The Düsseldorfer eG, athletically relegated from the DEL, actually gets the mini chance that is no longer hoped for. Second division Ravensburg has to win the seventh game against Dresden.
The “Sofa Champion” is known from football: when a league leader who leads his game with a big lead, and the competition only stumbled decisively a day or two later – then the master celebration does not start on the green lawn after the final whistle. But in the living room at home or with the public viewing with the teammates.
Something similar is currently experiencing players and those responsible for Düsseldorfer eG – only at the other end of the table: they hang in front of the end devices and wait for the results of the competition, and now for more than six weeks. The traditional club from Düsseldorf has been a sporty relegation from the German ice hockey league (DEL) since the beginning of March.
After the last game of the season, there was the typical scenes of a descent in Düsseldorf: tears among fans, curls in the direction of the sporting responsible. Final mood and dark forecasts on the economic future. But also a little bit of residual hope: Because in the DEL 2, the substructure of the DEL, there had already been the case that a team cannot or must not rise for economic reasons. Most recently, Augsburg had escaped twice through this back door of the descended descent.
Ravensburg – The last straw for DEG
Of the favorite first six teams that qualified for the promotion playoffs, only the Ravensburg Towerstars, the third of the final table, had not applied for a license for the DEL. The team from Upper Swabia does not meet the requirements of the highest ice hockey division, their small hall only offers 3,400 fans. The other second division top teams, including former DEL clubs such as Krefeld, Landshut or Rosenheim, were all entitled to promotion.
What meant nothing else than: the Ravensburger, a team that in the end did not play for the climb, were the last straw for DEG. Only if the TowerStars win the master round in the DEL 2 should the DEG remain first -class. But as soon as the Swabians said goodbye to the playoff race, the relegation would also be finally sealed for the Düsseldorfers.
Everything or nothing in game 7 – also for Düsseldorf
The chance seemed so theoretically that hardly anyone in Düsseldorf really wanted to believe in it. But that was actually incredible: Ravensburg first switched off the EV Landshut in the quarter -final series, and in the semi -finals, also in six games, the Krefeld penguins.
The first Düsseldorf fans started dreaming of an ice hockey miracle on the Rhine-but were quickly sent back to the ground of the facts: the Dresden Eislöwen earned a 3-1 lead in the best-of-Seven series, a victory was still missing. But suddenly the nerves fluttered, the Dresdeners gave twice the chance of the fourth, decisive victory, in game six even in their own hall.
On Tuesday evening, there is a madman, even in Düsseldorf as possible showdown: the crucial game 7, this time in Ravensburg. The Dresdeners don’t just have to go on the ice away. But with the psychological ballast that the only team can lose a lot.
Altstadt-Wirt promises free beer for Ravensburg team and fans
After the victory in the sixth game, the Ravensburgers were celebrated by DEG fans at social media. The host of an Irish Pub in the old town of Düsseldorf, the much -sized “longest counter in the world”, has invited the team from Ravensburg and fans and promised free beer if the Swabians actually get the title and hold Düsseldorf in the league.
On the DEG Instagram channel it was said: “Ice hockey, you crazy sport. All crazy.” So far, those responsible for the eight-time champions have been pursuing the playoff series in the lower house. No official public viewing in Düsseldorf is planned for the “fate game” in Ravensburg. You want to remain humble, not to put yourself too much in the foreground, quoted the “Rheinische Post” from club sources. You may know at DEG that you have a last chance in your lap that you actually don’t deserve.