BERLIN – The DEL season started off in a hurry with a ton of highlights, new faces and a new team. After the Hamburg Freezers resigned from professional hockey due to the parting of the ownership, there was a spread of sympathy and condolence all across the Republic.
The Freezers were the darlings of the league, everybody kind of liked. As you might remember, Jamie Benn had a stint there during the Lockout in 2012. Now they’re gone 
for once and left a spot for a new team. The Fishtown Pinguins of Bremerhaven took this open spot, while applying successfully for the open vacancy during the summer. The Pinguins (not Penguins, for you English readers) used to play in the DEL 2, the second tier league in Germany, where they won a championship in 2014. Everybody in Germany is curious about how they will do in the top league, regarding the roster, which consists almost entirely of second league caliber players.
After the first five games, the Pinguins are not in last place and already won their first game on home ice with a score of 3:1 against the highly touted Iserlohn Roosters, who are in dead last after September. After the first few weeks it seems very likely the DEL has found a new darling team. The Pinguins get support from every fan base in the league, because they play with a ton of heart and dedication.
What else happened during the first weeks…?
The champions from Munich had a rough start, but they keep improving and are getting better and better, sitting already in third in the standings, only one point behind the current top team from Berlin.
The Eisbären had a great start, losing only one game in September, what led them right to the top of the table early on, due to two reasons.
First, they have a fantastic backup in Petri Vehanen, who looks great and hopes to stay hot.
And second, the first time in years they’re able to roll four lines the whole game, without lacking quality in any of them. Nevertheless, one player stands out in a stunning fashion. The newly acquired Nick Petersen plays fantastic, scoring a lot of crucial goals, as well as putting his teammates in scene. Not surprising, he is the leading scorer of the league, notching six goals and nine points in five games. Peter John Lee surely had a nice flair in this one.
Last year’s runners up from Wolfsburg looking good, sitting in seventh after five Games. Also in the mix, the Kölner Haie (sitting in 6th) and the Adler Mannheim (sitting in fifth), who we have to look at, regarding the title race.
The biggest disappointment in September were the Iserlohn Roosters, while many experts expect them far north in the standings at the end of the season. Hopefully they can end their early slump and turn things around quickly.
October will tell, stay tuned folks.
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