Eagle and Red Bull on the hunt
Who checks the Berlin polar bears from the throne?
04/05/2022 11:58 am
Showdown in German ice hockey: The 28th season of the DEL is entering the hot phase. The preliminary play-offs for the 101st German championship begin today. Eisbären Berlin are the top favourites, but Red Bull Munich and Adler Mannheim have also warmed up in recent weeks. We answer the most important questions.
Who will be champion?
Defending champion Eisbären Berlin is the top favorite, the DEL record champions played the strongest main round and secured first place. The team around the outstanding national players Mathias Niederberger and Marcel Noebels is perhaps even better than last year, the signing of long-time NHL striker Frans Nielsen and first-round pick Dominik Bokk further strengthened the team.
Also, who has a chance?
Vice-champion Grizzlys Wolfsburg stayed on the polar bears’ heels for almost the entire season, but lost second place last weekend. The two top teams from the pre-Corona period are also serious title contenders: Red Bull Munich and Adler Mannheim, who won the five championships before the pandemic.
Bayern, with record coach Don Jackson, warmed up for the play-offs with 23 goals and four wins at the end of the main round. After the sacking of the controversial coach Pavel Gross, Mannheim is playing again as one might expect given the exquisite squad. Bill Stewart, who is helping out on the gang again, led the Eagles to winning the title back in 2001. The Straubing Tigers, who finished in the top four for the second time after 2020, should not be underestimated.
Who are the stars of the playoffs?
The focus is on the national players who failed so early with their Olympic mission in Beijing. The polar bears rely on goalkeeper Niederberger and the German top scorer Noebels, Munich on the strikers Frederik Tiffels, Patrick Hager and Yasin Ehliz, Mannheim on Matthias Plachta and the long-time NHL defender Korbinian Holzer. But an ex-national player is also in the spotlight again: Wolfsburg captain Sebastian Furchner (39) wants to end his career with the silver cup.
Who is the biggest outsider?
A month ago, the Kölner Haie were threatened with the horror of relegation. After the general reckoning of coach Uwe Krupp (“under all sow”), the eight-time champion still reached tenth place and thus the pre-play-offs – exactly 20 years after the last title win. “The journey is not over yet,” said the coach, but in the quarter-finals, Berlin would probably be at least one size too big as opponents.
How are the playoffs going?
From the quarter-finals onwards, because of the longer season with 15 clubs, the game will not be played according to the “best of seven” format, as usual, but “best of five”. Three wins are necessary to advance. If there is a tie after 60 minutes, the game is extended in 20-minute increments until a goal is scored. The longest play-off game lasted 168 minutes and 16 seconds (Cologne vs. Mannheim, 5-4 on March 22, 2008). As usual, the last two quarter-finalists will be determined in the “best of three” format in the pre-play-offs between the Nürnberg Ice Tigers and the Düsseldorfer EG as well as the Kölner Haien and the ERC Ingolstadt.
Who will broadcast the playoffs?
ServusTV shows up to 16 games live on free TV. It starts today (7.30 p.m.) with the duel between Nuremberg and DEG. Deutsche Telekom broadcasts all games live on MagentaSport via live stream via TV, PC, tablet or smartphone – free of charge for Telekom customers, for everyone else for a monthly fee.