is 110 years
old (Hicks, 36, Roy, 36, McLlwain, 38) – but as good as nearly every
other line in the league. Ivan Ciernik and Bill Lindsay (former NHLers)
are now showing their magic in the Sharks aquarium of the “Kölnarena”.
Bill Lindsay will step into the position of Alex Hicks - one of the top
scorers in this team is out of the team for a long time due to knee
problems - and Ciernik is in the same line with Edi Lewandowski and Tino
Boos. Gogulla, Mondt and Adduono are building another dangeros
formation. Martens, Hatterscheid and Müller are the young 4th
line. Coach Hans Zach knows better than many others how to integrate
them in the team. If Alex Hicks is coming back as Brad Schlegel did they
have the chance to become champion 2006.
Krefeld Penguins
(www.Krefeld-Pinguine.de):
They are playing their home games in a new arena for possible 8029
people – but there are only half of them. After being Champion 2003 they
never appeared in the play-offs again. So they are starting a next try
with Teal Fowler as their new coach.
Robert Mueller is their national coach and as back ups are sitting Ken Passman and Bastian Jakob on the bench. The defence is nearly the same like last year – only Richard Pavlikovsky and Andy Hedlund are added. The offence will be strengthened by Ted Drury (Huskies), Herberts Vasiljevs (Ice Tigers), Boris Blank (Sharks), Franz Fritzmeier (Roosters) and some additions from the own junior team.
They will reach the play-offs!
Adler Mannheim
(www.adler-mannheim.de):
The „Eagles“ also have a new “eyrie” (13600) and the team has improved.
Between the pipes coach Stephane Richer can choose between 37-year old
Frederic Chabot, who came from Austrian champion Vienna Capitals, and
youngster Patrick Ehelechner (21), who played with the Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
the last two years.
In the defence now is playing the Karl Dykhuis, who has the experience of 706 NHL games. Also the Buffalo born Peter Ratchuk (came from Frankfurt Lions) is a very important specialist in front of the own goal. The Swede Pierre Hedin is also a new player, who played three games for the Toronto Maple Leafs (03/04) but spent most of that season in St. John (Farmteam). In MODO Hockey (SWE) he played 339 games and scored 105 points {54 g; 51 a}. Stephan Retzer is the last addition in front of the goal – he is playing for the nationalteam and is very important for the team. To get more power for the offence Mannheim signed Shawn Carter (Augsburg) who improved his number of scoring points in each of his three seasons. With Lonny Bohonnos a player signed who had been very successful in Switzerland and lost last years final in the AHL with the Wolves of Chicago. When reading the other forwards Steve Kelly (172 games with Edmonton, Tampa Bay, New Jersey, LA), Christoph Ullmann (German National Team), Devin Edgerton (IHL & SUI), Rene Corbet (415 games with Colorado, Calgary & Pittsburgh), John Tripp (43 games for NYRangers & LA), Jeff Shantz (686 games for Blackhawks, Flames and Colorado & SUI) and some juniors who are playing in Germans U-20 national team.
The “Eagles” are a very hot choice for the championship!
Nuremberg Ice Tigers
(www.icetigers.de):
This team has with Benoit Laporte a new coach and 13 (!) new cracks – 9
already played as “Ice Tigers” last season. So 45 years old Laporte has
the difficult job to create a competitive team of these bunch of
individuals. Jean-Francois Labbé is an experienced new goalie who has
with Lukas Lang a very talented back up. It will be the best part of the
team.
In the defence they have four new players to integrate. Jame Pollock (SUI), Michel Periard (Portland/AHL), Rich Brennan (SUI) and Christian Laflamme (Huskies) are added to national players Stefan Schauer and Felix Petermann. Christian Franz is defender No.7.
F Colin Beardsmore returned from Cologne. Gert Acker, Christian Retzer and Brian Swanson left the Huskies to give the Ice-Tigers more power in the offence. Francois Methot, Matt Davidson, Robert Dome and Alex Polaczek will have the same job.
The “Ice Tigers” will have problems to come into the play offs!
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WESTERN HOCKEY NETWORK
