The Fischtown Pinguins from Bremerhaven are currently making a big impression in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL). They have had ten wins in their last eleven games. The North Germans are at the top of the table – their fans dream of the championship.
They didn’t want to go. They just kept singing for several minutes after the final siren. Fishtown Penguins fans couldn’t get enough of celebrating their favorites. They had just achieved outstanding things on home ice. With a score of 5-1, they literally overran the Eisbären Berlin and regained their position at the top of the table from their opponents.
Anyone who had previously believed that Bremerhaven’s sporting success in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) was a nice story, but that they were not a real contender for the title, was proven wrong on Sunday. This performance was a statement – according to the motto: “We can do anything!”
Penguins welcome the Kölner Haie on Friday evening
And really: Anyone who acts like that against a team that had previously won twelve games in a row on foreign ice and that would have equaled the away record of Mannheim and Munich with another success has every reason to do so.
Penguins coach Thomas Popiesch’s team has now won ten of the last eleven league games and is heading into the home game against the Kölner Haie as leaders, which will almost certainly be played again in front of full stands on Friday evening (7.30 p.m.). The enthusiasm for ice hockey at the northernmost location of the DEL is currently limitless.
“German champions! What else?” replied a Pinguins fan into the NDR microphone when asked what the team could do this season. Another supporter sees the secret of success in the “good sea air. It’s particularly salty right now.” In fact, it is the defensive work that has been good for years, which has now been improved again, and the well-rehearsed offensive processes that contribute to the soaring heights.
“We have a very good character in the dressing room.”
— Penguins captain Jan Urbas
Coach Popiesch, who will probably move to second division club Krefeld in the summer after almost eight years in Bremerhaven, particularly praises his team’s holistic defensive performance. “You have to start at the beginning. And that’s how it is. The strikers do a good job in the neutral zone, our defenders in their own zone and the goalkeeper in the goal. The combination of everything makes it,” said the 58-year-old. year olds.
Slovenian trio in attack
There are three Slovenians swirling up front: Urbas, Ziga Jeglic and Miha Verlic are extremely dangerous, especially on their own power play. “If we take the three of them in particular: They have been playing together in the national team for years. It obviously shows that routine plays an important role – especially in the power play. As does trust in the abilities of the individual players.” Urbas and Jeglic also share the top position in the DEL scorer rankings with 36 points each.
“The team has to stay focused.”
— Penguins coach Thomas Popiesch
The euphoria in the environment is of course understandable for Popiesch. But he also immediately warns his players to keep their concentration: “We always do well to let the fans dream, to let the sponsors dream. But the team has to stay focused. This is such a tight league that can “So much happens from every position. We’re just enjoying the moment now.”
And that is simply wonderful for the club and its growing fan base. 16 games before the end of the main round, the Pinguins are at the top of the table – this has never happened before in Bremerhaven. The team is almost certain to take part in the play-offs. This would be especially the case if they managed another win against Cologne on Friday, which would certainly make their own fans sing with joy again.
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NDR 2 Sport | 01/08/2024 | 11:03 p.m
