Ice hockey-the Eisbären Berlin hunt their eleventh DEL title against Cologne

In view of the very convincing own appearances, the Eisbären Berlin was “no matter” who the opponent will be around the championship in the final. Now it is clear: it is the Cologne Haie, after 4: 2 victories in the semi-finals against the main-round ERC Ingolstadt. This is why the defending champion from the capital is not afraid. The polar bears presented themselves in the playoffs in a form that impressed even the competition. The main round round First turned Straubing off in the quarter-finals with 4: 1 victories and 18: 9 goals and then stopped the eight-time champions Adler Mannheim in the semifinals with 4: 0 wins and 16: 4 goals.

Master form

Mannheim’s NHL-experienced coach Dallas Ekins, who had promised a lot with his top-class and expensive team, was frustrated in the semi-finals in the semifinals. In view of the Berlin power demonstration, however, he admitted frankly: »In this constitution I don’t see any in the league that could stop the polar bears. In my view, they are in a master form that the competitors put in the shade. They are the champions, have an answer to everything. They already had a unrivaled run last year. “

The Eisbären Berlin cannot be irritated by these hymns of praise, but are still bursting with self -confidence – even if everyone emphasizes: “We are by no means at our goal.” Even master coach Serge Aubin was enthusiastic about his team, jumped over his shadow and gave up the usual reluctance: “I am very proud of my players. It was a hard series especially against Mannheim. But we were ready from the start and played the best game in the series with great passion. I liked that even in critical situations we always stayed calm and relaxed and not deviated from our playful line. The boys are fully focused on the final. “The opponent there was” no matter “.

Parade series

Even striker Leonhard Pföderl, who was elected “player of the year” after the main round, did not talk long around it: “We delivered our best performance in the semi -final series and are very confident. From the beginning we defended strongly and we struck on the offensive when we needed it. ”The 31-year-old had played the Kurpfälzer budget with his storm colleagues Frederik Tiffels and Ty Ronning. In the supposed giant duel, this parade series made a lot of 16 goals with a lot of speed and great understanding of the game in the four games, in each game there was at least one from the trio in a goal or in a gate preparation.

Top scorer Ty Ronning plays an outstanding role in this trio. The 27-year-old Canadian, who speaks openly about his superstition and “carries the same underwear in every game,” the feat of achieving at least one point in 23 games in the German ice hockey league in a row as a scorer or as an assist. He outbound the previous DEL record from the 1994/1995 season by Peter Draisaitl by two games. For Ronning, however, it is more important: »As a team, we have a higher goal as a team – the championship title. Only that counts. “

Bitch

Attacker Zach Boychuk provided a downer. The Canadian failed in the third semi -final game against Mannheim when he attacked the helmet and neck in the final phase Tom Kühnhackl with a completely unnecessary stick stroke and then blocked for four games. So he will have to watch in the first three final games.

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When the “Best-of-7 series” starts in Berlin on Maundy Thursday, the ERC Ingolstadt is not guest in the arena at the Ostbahnhof. The convincing main round winner from Upper Bavaria had played with his twelve newcomers to the favorite role and finally wanted to become champions for the second time after 2014, but was challenged by the Cologne sharks in the semifinals and stopped on Monday evening.

Rested

In the semi -final series, Ingolstadt only won two victories against the sixth of the preliminary round. The Cologne Haie, who had replaced their coaching team before the season and under the Finn Karl Jalonen after 2002, set the third DEL title for the 23rd time, cheered on Monday evening in front of a home backdrop with a 3-2 after extra time. Now, after a short break, you have to go to the ice on Thursday at the final start in Berlin against rested polar bears.