MUNICH – GERMANY: After a very disappointing start to the season, EHC Red Bull Munich win three out of four games. Players who were not planned as leaders, take responsibility and score. And Jochen Reimer, the goalie from last season is back on form.
First they won at the Nuremberg Ice Tigers, who are one of the secret tips for the championship. After a very bad season last year, the main sponsor Tomas Sabo took handful of money and bought half of the Düsseldorf Metro Stars including the coach.
But it seems that this star team has the same problems as last year. Everyone is playing for himself but nobody is fighting for the team. And this is a very bad attitude if you are playing against a team of Pat Cortina who always wants to see his guys give their best, doesn’t matter if they win the game or not.
Last year, Cortinas word of the season was “Arbeitsmoral” (working moral) And that’s what EHC showed this time again.
They dominated the first period and denied Nuremberg the chance to get dangerously in front of Reimers goal. In a very fair match, Ryan Kavanagh scored the first goal for EHC, while Brett Festerling took a penalty in the last minute of the first period.
The second period was completely different. The home team tried to score and pushed toward the Munich goal. But in this period, Christian Wichert stopped the puck at the blue line, played to Uli Maurer and he played across in front of the goal, where Martin Hinterstocker scored his first goal of the season and the second in the game for EHC.
Hinterstocker is one of the surprises of the season till now. Also Cortina says: “We are very lucky that he is now showing what he can. We always believed in him and wanted to give him a chance to show his talent.”
The euphoria for the 100 away team fans was very short, because Yasin Ehliz scored to make it 2:1 for the Nuremberg Ice Tigers.
The game went into the last period and shortly before Viktor Eckbom crashed the Ice Tigers player Pföderl into the glass and broke it, Jason Ulmer scored the 3rd after a very nice pass from Lubor Dibelka. With this win, the first six-point-weekend was close enough to touch.
On Sunday, the Iserlohn Roosters came into the Olympic-Icehall. The Roosters have the same problem as Munich has, they don”t score enough goals.
Munich scored 15 goals up to this game, Iserlohn 18. With this record, it was clear that the game would not be a 6-5 games but more a soccer result.
And this is exactly the game we got. Munich came close to scoring the first goal, but the best chance was not taken by Christian Wichert who shot beside the empty net.
After the goalless first period, it took another 17 minutes until Robert Hock scored the 1:0 for the guests. This was a bad sign for the home fans, because EHC was usually not able to comeback after going one goal behind.
This time though they fought back. Again it was Martin Hinterstocker who scored after the pass from Uli Maurer. And Maurer scored the game winning goal in the eighth minute of the last period on a powerplay when he surprised the keeper Sebastien Caron in the Roosters goal.
With this six-point-weekend, EHC is back on the music in the league and can go without fear to Wolfsburg, which was not a good place for the Munich teams because out of eight games, they have lost every one.
Contact: Robin.Hilger@prohockeynews.com
Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews

MUNICH, GERMANY – Reviewing the results of the preseason you could not imagine what happened to the EHC Munich over the summer break.
 
Manager Winkler recently said, “It was not five to twelve, it was half past twelve.”
This was, when Red Bull came and assumed the primary and name sponsorship. (as reported by Pro Hockey News)
 
And on Sunday was the big moment.
 
Everyone in the Olympic-Icehall Munich was curious as to how many things would change and how big Red Bull had changed things to match their corporate identity and branding of the arena.
 
In short, the entire experience was for more professional than before.
 
This can be either good or bad. The short trailer before the players come on the ice is getting more neutral than it was in previous years. Nothing about Munich or the Olympic Park, a few animations which could work for every other team in the world appeared on the screens. As compensation, the lightshow is now bigger.
 
When the players came on the ice, the biggest change got obvious. The players’ sweaters have a small red stripe on it.
 
That color red and the fact that Red Bull is for a lot of Ultra fans the named evil caused, that the fan base split-up in the summer. A few popular people left supporting the club, the fan club who did the Choreos declined to support the new team and the individual who organized the away bus tours changed to support soccer.
 
