Ice hockey players usually keep their eyes on the ice when they go about their work. But this time everyone looked up, spellbound. Emotional images were shown on the video cube of the Munich Olympic ice rink to introduce the ceremony that everyone was waiting for: the hoisting of the championship banner. Before the new hunt for the DEL Cup began, EHC Red Bull Munich once again celebrated its fourth title in the top German ice hockey league, which it won in April, on Thursday evening. The insignia of the championship, banner and trophy, were brought onto the ice surface by the children of the players involved in the triumph, the youngest of whom had fun tumbling across the ice as they ran wildly. “I didn’t win last year, but you still get goosebumps even if you weren’t there,” said Markus Eisenschmid, one of the newcomers to the EHC jersey.
Almost three hours later, the people of Munich were able to celebrate their opening victory in the 30th season of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL). They defeated the Düsseldorfer EG 4:2, but had a very difficult time against the Rhinelanders, who had been decimated due to injuries. Munich coach Toni Söderholm was particularly dissatisfied with the performance at five-on-five, “we didn’t deliver,” he said. It was still a special game for Söderholm. In Munich, after the fourth championship title within ten years, Don Jackson’s era was over. As the successor to the DEL record coach, the club brought former national coach Söderholm back to his “home” in Munich from Switzerland; The Finn was part of the first EHC championship team under Jackson in 2016 as a player. Now Söderholm celebrated his DEL debut as head coach – in the “best DEL of all time”, which Munich manager Christian Winkler is expecting this season.
The halls are already full at the start of the season: The Kölner Haie are expecting more than 50,000 spectators for the first three home games
In terms of atmosphere, the start to the anniversary season was definitely great. The Munich Nordkurve celebrated the championship title with a Pumuckl choreography, national player Eisenschmid raved about the “incredible atmosphere here” after just a few minutes of play at Magentasport.
Euphoria can be felt in many corners of the league. In the early stages of the season, the DEL clubs have always found it difficult to fill their halls, but in summer temperatures there are attractive alternatives to visiting the ice rink. But things currently look different.
The Ingolstadt Arena was already very full in the Champions Hockey League on the first weekend in September and the atmosphere was rousing; The Kölner Haie, who play in one of the largest arenas in Europe, have already reported “sold out” for their first two home games of the season. The Haie, euphoric after a spectacular transfer summer, expect more than 50,000 spectators on the first three home game days alone – these are impressive numbers for an indoor sport. But it’s not just the locations of the supposed top teams that are tingling, the rest of the league is also following suit: the Lions Frankfurt reported a record number of season tickets sold in the second year after their promotion.
It seems as if the ice hockey upswing that the national team initiated by winning the World Cup silver medal in May has continued over the summer. This medal underlined that we are on the “absolutely right path,” says Winkler and points out that the success of the national team is closely linked to the DEL because most national players pursue their profession in the domestic league. Quite a few of them will meet on Sunday when the Munich team visits Mannheim (7 p.m.). The Adler are in the same position that the Munich team was in last season: They have been waiting for the title for four years and perceive that as far too long a period of time. Toni Söderholm is therefore sure what this means for the top game: “It will be advertising for German ice hockey.”
