A memorable evening lies behind the Lions Frankfurt: The 8-0 defeat against Ingolstadt was followed by the expulsion of coach Tom Rowe shortly after the end of the game. This is how the eventful hours went.
There were many Lions Frankfurt fans on Sunday evening after the 8-0 defeat against Ingolstadt Still on the way home, the DEL club reported the bang on social media: Coach Tom Rowe has to go. But how did this come about? We look back.
Already at the welcome in the Frankfurt ice rink, Rüdiger Storch made no secret of the current situation in Hesse. “Lions fans have to be steeled at the moment,” said the hall spokesman in view of the series of defeats.
After 0:5 defeat in Colognen last Sunday and the 1:6 slap on Wednesday in Schwenningen was important to many supporters the 3:4 defeat against newly promoted Dresden on Friday still heavy on heart – and yet over 5,000 came again.
Crisis meeting during the game
But once again they didn’t see a good game from their team. After the first third it was 0:2. The lions are too far away from the opponent, without esprit, without rebellion. The result was a 0:4 after the next period of the game. Things became noticeably restless in the stands.
And not just there: As the FNP reportsa crisis meeting was called by the Lions bosses Stefan Krämer and Andreas Stracke during the ongoing game. Sports director Jan Barta was also there. This took place in a room high up in the ice rink, the fans didn’t notice anything.
On the other hand, they saw their team down on the ice falling further and further apart. After the 0:7, a “just three more, three more” echoed through the hall. But that didn’t come from the guest block, but from Section A, the Lions’ home corner. Where the most loyal followers are. They had enough, which is why many left the scene early.
Lions goalie Mirko Pantkowski was substituted after the score was 7-0.
The final siren as salvation
Those who stayed there were more excited for the final siren and even counted down the last seconds out loud. The scoreboards recorded the final score 0:8. It was a historic defeat because, apart from the 1:9 at the start of the season against Wolfsburg, Frankfurt have never lost by such a margin in their DEL history.
After the game, the players still wanted to go to the home corner to thank them for their support as usual, but they were promptly sent to the dressing room with loud whistles and clear gestures from the supporters. Only goalkeeper Rodion Schumacher, who came into the game at 0:7, received a little encouraging applause.
On the way out of the stadium and into the subway, gallows humor spread. Some people have already joked that they will be going back to Bad Nauheim next season. But then just a league lower.
Jan Barta announces expulsion shortly after PK
Meanwhile, the next bang happened in the ice rink: head coach Tom Rowe was allowed to give the usual interviews after the game and go to the press conference, where he spoke of “not a good game” and that his team had to press the reset button After that it was over for him. According to information from hr-sport, Jan Barta informed him of the expulsion decision shortly after the PK. The sports director then went to the team in the dressing room and informed them.
There was just half an hour between the end of the game and the announcement. This also shows how much frustration must have built up in the management of the DEL club. In the club’s very brief message, there was no thank you or anything similar to Rowe. Just this much: “The Lions are working hard to sign a new head coach as soon as possible.”
Rowe has to leave after a year and a half
Rowe started working for the Hessians in July last year. He won in his first season the DEL winter game in Frankfurt’s Waldstadion in front of 45,000 spectators with a 5-1 win against Mannheim and at least made it into the pre-playoffs with his team.
But in the new 2025/2026 season there was a problem right from the start: system changes had no effect, Rowe seemed increasingly out of ideas, and the players were listless. The Lions will have to find themselves new in the current twelfth place in the table – without Rowe. The bankruptcy and the bang on Sunday evening in the Frankfurt ice rink were memorable.
