Ten clubs in the German Ice Hockey League are looking forward to the start of the playoffs. Development work is only required for the Düsseldorf EG. At the last minute, the team that had been in the best form in the league for a long time dropped out of the top six. A 2018 Olympic hero is about to say goodbye.
Before the start of the high point of the season in the German Ice Hockey League, coach Roger Hannson has to do some development work for his team. As the only one of the four teams in the pre-playoffs, the Düsseldorfer EG starts with a big disappointment. At the last minute, the team that had been in the best form in the league for a long time dropped out of the top six and thus missed direct qualification for the quarter-finals. “I have to see that I can get the players back in good mental shape,” said DEG coach Hannson before the start of the pre-playoff series against newly promoted Löwen Frankfurt this Tuesday (7.30 p.m. / MagentaSport).
“Of course it’s extremely unfortunate that you still fall out of the top six on the finish line,” said Düsseldorf’s sporting director Niki Mondt after the 0: 4 on Sunday in the last main round match day against the Adler Mannheim. It hadn’t been for a long time that 91 points weren’t enough to qualify directly for the quarter-finals. “No one has to complain about our point average, and seventh place is good too,” Mondt continued. Even if the euphoria is much greater at the newly promoted Frankfurt, DEG is the clear favourite. Especially since top striker Dominik Bokk is likely to be missing injured in Hesse.
The mood among the lions is still huge. “We’re all overwhelmed. The season goes on. No one was in the mood for the end of the season. That won’t change against Düsseldorf either. We want to get through,” said defender Kevin Maginot. In order to reach the quarter-finals via the detour of the first playoff round, two victories are necessary up to a maximum of Sunday. In the other series, the Fischtown Pinguins and the Nuremberg Ice Tigers face each other – this pairing already existed on Sunday. At the end of the main round, Nuremberg won 3:2 after a penalty shoot-out and stayed two nights longer in Bremerhaven.
Nuremberg’s old star Patrick Reimer (40) is now in his last playoffs. The 2018 Olympic silver medalist is retiring after the season. “I’ve known Patrick since he came here and I’m upset and sad that he’s leaving. You can’t close the Reimer gap,” said managing director Wolfgang Gastner of the “Eishockey News” magazine.
