The old master against the record champion, the spectators against the series winner: the duel of the Cologne sharks against the Eisbären Berlin around the German Ice Hockey Championship is a dream final. At least on paper.
The old master against the record champion, the spectators against the series winner: the duel of the Cologne sharks against the Eisbären Berlin around the German Ice Hockey Championship is a dream final. At least on paper.
The sharks collected championship titles in the Bundesliga in the 1970s and 1980s and became a cult club with stars such as Erich Kühnhackl, Udo Kießling or Gerd Truntschka. With record player Mirko Lüdemann, two more titles followed the German Ice Hockey League (DEL).
But in the new league, the polar bears ran the rank. Since 2005, the Berliners have won the DEL silver cup ten times and made the new stars from Sven Felski, André Rankel or Frank Hördler – followed by Marcel Noebels, Leo Pföderl or Jonas Müller in the present.
The Spectator magnet In the DEL
In Cologne, ice hockey attracts as many visitors as nowhere else in Europe. Already in the main round, an average of 17,829 fans flocked to the Cologne arena, in the playoffs there were always more than 18,000 from the second home game, and the mark of half a million cracked the sharks in the quarter -finals. With average 14,000, Berlin is number two in the DEL. It is already clear before the final: After the new audience record in the main round, the league also has a new record in the playoffs.
The German stars
National coach Harold Kreis might have wished for a different final, because he still has to do without numerous regular forces in the World Cup preparation. For particularly successful ones of the past few years: Haie captain Moritz Müller, like the polar bears Marcel Noebels and Jonas Müller, won silver at Olympia 2018 and at the 2023 World Cup. Added to the Berlin Olympic second Leo Pföderl as well as the vice world champions Justin Schütz and Parker Tuomie on Cologne and Kai Wissmann, Frederik Tiffels and Manuel again on the Berlin side.
The top foreigners
Ty Ronning is officially not the player of the year, the Canadian with a US pass had to leave this honor to his Berlin storm colleague Pföderl. But the scoring of the main round has always scored for 23 games – and thus wiped out the DEL record from Peter Draisaitl. In Alexandre Grenier, the Cologne team have the top scorer of the playoffs with nine goals. And with the Slovak Julius Hudacek the most entertaining goalkeeper – Berlin has the best statistically with the American Jake Hildebrand.
The trainers
As a polar bear coach, Serge Aubin has not yet lost a single playoff series. Either the Canadian became master with Berlin (2021, 2022 and 2024) or there was no ko round (2020) due to Corona or the polar bears missed them (2023).
His counterpart Kari Jalons has a no less impressive vita: as a player, he won five championship titles in his Finnish homeland before he followed the sixth in France. As a trainer, he packed four titles in Finland and two in Switzerland on top.