The EHC Red Bull Munich fans gathered in the north curve of Munich’s Olympic ice rink hadn’t forgotten who was standing in the opposing goal a few meters in front of them. Dennis Endras had given them some awkward evenings over the past few years. As the goalkeeper of the Adler Mannheim, he was in top form several times in Munich and drove the EHC players to despair.
Since this season, Endras has been playing for the club where he started his successful career in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) 18 years ago: the Augsburg Panthers. So Endras was able to go into the derby on Thursday evening with a good feeling, but this time the EHC fright Endras was powerless. “Even with Endras you don’t stand a chance,” chanted the EHC happily after less than 16 minutes of the game. He had already conceded three goals, but after two periods and a total of six goals conceded, Endras’ working day ended prematurely. Augsburg’s coach Peter Russell spoke of a “lesson” for his team and him after the 6-0 defeat.
Yasin Ehliz played a key role in the Panthers being granted one. The German national player marked the important 1-0 after just 91 seconds and made it 4-0 at the beginning of the middle third (22nd), which signaled to the Panthers: There is nothing to gain this evening. Ehliz liked the fact that his team played “quickly” and “doesn’t fiddle around much”, as the Bad Tölzer native put it in the finest Bavarian language. What he meant by that was that it acted straightforwardly and purposefully.
Coach Jackson saw the home win against Mannheim as one of the worst games in a long time
That fit with what Don Jackson had asked of his team. The EHC coach wants to create “good habits” because most recently, especially in the previous 5-2 home win against Adler Mannheim (“one of our worst games in a long time”), he didn’t like his team’s susceptibility to counterattacks at all. Against Augsburg, Munich played an offensive and defensively concentrated manner.
The fast, physical game that Ehliz embodies like no other in the EHC team and that the EHC put on the ice holistically in the derby is “extremely important,” said the attacker. “If we get compact out of our own third it makes us strong because we have a lot of speed in the team,” he explained. Jackson knows what he has in the German international. For Jackson, Ehliz is like a Swiss army knife: so versatile that he can use it in any situation. Five against five, outnumbered, outnumbered – you can rely on Ehliz. Ehliz has always been a good player, Jackson said after the derby, but the coach particularly likes the fact that he’s constantly improving. “He’s getting better every year,” Jackson said.
The striker has identified several reasons for his continued positive development. On the one hand, there are the good teammates that you have in a top team like Munich. And then there is “Don’s system that plays into my hands”. Jackson’s playing system is based on a lot of movement, intensity and courage – all qualities that Ehliz brings with him. Jackson and Ehliz seem made for each other. Because of the “super coaching staff you learn a lot here in Munich,” enthuses the 29-year-old.
In addition to Ehliz’s physicality, his good chemistry with Austin Ortega is striking
The short and disappointing NHL guest appearance that Ehliz broke off after just five months almost four years ago to move to Munich is only a pale memory. Ehliz didn’t get along with the NHL conventions, especially of a communicative nature (“Nobody talks to you over there”). But he also learned from this disappointing chapter, says Ehliz today.
Jackson exults in particular about Ehliz’ physical gait: He has this ahead of others, it helps the team a lot and means that Ehliz is a “good role model” for all young players. Ehliz’s physicality was not the only thing that stood out against Augsburg, but also his good chemistry with Austin Ortega. He prepared both of Ehliz’s goals and made it 3-0 himself. Ortega is a “really smart player” who also has speed and, with his good overview, can “put passes through everywhere”, said Ehliz – just like in the 1-0 in the second minute of the game. Ehliz and Ortega harmonized very well in the past playoffs, when Ehliz was Munich’s most successful scorer. At that time Ben Smith steered this line of attack as a center forward, at the moment Chris DeSousa is doing it because Smith is injured.
Starting with the away game against the Iserlohn Roosters on Sunday (4:30 p.m.), Ehliz wants to continue his positive development. The power pack has decided to be “even more aggressive” in duels in order to win even more of them and to be able to keep the target in the offensive zone more often. The game is, in his view, a succession of tackles and the team that wins more of them “has a better chance of winning the game”. And with Yasin Ehliz on the ice, these chances increase significantly.
