GERMANY – In an ideal world hockey fans in Germany would right now dwell in memories of a highly entertaining DEL season which ended with the unexpected final between the Augsburg Panthers and the Hannover Scorpions, with the latter winning the title and thereby crowning their impressive run from last place in November in style. Another highlight was the world championship, which set a new attendance world record with a crowd of 77,803 at the opening game between Germany and the USA at the Schalke soccer stadium. Furthermore the German squad fuelled the nation’s hockey enthusiasm by putting in spectacular performances against the top nations and barely missing the final by loosing 1-2 against Russia in the semi-final (Pavel Datsyuk scoring the game winner with 1:50 remaining). It all seemed like a dream – but turned into a nightmare just a few days later. To fully understand all that was going on in the last couple of weeks one probably has to be a lawyer. Bottom line is that the league excluded the Frankfurt Lions and the Kassel Huskies from next season’s action because of financial problems and/or violations of the league’s rules. While Frankfurt accepted the verdict without making too much a fuss, the Huskies are fighting to stay in the DEL. Led by their recently appointed managing director, lawyer Dr Fritz Westhelle, they are having judges issue restraining orders and are announcing further legal measures should they not be allowed to play next season. By acting rather aggressively and not accepting to discuss any form of compromise Kassel have isolated themselves from the rest of the league. In an open letter all the other teams (including new member EHC Munich, last season’s winner of the second division) made it clear that they completely disagree with the actions taken by Kassel and totally back up the league’s position. Since time is running out the situation will probably unfold like this: The Huskies will have to be allowed to start the season – only to be excluded the very moment everything is finally sorted out and the league will have the chance to do so. All in all it is a situation that is unworthy for a professional organization like the DEL and the sport of hockey in general. The negative headlines will most definitely continue to flow.
Contact: Carsten.vanzanten@prohockeynews.com
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