The start in the season was very hard for the new team. Zero wins after the first five games looks very hard, but with a goal difference of just 2 goals, this loses were all very close. Also these loses were against Mannheim, Berlin and Hamburg who are teams who will play for the championship.
 
But all good things are six and so the EHC won its sixth game of the season. The game was a typical Munich game, because the home team was very defensive. This was also caused because of two five-minute game conduct penalties in the game. But not only the EHC Munich got through this, Klaus Kathan also scored the 2:1.
 
Martin Buchwieser scored the go-ahead goal, but Michael Endraß scored the equalizer 3 minutes after.
 
But Kathan’s goal was the decisive goal in this game. The guests from Straubing very offensive too harmless and so, the last goal from Mike Kompon for the 3:1 was insurance.
 
The last game during the famous Octoberfest was against the Krefeld Penguins. The Penguins took their former player Erhoff from the NHL and he scored two goals already. Against Munich he scored his third.
 
But it was just cosmetic as EHC Munich already led the match 3-0. Uli Maurer and Sören Sturm scored in the first period and Mike Kompon scored the third in the final frame.
 
As good as EHC is at home now, that is about as bad as they are away from home.
 
On Tuesday, they had to play against the Cologne Sharks, a team that added a number of quality players to the bench this summer. The EHC started well in the match, did a lot of forechecking in the first period.   However on their powerplay, they gave up a shorthanded marker. With that goal, the Sharks were the dominating team and scored a goal per period.
 
The guests in this match, EHC, had the same problems as in earlier matches, they were not creating enough scoring chances in the offensive zone to be considered dangerous.
  Contact Robin.Hilger@prohockeynews.com Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews

MUNICH, Germany – Die sportsman Media vermarktet die deutsche Fußball Bundesliga in verschiedenen Ländern, die spanische und österreichische Fußballligen, die europäische Volleyball- und Handball Championsleague und seit 2010 die internationale Eishockeyliga EBEL mit Teams aus Österreich, Slowenien, Kroatien und Ungarn.

Dabei arbeitet sie mit dem TV-Sender ServusTV und dem eigenen Online-Videoportal laola1.tv zusammen.
Laola1.tv zeigt per livestream Spiele aus verschiedenen Sportarten, seit 2011 auch der EBEL und der KHL. Mit Spielen der spanischen Fußballliga erreichte laola1.tv Spitzenquoten von über 1,2 Millionen Zuschauern. Doch das besondere Augenmerk des neuen Vertrages ist die Zusammenarbeit der DEL mit dem Free-TV Sender ServusTV. Seit der Gründung der DEL 1994 pries man die Liga als Spitzenprodukt an und setzte mit dem Pay-TV Sender Premiere (später Sky) auf gesicherte Einnahmen. Dass jedoch diese Vermarktung bei Fans und Offiziellen nicht gut ankam, liegt auf der Hand. Besonders den Fans war diese exklusive Vermarktung ein Dorn im Auge. Sie sahen vor allem in den letzten Jahren, wie bisher wenig beachtete Sportarten wie Handball und Basketball durch Ausstrahlung ihrer Spiele im Free TV immer mehr die Aufmerksamkeit auf sich zogen. Dadurch überdachten auch mehrere Sponsoren ihre Engagements und wechselten die Sportart. Dies führte dazu, dass die DEL ihren noch bestehenden Vertrag mit Sky kündigte. Jedoch stellte Herr Tripcke, DEL-Geschäftsführer klar:” Die sportsman Mediagroup ist auf die DEL zugekommen.” Besonders die lange Laufzeit von 4 Jahren + Option sowie das Konzept haben die DEL überzeugt. Dabei dürfte aber auch eine Geldsumme, “von der man vor ein paar Jahren nicht mal zu träumen gewagt hatte ” (Tripcke) eine Rolle spielen. Das Konzept das vorgestellt wurde, ist für das deutsche Eishockey ein großer Sprung nach vorne. Ab sofort wird jede Woche ein Freitagsspiel live im Internet bei laola1.tv und servustv.com übertragen. Dabei stehen 5 Full-HD Kameras bereit. Die Highlights aller Spiele des Spieltags sollen noch in der selben Nacht auf der DEL-Homepage und per MobileTV für die Fans zugänglich sein. Dafür wird von laola1.tv die DEL-Homepage neu gestaltet. Das Hauptaugenmerk liegt jedoch auf dem Sonntag. Das Topspiel wird live auf ServusTV ausgestrahlt. Der hohe Standart, der schon aus den Übertragungen der EBEL-Spiele bekannt ist, wird durch 14 Full-HD Kameras gewährleistet. Durch die geplanten Highlight-Zusammenfassungen der anderen Spiele währen den Drittelpausen des Topspiels werden diese schon am Nachmittag stattfinden. Die Vereine werden dafür von ServusTV mit 2 Full-HD Kameras ausgerüstet.
Auch auf die in der EBEL berühmt berüchtigten “Cable Guys” muss man bei den DEL-Übertragungen nicht verzichten. Kein Problem während der Verhandlung war der Einstieg von Red Bull als Haupt- und Namenssponsor beim EHC München. (prohockeynews berichtete). Wie auch in Österreich, wo es mit Salzburg ein Red-Bull-Team spielt, gibt es auch für die DEL und ServusTV eine “Nicht-Bevorzugungsklausel”. Diese ist nötig, weil ServusTV eine 100%ige Tochter des Red Bull Konzerns ist. Mit den Übertragungen will man mindestens 150000 Zuschauer im Durchschnitt erreichen. Dies wäre im Gegensatz zu früheren Sky-Übertragungen eine Verdoppellung der Zuschauer. Es ist, wie Tripcke sagte “Eine neue Zeitrechnung.” für die DEL und das gesamte Eishockey in Deutschland.
Contact the writer at: robin.hilger@prohockeynews.com Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews

