The Löwen Frankfurt start furiously into their first DEL weekend in twelve years and thus mark the end of a long ordeal. The hr shows the hard fight back to the ice hockey upper house in a new documentary.
The first puck hadn’t even fallen onto the ice when tears were already falling in the standing block. A young woman stood wrapped in a lion shawl and let her emotions run free. They were tears of joy.
The loyal supporters of the Löwen Frankfurt have been waiting for this moment for twelve long years, for the first home game in the DEL in what feels like an eternity. Twelve years – in the case of the young woman, that’s half a lifetime.
Documentary about the DEL return of the Löwen Frankfurt
The hr has now summarized the emotional path of Frankfurt ice hockey back to the first division in a short documentary. From the bankruptcy of the Lions, to the restart in the regional league to first home game on Sunday against Bremerhaven (3:4). “A dream became reality”, Stefan Krämer summarized the emotional situation shortly afterwards.
The managing director was standing in the cabin aisle with Andreas Stracke, leaning against a concrete wall. The two, who founded the lions twelve years ago, seemed to enjoy this moment of return. How could it be otherwise? “This energy, this tingling on the ice, these goosebumps that there is a lion jersey in the DEL again, it’s just a dream,” said Stracke.
Twelve years ago, when the Lions had to file for bankruptcy and thus disappeared from the first division, it was Stracke and Krämer who didn’t let Frankfurt ice hockey die. They met in a cider bar, talked, discussed, took heart. But a lot of things that were easy to do at the beginning changed quickly.
The march from the fourth league to the top did not happen, the lions got stuck several times: first in the Oberliga, later in the DEL2. There was simply no regular promotion between the leagues, the lions were threatened with extinction. “There were a few dark hours there,” recalls Krämer. “We were trapped in the leagues.” It is part of the legacy of the two not to have given up. They are now reaping their reward.
Furious start to the season in Wolfsburg
After promotion was reintroduced, Frankfurt made it on the second attempt, rose confidently to the DEL last April. And there, as the first weekend suggests, the team is by no means without a chance. At the start, the lions won away at the top team in Wolfsburg surprisingly with 5:2 – and that despite being 2-0 down.
Two days later, the Hessians lost 3:4 against Bremerhaven, but after the first third they were 3:0 in front, which shows that this team is a force to be reckoned with. The squad seems balanced, there are young, talented German players and experienced Canadians, the mixture seems to fit – and there is a good chance that it will only be tears of joy that will fall in Frankfurt this season.
