GERMANY – With all the DEL teams having played plus/minus 40 of their 56 season games attention is focusing more and more around the upcoming playoffs. The vast majority of the league still has more or less reasonable hope of becoming one of the ten teams fighting for championship glory come the end of March.
Two teams that most certainly will be among that elite group are the reigning champions Berlin Polar Bears and last year’s finalists Duesseldorf Metro Stars. Although the Bears had somewhat of a slow start into the new year (including a rather uncommon three game losing streak) they still sit dominant at the top of the table. On Tuesday they more or less put a definite end to Duesseldorf’s rather slim hopes of still reaching the number one spot when they defeated their challengers 3-2 and are now 15 points clear with 15 games remaining. The Metro Stars, who still lead the season series against Berlin 2-1, meanwhile look very comfortable in second place having seven points and one game in hand against third-placed Ingolstadt Panthers.
Tuesday’s only other game featured two teams who before the start of the season more or less deemed themselves on the same level as the league leading duo – only to find themselves currently at the very other end of the playoff picture. The Cologne Sharks and the Mannheim Eagles both are experiencing pure nightmare seasons, which so far even their new coaches could not do too much against. While Bill Stewart started out his mission behind the Sharks’ bench with five straight wins in the first half of December, he lost his “magic” as of late having lost four in a row before entering Tuesday’s contest. But the Sharks bit big time winning 5-1, improving to eighth spot and further boosting their playoff run.
Meanwhile the misery for Mannheim’s Teal Fowler and his men continues. After the former so-called “associated coach” took over from his boss Doug Mason (who just last year experienced a similar fate in Cologne) on January 11, he only managed one two-point and one three-point win. The Eagles, who only about two month ago were in serious contention for first place, have now landed in tenth with 57 points in 41 games.
They will have to defend this last pre-playoff spot with all their heart – since there is a whole group just loving to take it away from them. Apart from the Iserlohn Roosters (41 g/52 pts) even the Krefeld Penguins (50 g/51 pts), the Hamburg Freezers (42 g/48 pts) and the Straubing Tigers (39 g/46 pts) still have their hopes alive, even though all three of them seemed well out of the picture not too long ago. So maybe even the Kassel Huskies, currently dead last with 44 points after 41 games might still even have a chance, how ever small it may be.
Contact: Carsten.vanzanten@prohockeynews.com
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