The first goal in almost two months was a special one for Alexander Barta. The captain of Düsseldorfer EG was pleasantly surprised after DEG’s 5-0 opening win in the first playoff round of the German Ice Hockey League against Löwen Frankfurt.
Because the goal of the 40-year-old former national striker to make it 4-0 (44th minute) was the 92nd Bartas for Düsseldorf in the DEL. In his 1004th DEL game, he drew level with a club legend in terms of goals: together with Benoit Doucet, Barta is now the fifth-best goalscorer in the eight-time German champions in the DEL.
“I don’t want to put that too high, but it’s nice to be able to draw level with someone like Benoit Doucet,” said Barta proudly when he found out about it, and revealed that he had been rooting for DEG’s wedding since he was a teenager in the 1990s.
“That’s how I learned to love DEG as a child. And I always found Benoit Doucet to be a very, very great player,” Barta continued.
The German-Canadian Doucet was one of the most influential players in German ice hockey in the 1990s and was German champion three times with Düsseldorf.
However, the 59-year-old was even more successful during his playing days, because Doucet not only played in the DEL, but also in the old Bundesliga, including for the DEG, and scored a number of other goals. In addition, he needed significantly fewer games than Barta does today.