MUNICH, Germany — After three weeks of struggeling, hoping, fighting and speaking the EHC Munich is saved for the next season in the german top league DEL. The energy drink company Red Bull will be the new main sponsor of the club. The club will also change its name into EHC Red Bull Munich.
The contract is just for the following season but it is nearly sure that the transformation into a “real” Red Bull club will be happen after the 2012/2013 season.
The EHC was forced  to sell its license of the top league because of the retirement of two of the three main shareholders. After weeks of discussions with potential new shareholders and thoughts of selling the license to clubs in the second league, the last arrow in the quiver hit.
For Munich, it’s the rescue of professional ice hockey in the city. With the selling of the club, ice hockey in Munich would have been buried forever. But with the emergence of Red Bull, a new story will bewritten.
Red Bull is known as a company which always does things 100 percent. This may also rescue the youth teams, because Red Bull is a big patron for them.
“It’s the best news of the year,” Team Manager Winkler said.
The players, who will all stay with the club, are happy about the news.
With this news, prohockeynews.com will continue to report on the DEL in the 2012/2013  season.
Contact the writer at: robin.hilger@prohockeynews.com  
 

BERLIN, Germany – After the last seconds were counted down and the horn was blowing, all players of the EHC Munich skated to their goalie Jochen Reimer, who once again, saved the game.
 
But to win, you also need to score.
 
And until this game, the EHC Munich had their problems with scoring goals. In all 2012 games, the EHC hadn’t scored a single goal on the road. But, Martin Buchwieser scored to make it 1-0 on the powerplay and Sören Sturm saved the 3 points with a goal to make it 2-1 just six minutes before the end.
 
It was a big night on the fight card too. Berlin ha four players injured and Sven Felski, their captain, was hit with a four-game penalty last week. So Berlin had to play with three forward lines while Munich had their full roster.
 
Additionally, Berlin had a game Thursday while Munich had the home game against Nuremberg.
 
The Icebears bought Jonathan Sim from Slavia Prag. Sim played in the NHL years ago, got Stanley Cup winner and was playing now for the Czechs. But he wasn’t able to bring his class to the ice.
Munich started very offensive and had a few good chances, while Berlin was shocked about the fearless guest team. But then, Felix Petermann was whistled for a penalty and this forced Munich into a defensive posture.
 
