When the final siren blared, the Bietigheim Steelers were relieved. Because against the Krefeld Pinguine, the Steelers got the decisive point to stay up on Sunday. The fact that the 2-1 defeat after a penalty shoot-out – goals from Guillaume Naud (13th) and Lucas Lessio (22nd) in regular time and Jeremy Bracco with the decision in the shoot-out – speaks for the ambition of the team still has a chance of a playoff place four games before the end.
Hardly anyone had believed the promoted team to stay up in the league before the season. The Bietigheim Steelers – the smallest club, from the smallest city, with the smallest budget in the DEL – were considered the number one relegation candidate. But apart from a few really heavy defeats against the Fischtown Pinguins (3:10 and 2:8) or the EHC Munich (3:7 and 1:9), the Bietigheim Steelers have shown that they can keep up in the DEL.
Steelers have improved
“We improved from game to game and have become a really good team,” said coach Daniel Naud in an interview with “Magenta Sport”. Also René Schoofs, who after 20 years and more than 1,000 second division games for the Steelers finally playing his first DEL season at the age of 37 and his first DEL goal was in good spirits given the relegation: “It’s absolutely amazing. To achieve that four games before the end is a huge achievement for the team. We’re a great team and it was definitely a lot of fun.”
They all put the team first. And yet there are individual protagonists who stand out. There is goalkeeper Sami Aittokallio, who is one of the five best DEL goalkeepers in terms of catch rate (92.88 percent). Or Jalen Smereck, who is one of the most accurate DEL defenders with ten goals. And of course Riley Sheen, who outshines all other DEL scorers with 38 goals (and 23 assists).
Steelers with little money but good scouting
The numbers put the focus on the team behind the team. Because Bietigheim can’t actually afford any top stars. Managing Director Volker Schoch made this clear using the example of Riley Sheen: “Riley Sheen is a sought-after player, at some point we will also part ways. We will never be able to afford what he can earn elsewhere.” But Schoch is pragmatic: “We’ll give him every single euro he’ll earn somewhere else. But Bietigheim can’t do what’s being put on the table.”
Nevertheless, the Steelers have managed to sign the right players for little money in recent years. Often players who were sorted out at other clubs or didn’t even make it to the really big clubs.
Steelers with the right flair for talent
Of course, this includes a portion of luck. After all, there was no telling that Sheen, who trotted through the provinces in Canada and later even tried his luck in China, would be such a hit. “You saw in training that he has very good hands,” says Steelers captain Constantin Braun. “But that it’s such a sniper, that’s brutal.”
So was Jalen Smereck after a racism incident in Ukraine back on the market very suddenly and just laced up his shoes a few days later in Bietigheim. That speaks for good scouting and the right contacts. “We also made a mistake sometimes,” Volker Schoch qualifies, “for example Avery Peterson, who was suddenly gone. But overall I’m very satisfied.”
New goal: DEL playoffs
Coach Daniel Naud has formed them all into a unit that gets back up and itself even after heavy defeats from several compulsory Corona breaks can’t get out of step. In the remaining four games, the Steelers can even secure a playoff spot. “Probably not that many believe in us again,” says Naud. “But as our spokesman always says: ‘In the end the duck poops.'”
Source: SWR