DThe German Ice Hockey League (DEL) has a problem. Not as big as German football, but one that you should take seriously at the league headquarters in Neuss: Instead of years of monotony in the Bundesliga, ice hockey has a triad that seems endless. Since 2005 there has only been twice a master who did not come from Mannheim, Munich or Berlin. Of the 18 titles that have been awarded since then, one went to Hanover (2010) and one to Ingolstadt (2014). Berlin (nine titles), Munich (four) and Mannheim (three) shared the rest among themselves. And nine of them won Don Jackson.
The coach of EHC Red Bull Munich, who coached EC Red Bull Salzburg for a year between his stations at Eisbären Berlin and in Munich (and, you guessed it, also won the championship title there), is the most successful coach ever in the DEL has worked. A permanent winner.
A loss and an opportunity
Professionally and personally beyond any doubt, players say whenever they are asked. And one with an almost insatiable will to win. Anyone watching Jackson on the gang over the past few weeks of the playoffs saw a coach gesturing, clapping and yelling as wildly as if it were about the first championship of his career.
Now it can be said that Jackson always had a squad that was put together with significantly more money than they have in Iserlohn, Schwenningen or Bremerhaven. The example of the Kölner Haie shows that more money does not automatically mean more success. Or the fate of the Eisbären Berlin, who missed the play-offs as champions.
The DEL has many good coaches like Jackson, but also a tangible problem: the clubs generate too little income from central marketing. There is now a league sponsor and a better endowed TV contract with the transmitting Telekom. But the clubs are still too dependent on matchday income and investor funds.
So there is a good chance in the foreseeable future that the champions of the future will continue to come from the well-funded clubs in Berlin (Anschutz), Munich (Red Bull) and Mannheim (SAP). A farewell to Jackson, who has so far left his future open, would not change that. For the DEL, his departure would be a great loss – and an opportunity at the same time.