This situation was denied by Jochen Reimer and Munich started where they stopped before the penalty. The best chance in the first period had Eric Schneider, when he skated alone towards the goal of Rob Zepp, but his shot on the backhand was denied by the glove of the goalie. So the second period started with a goalless draw and Munich again created more and better chances than Berlin. As a result, Berlin got their first penalty, and as the worst team on the penalty-kill, everyone seemed to know what would happen. Especially Martin Buchwieser, he took position in the slot and was waiting for the puck. And he got it from Jason Ulmer and scored the first away goal in the year 2012 for the EHC Munich. With this 1-0 lead, the game went into the last period. Berlin wanted to strike back, but Munich defended perfectly and was fighting back with counter-attacks.
 
Eric Schneider had three big chances; also Ulli Maurer and Christian Wichert, but Rob Zepp denied all of them.
 
On the other side, Berlin got a powerplay situation, and with a blueliner from Richard Regear they scored the 1-1 after 53 minutes. But Munich wasn’t shocked and just 57 seconds later, Sören Sturm scored his first goal of the season for the 2-1 lead and the well-deserved win. Berlin tried with six skaters to score in the last two minutes but Reimer and his teammates blocked every shoot which came towards the goal.
 
Contact Robin.Hilger@prohockeynews.com

MUNICH, Germany – “It’s not the system, it’s the work.”
 
That’s what munichs coach Pat Cortina said after the 3-0 defeat in Straubing.
 
His team got a lesson on this day in all the things his team should do. It was not the first game in this year, the first game in Hamburg at the 2nd January ended similarly.
 
And on Friday the 13th, the EHC Munich had the same problem. They were held scoreless in all of these road games. And everyone knows if you don’t score a goal, you can’t win a game. In Hamburg, it was not because of lack of opportunities. But the goal of Freezers goalie Jim Curry seemed to be boarded up for the EHC. Hamburg instead, used their chances and won the game 2-0. It was not a nice game from both sides, but the Hamburg Freezers had the luck on their side. In Straubing, the home team didn’t need luck. After a nearly equal first period, the EHC Munich stopped playing and after 12 minutes in the second period Sandro Schönberger scored a powerplay goal. Just two minutes later, Straubing used the sleeping opponent and Bruno St.Jaques scored for a two-goal lead.
 
Every one of the 400 traveling Munich fans hoped for an act of defiance but were disappointed. Laurent Meunier ended all dreams and Pat Cortina named the problem at the press conference. But the speech didn’t reach the ears of his players. In Cologne, the Sharks had lost four previous games, the EHC lost this time with 4-0.
 
And it was a classic run of game. Munich was equal in the first period, but after the 1-0 for the Cologne Sharks, the Munich team fell apart. The second period was a disjointed effort of missed chances for both clubs.   In the third, the Sharks caught fire and posted three goals. Jason Jaspers scored after just two minutes were gone in the period. Alexander Weiß and again Jaspers scored for the end result of 4-0. With the final in Cologne, EHC Munich was scoreless for180 minutes. And the next game was Berlin, the defending champion where Munich had never had won. But in between was the home game against the Nuremberg Ice Tigers. The former resident of the final spot in the tables had a good streak since the start of 2012 with 11 points out of five games.
 
Munich won the last match between both teams with their last away goals till now and the match in Munich happened similar.
 
  “If we sent the DVD of the game from the 30th December, we could have saved the fuel for the bus,” Ice Tigers coach Peter Draisaitl said at the press conference.
Jason Ulmer scored the 1-0 in the first period; Robert Leask scored the equalizer in the second period. After this goal, both teams just thought about their offense.
 
In the 8th minute of the last period, Mike Kompon scored with a wraparound. But after the bully, the Ice Tigers knotted the game at 2 with a goal from Gregory Leeb. After this goal the match was open again, but with the better end for EHC Munich. Eric Schneider scored three minutes before the end after a nice pass from Martin Buchwieser into the slot and Buchwieser was it, who scored the empty net goal for the 4-2 final.
 
Contact Robin.Hilger@prohockeynews.com