The Augsburg Panthers are about to be relegated from the German Ice Hockey League. The founding member can no longer save himself on his own. A complicated regulation can still secure the league. Meanwhile, a bizarre plan was discarded.
After the winning goal in extra time, the fans of the Augsburg Panthers cheered louder than they had in a long time. The mood boycott of the Ultras and the eerie silence at the beginning of the game were forgotten for a moment after the 5: 4 in the derby against ERC Ingolstadt – but for the time being it will probably have been one of the last successes of the founding member of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL). It has been clear since Sunday: The runner-up from 2010 can no longer save himself from relegation on his own. “Our situation is difficult. We owe it to the fans to give everything here,” said winning goalscorer Terry Broadhurst at MagentaSport.
Defending champions Eisbären Berlin in the saving place 13 is 19 points away with six games to go. Now it’s time to wait two months. Only then will it be clear whether one of the clubs entitled to promotion will become second division champions. If not, Augsburg would remain penultimate in the DEL. Should the Swabians still fall behind the current tail light Bietigheim Steelers, they would at least have planning security as direct relegators.
All 15 DEL clubs, including Augsburg, had agreed to this regulation before the start of the season. Most recently, sports manager Duanne Moeser complained: “The relegation regulation is very poorly thought out.” And coach Kai Suikkanen lamented: “How do you put together a team when you don’t know what league you’re in?”
The Finn, since shortly before Christmas as the fourth coach in the 2022 calendar year on the AEV band, has not managed to turn things around and has been at a loss for weeks. Sometimes he called his players “a group of figure skaters”, then himself as the main problem: “Maybe the cause can be found behind the gang.” He should be in charge of the Panthers for the last time on March 5th at the end of the main round, then the waiting begins: The second division champion will not be known until April 23rd at the earliest.
If the superior table leaders Kassel Huskies, DEL relegated Krefeld Pinguine or the Dresdner Eislöwen grab the title, Augsburg would also have been relegated as 14th. Only these three clubs meet the promotion criteria. “Our motto is: hope dies last,” former national goalkeeper Dennis Endras told the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. The 2018 Olympic hero actually wanted to end his career with the Swabians, but that is now questionable: “There is currently so much sadness and anger in the bones that an objective decision does not seem possible.”
According to media reports in Augsburg, there was a brief discussion about helping out the second division team Ravensburg with some players – so that none of those entitled to promotion would become champions. But they refrained from doing so, also because falling to the last place – and thus direct descent – is still possible.
