IIn the summer of 2018, the joy was great. The German Ice Hockey League (DEL) announced that there would soon be sporty promotions and relegations between it and the DEL2. “Overjoyed”, said Franz Reindl, “that the famous cow is now off the ice is absolutely outstanding,” said the President of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB). It sounded similar with players and officials from the league, with fans and the press. After years as a closed league, the DEL is finally coming to its senses.
“Promotion and relegation is part of the sporting culture in Europe,” said Bremerhaven’s managing director Alfred Prey, “that’s what the fans want to see.” In the current 2021/22 season, they will experience it again for the first time. So shortly before the start, even the skeptical DEL boss Gernot Tripcke let himself be carried away to make a positive statement: “The sporty ascent and descent adds extra salt to the soup.”
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Now, almost four weeks later, one can say: Tripcke was right. Some people no longer taste the soup at all. Stefan Ustorf, for example, the manager of the Nürnberg Ice Tigers: “Frank worked extremely hard here, had his chance here, but failed in the task of having to deliver results in a year of promotion and relegation,” he said Nürnberger Nachrichten on the dismissal of coach Frank Fischöder after five defeats in the first six games. Shortly before, the chronically chaotic Krefeld penguins had split up with Clark Donatelli.
Now it’s not uncommon for trainers to be dismissed in the DEL, but two so early in the season? After only six out of 56 game days? “Anyone who has still thought about what the return of relegation will do to the clubs in the upper house has a first clue after a few game days: It makes them nervous. The panic button should be pressed more often, ”commented the specialist journal Ice Hockey News.
Dynamics of the struggle for existence
One problem: The clubs are no longer used to playing against relegation, they no longer know the special dynamics of the struggle for existence. And some seem to take the struggle for existence literally. Some clubs were already on the transfer market in the summer as if the corona crisis no longer existed. : significantly less money from central marketing (TV money and league sponsors), fewer own sponsors, fewer fans in the hall.
Would all patrons and patrons stay on board, without whom it would not work at many locations? And what would it mean for the league if a big name like Cologne or Düsseldorf disappeared and didn’t come back up quickly? The fact that league boss Tripcke reacted cautiously in the past when he was asked about the ongoing topic of promotion and relegation is precisely due to such issues. Teams that don’t have to leave the league even after a bad year offer donors a completely different level of planning security.
They also had a plan with the Ice Tigers. There they announced the “Nürnberger Weg” in 2020 with many young talents. Fischöder seemed to be the right coach, as he is considered a developer. For years, Fischöder had led Mannheim’s youngsters to youth championships and trained today’s stars like Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stützle and Moritz Seider. Now he should build something up in Nuremberg in the long term. It didn’t even seem to bother the fact that he and the young squad ended up way down in the table in his first year, there was still no relegation.
It’s different now, so it was over after just six games. Which was also due to the fact that manager Ustorf was only signed after Fischöder, he was not his man. Nor is the Nuremberg way his. To what extent will he continue it in the long term? Uncertain. Not only in the case of the Ice Tigers, the DEL is now forced to think more short-term again.
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