Just one point would be enough for the Bremerhaven team to win the main round championship against the Eisbären. Even with a view to the play-offs, a win would be worth gold for the Penguins.
In the last home game of the main round, the Fischtown Pinguins once again offered their fans a real spectacle. First, the Bremerhaven team turned an early 0-2 deficit into a 3-2 lead in the duel with the Adler Mannheim, only to concede the equalizer shortly before the end. In extra time, however, captain Jan Urbas turned the sold-out ice arena into a madhouse with his overtime winning goal. “It couldn’t end any better,” said team manager Alfred Prey to Buten and Binnen. “It just shows that ice hockey is an incredibly cool sport.”
It’s not for nothing that we’re known as “The Comebackers of the League”, and we emphasized that again today.(Penguins team manager Alfred Prey)
Best season in Penguins history
The duel between the Fischtown Pinguins and the Adler Mannheim was very exciting.
After the 4:3 home win against Mannheim, the Pinguins and their supporters continue to float in seventh ice hockey heaven. Even before the end of the main round it is clear that the Bremerhaven team is playing the best series in the club’s history.
The Penguins have long since qualified for the play-offs and also for the Champions League in the coming season. The fact that Bremerhaven is still greeting us from the top of the table is “really surprising,” emphasizes coach Thomas Popiesch. “In the season and over the course of the season we have proven what skills we have,” said the Penguins coach.
The fact that it has happened this way makes me and everyone around me incredibly proud. This is a unique experience.(Penguins coach Thomas Popiesch)
On Friday, the Bremerhaven team can even gild the main round: On the last match day, the Pinguins travel to the Eisbären Berlin on Friday (7:30 p.m.). The duel with the second place in the table is about nothing less than the main round championship.
We now have a real final in Berlin and go into this fight with a two-point lead.(Penguins team manager Alfred Prey)
Fischtown is reaching for the main round title
Before the showdown in the capital, the Penguins are in pole position: if they win the game, they will be the main round winners. The same applies even in the event of a defeat after extra time. Only if they go bankrupt during regular playing time will Bremerhaven slip into the ungrateful second place. The season’s record so far speaks in favor of the Pinguins: Although a 5-1 win in their own ice arena is offset by a 3-4 defeat after extra time, the Bremerhaven team won the first leg in Berlin 4-2.
Despite the chance of the main round championship, Coach Popiesch attaches little importance to the title showdown. Because: “There’s nothing to buy for it,” said the Penguins coach. Rather, the game is a game like any other. “Yes, it’s nice and we want to win the game 100 percent. But it’s nothing more and nothing less,” emphasized Popiesch.
We always have to push ourselves to the limit, everyone has to deliver their top performance. And we will try that again on Friday.(Penguins coach Thomas Popiesch)
Main round title means home rights
Even if Popiesch keeps the ball – or rather: the puck – low in terms of the importance of the game: For the Pinguins, it’s about more than just the main round title against Berlin. If the Bremerhaven team actually maintains top spot, they would face the worst-placed team in the main round in the play-offs. They also enjoyed home advantage in a possible final series.
However, there is still a long way to go until then: After the first play-off round, the Bremerhaven team will be involved in the quarter-finals (from March 16th/17th). But the Penguins have never made it past the round of the last eight. In addition to the advantage for the play-offs, the tangible main round title also represents a good omen: the last time that the main round winner did not also win the play-offs and thus the German championship was ten years ago.
More about the Fischtown Penguins:
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buten un binnen with Sportblitz, March 4, 2024, 7:30 p.m
