The Eisbären from Berlin are playing a very weak season in the DEL, but in the decisive weeks the team suddenly gets in shape – and maybe in the playoffs? The polar bears would have to overtake three more teams in order to keep the actually lost chance of the title hat-trick
Unfamiliar tones sounded before the final siren. “Oh, how beautiful it is,” echoed through the Berlin Arena. The polar bears, seven weeks ago still deep in the relegation battle, have the play-offs in mind shortly before the end of the main round. “The faith is there,” said goalkeeper Tobias Ancicka after the 5-1 win against ERC Ingolstadt at MagentaSport.
At the beginning of the year, only six points away from a possible relegation zone, the defending champion of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) is still table 13 before the last three league games. – but the gap to tenth place has been reduced to three points. A place in the first play-off round beckons, a detour that the Berliners have always avoided in recent years, but would now love to take.
“We have to keep cool heads, not get nervous, not get too hectic,” said Ancicka, who had saved 31 shots from second in the table the day before his 22nd birthday, “then I’m convinced we still have a good chance.” Before last weekend, the polar bears were still nine points behind the Tenth Lion Frankfurt. Two victories against the top teams Adler Mannheim (5:2) and Ingolstadt not only significantly improved the starting position for the final sprint, but also showed that the champions of the last two years are still a factor after a long, extremely weak main round.
“We’re playing a whole lot better as a team, especially defensively, the lads make it a lot easier for me,” said Ancicka, “that’s why things are going so well for me right now.” After the departure of national goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger, the goalie was identified by many as a weak point. With a catch rate of 91.0 percent and a goals against average of 2.69, he is also at the bottom of the statistics for regular players. His time in Berlin is said to be running out, Jake Hildebrand from newly promoted Frankfurt is to become his successor, and he himself is to switch to the Kölner Haie.
The Eisbären would have to overtake three more teams in order to keep their long-lost chance of winning the title hat-trick: the Schwenninger Wild Wings, the Iserlohn Roosters and Frankfurt. The last main round opponents are on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven, on Friday (7:30 p.m.) the penultimate Augsburg Panther and finally on Sunday (2 p.m./all MagentaSport) the direct competitor Schwenningen with the new national coach Harold Kreis.
The mood in Mannheim is very different than in Berlin at the moment. “Only those who fight can also lose – sort out at all levels,” fans had demanded on a banner last Friday. Some of them boycotted the first few minutes of the game. “We don’t put things in the front, and it rattles too often in the back,” complained national player Stefan Loibl after the home defeat against the Eisbären from Berlin. On Sunday there was a 2:3 penalty shoot-out in Wolfsburg, the fourth defeat in a row. Fourth place and therefore the home advantage in the quarter-finals are suddenly in danger.
