Many just wanted to leave. But there was no escape: First, the fans of the Löwen Frankfurt called for the team, a large part of which had already disappeared into the dressing room, back onto the ice in order to convey a message to them with chants that sounded like an alarm signal: “We want to see you fight!”
Then, in the catacombs of the ice rink in Sauerland, the big process of coming to terms with the weak performance in the 4-0 defeat at the bottom of the table in Iserlohn and the black December that had ended with ten defeats from eleven games began. “There was a detailed conversation with the team in which plain language was spoken and also a clear command from me: It can only be done together,” reported sports director Franz-David Fritzmeier in a press conference on Tuesday about what was still happening in the old year had happened, but should be of great importance for what is to come in the new year.
It was the introductory words of a sports director who gave interesting insights into the interior of the Frankfurt locker room and sent an important message: Head coach Matti Tiilikainen and his coaching team are not at issue. The sports director had already emphasized that the misery had nothing to do with the coaching team. On Tuesday he gave the impression that the players also saw it that way when he said about the conversation with the team: “The topic didn’t even come up that we had to play a different system or train differently.”
Arrived in reality
Instead, there was a ruthless analysis in which the reasons for the poor performance in December were openly discussed: players’ animosity, overestimation of themselves and excessive expectations of the team, but also self-pity on the part of the players – that’s how Fritzmeier could be summed up from the conversation transmitted. “On the whole, you could call it indiscipline. We will no longer tolerate this.” The sports director reported that the team had “closed ranks”. “There are no arguments at all and no groups forming in the team,” said Fritzmeier. Rather, it sounded as if the team had perhaps let itself get away with too much when it came to players’ dissatisfaction with their own playing times, row partners or other vanities.
Announcement: Sports director Fritzmeier appeals to the team spirit of the players: Image: picture alliance / pressehaus/roskaritz
This should be over now. In any case, Fritzmeier’s announcement was unmistakable: no more ego trips. The interests of the team should come first, not the interests of individuals. “I can understand that personal frustration arises when you were significantly more successful on the scoreboard last year. Personal frustration was a lot in the foreground.” Fritzmeier cited Cameron Brace as an example, who played “outstanding” at the beginning of the season, but then “got stuck” in his frustration.
In any case, the team has now “absolutely arrived at reality” and the conversation has been “very positive”: “As of today we have expressed our confidence in the team,” said Fritzmeier. The sports director, as the person who put the team together, sees himself as responsible and wants to support the team even more with the coaching team in the future and be more present, but also announced: “Only those who follow along can continue to be there. Of course we can’t replace ten players, but the team is under observation.”
Fritzmeier also used the situation when he was asked about dissatisfied fans to address the expectations surrounding the club in more detail: “The team and a few people around us believe that we are better than we are,” he said . It is understandable that the fans are disappointed and complaining. And the team has already shown that there is room for improvement. “But I don’t know what we in Frankfurt actually mean, who we are. We were immersed in the depths of German ice hockey for years. Now we are back in the DEL for the second year and behave as if we had become German champions eight times in the last ten years.” That is disrespectful to other teams in the league. Bremerhaven is still talking about staying in the class today.
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After the conversation in Iserlohn, there was another one in the ice rink in Frankfurt on Tuesday morning. The team then trained in preparation for Wednesday’s home game against Wolfsburg (7.30 p.m./Magentasport). “The players seemed very alert. There is clear communication and a clear distribution of roles,” said Fritzmeier, who spoke of a “spirit of optimism” after the talks. This was only made possible by the poor performance in Iserlohn, after the team had unfortunately lost a few games before, and the discussion afterwards. Is that enough for a win against Wolfsburg? “We have to defend better, score more goals, and the goalkeepers have to save better,” said Fritzmeier, looking at the game – and made it clear once again: The Lions have a lot of work to do.
