MUNICH, GERMANY – The shooting star of the EHC, Martin Buchwieser, was delighted when he was invited to the Toronto Maple Leafs prospects camp.
Over the summer, EHC invited young ice hockey players from southern Bavaria to a one-week camp in Munich and the young talent came out for the camp. So many in fact that a few of them had to be sent home because of the overwhelming response from applicants.
Although Manager Winkler made no promises about the chances of getting a contract (originally the camp was just thought as a motivational help for young players) he was very surprised after the camp because of the high quality of the young players. That was especially true of Dennis Schütt of the EHC Klostersee, who picked up a development contract. But he will not have a lot of hope to play in the DEL this season, his time will come in the future.
With Jochen Reimer, the EHC bought a German national keeper. Reimer, who came from the vice-champion Wolfsburg, already played for EHC in 2008/09 for 11 games and did an outstanding job. Klaus Kathan and Jason Ulmer follow him from the north to the south. Kathan should help young players with his experience, but also like Ulmer doing a lot of scoring on the second line. The opposition forwards should look to avoid the new Swedish defense man Olsson, who should provide a strong mobile defensive block.
With Cespiva from Mannheim EHC have another young player with high potential, and quasi-new player Petermann, who was injured early last season, also seen as a solid defenseman the D look strong this year.
And after the surprising contract cancellation of Mike Kompon and Ryan Ready who will now stay in Canada, Brandon Dietrich is now in the pole position for a place in the 3rd line. Ready comes in the former Augsburg player Noah Clarke, who also played 21 games in the NHL. Winkler sees this as a stroke of luck, Clarke gambled too high with his contract negotiations with Augsburg and Berlin and was without a club until EHC picked him up.
After the official start of the ice training at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Coaches will do a first overlook of the team at the Dolomiti-Cup in southern Tyrol.
Manager Winkler will not expect a well-rehearsed team but will see who followed the individual training plans handed out over the summer. More serious will be the games against league-rivals from Nuremberg and Augsburg. With Nuremberg, the EHC plays against the secret tip for the championship this year, but also the rich teams from Berlin and Mannheim will be at the top of the table come the end. Possibly also Hamburg, which has a big team on paper as they do every year, and the Iserlohn Roosters had a big shopping spree overseas in the USA and Canada this summer and will look to surprise many.
The season’s goal of the EHC is, like last season, entertaining hockey which should bring more and more people to the old Munich ice hall. And, just maybe, a big surprise and get to the Play-Offs in the second year, as is generally known as the hardest thing to do.
Contact Robin.Hilger@prohockeynews.com
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