Ice hockey veteran Düsseldorfer EG is tumbling towards the abyss in the second league after being relegated from the DEL. The previous coach Rich Chernomaz is changing his position.
Personnel changes at the Düsseldorfer EC: The struggling ice hockey second division team is about to hire a new coach. As the DEG announced on Thursday, the previous head coach Rich Chernomaz will be the club’s new sports director and will only be on the board for the games on Friday (7.30 p.m.) in Weißwasser against the Lausitzer Füchse and on Sunday (5 p.m.) against the penultimate EHC Freiburg. Talks with his successor are currently “close to completion”.
“This step is the result of close and very trusting discussions between the coaching staff and the management. We would like to express our respect to Rich Chernomaz,” said managing director Andreas Niederberger: “We were and are convinced of his qualities as a coach. Nevertheless, he suggested giving the team new impetus through a change. That deserves the highest respect. Now we want to clear the players’ minds with a new head coach and achieve the turnaround.”
The somewhat unusual personnel decision is the reaction to the sporting decline in the DEL2. Most recently, DEG lost the tram duel against leaders Krefeld Pinguine 3:6 in their own arena in front of more than 13,000 spectators. “Of course that hurts. It tore my soul out,” said Niederberger, who won the championship title with DEG in Düsseldorf five times in the glory days.
Fans angry, coach attacks players
Niederberger is now managing director in what is probably the biggest crisis in the club’s history. After relegation from the German Ice hockey League (DEL), DEG is tumbling towards the abyss in the second league after five bankruptcies in a row.
Almost nothing works on the ice at the moment: the coach publicly attacks the team, the players don’t follow his plan – and the fans are angry too. Instead of being on course for the play-offs, DEG is eleventh in the table and is on its way to the relegation round.
Coach Chernomaz at DEG facing expulsion?
Rich Chernomaz, coach of Düsseldorfer EG
So now they have reacted and are “close to completing” the search for a new coach. Chernomaz, who once led the Kölner Haie (2002) and the Frankfurt Lions (2004) to the championship, took over a completely new team after relegation.
The start of the season was promising, but after eight defeats from the last ten games, DEG is only in a disappointing eleventh place. In the end, the Canadian’s direct nature didn’t help either – after the 4-1 defeat at home against the Bietigheim Steelers, he lived up to his nickname “Axe of Manitoba” and publicly lashed out at his players: “We can’t babysit the boys and take them away from responsibility when they deliver such sub-par performances.”
The all-round blow was followed by the worst performance of the season with a 0:5 defeat at the newly promoted Blue Devils Weiden. Niederberger and his former defense partner Rick Amann initially rejected the coach’s expulsion – now the U-turn.
According to the club, the step to make Chernomaz sports director was “planned in the medium term anyway”, but has now been “brought forward due to the current sporting situation”. The selection of the new coach is “currently in full swing,” wrote the DEG. The aim is for him to “be able to start work next week”.
Financing secured for the next few years
Niederberger was able to dispel at least one fear: the DEG will continue to exist beyond 2027 “in reasonable economic conditions”. Most recently, financing was only secured for two years.
However, Niederberger warned: Anyone who keeps claiming that the eight-time champion belongs in the DEL is wrong. “We are eleventh in the DEL2, relegated in sport, were bankrupt in April,” he emphasized, “we are exactly where we belong.” Much further down than when he was a player.
Our source:
- Sports information service sid
- Homepage Düsseldorfer EG
Broadcast: WDR.de“DEG with personnel changes – Chernomaz becomes sports director”, 12/19/20257:20 p.m
