The German ice hockey champions Red Bull Munich and their new coach Toni Söderholm started the new DEL season with a victory.
In the opening match of the 2023/24 season, the former national coach prevailed in his first DEL game as boss with Bayern at home with a lackluster 4:2 (2:0, 0:0, 2:2) against a heavily weakened Düsseldorfer EG.
Benjamin Street (11th) and Andreas Eder (12th) each scored in the majority for RB within 45 seconds. The DEG, whose worries had been increased shortly before the start of the season by co-captain Stephen MacAulay’s torn cruciate ligament, defended themselves bravely.
Luis Üffing (47th) and Victor Svensson (49th) overcame former Düsseldorf player Mathias Niederberger in the RB goal and brought the guests back into the game, but Munich responded with the third power play goal by Trevor Parks (55th). Maximilian Kastner (60th) scored into the empty goal for the final score.
The Finn Söderholm, national coach from 2019 to 2022 and then unsuccessful head coach at SC Bern, inherited the successful coach Don Jackson for the new season in Munich. After his fourth championship title with Red Bull, Jackson, who had been in office since 2014, ended his career.