The German ice hockey champions Eisbären Berlin have been eliminated from the Champions Hockey League (CHL) after just one win and five defeats.
The capital city team, which has been plagued by injury problems and is back on track in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) after four wins in a row, lost 4-1 at Red Bull Salzburg on the sixth and final matchday of the league phase and only finished 22nd out of 24 teams. The top 16 advanced to the round of 16.
This had already been achieved before the last ERC Ingolstadt game. Freed from any pressure, Bayern celebrated their biggest win in the CHL with an 8-2 win against the Odense Bulldogs from Denmark. Experienced Daniel Pietta (38) and Abbot Girduckis each scored twice for the ERC, which finished the league phase in a strong sixth place and will therefore face eleventh place Salzburg in the round of 16.
The Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven benefited from the Eisbären defeat and further support. The third DEL representative in the competition lost its last game on Tuesday against the Norwegian champions Storhamar Hockey 1:2, but saved itself in 16th place. Next up is league leader Tampereen Ilves from Finland, who won all six games. In the round of 16 in November, the winner will be determined in the return leg. The CHL final will take place in March.
In the previous ten editions of the CHL, only Red Bull Munich made it to the final from a German perspective, but lost to Frölunda HC Göteborg in 2019. In general, Swedish teams dominate the competition with six successes.