The Augsburg Panthers have once again managed to stay in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) without any involvement of their own. The relegated team from the DEL was saved six weeks after the last game of the season because the Kassel Huskies lost the final series against the Eisbären Regensburg in the second league (DEL2). Regensburg won the sixth game on Tuesday evening with 4:2 (1:1, 2:1, 1:0) goals and also won the series 4:2. In contrast to Kassel, Regensburg does not meet the economic requirements for promotion. Since Kassel has now missed the leap into the DEL in terms of sport, Augsburg remains in the German elite class – like it did a year ago.
Augsburg was also relegated in 2023. At that time, Ravensburg became champions of the DEL2 without fulfilling the requirements for promotion. “It is important for our sporting plans that we now have certainty,” said Augsburg’s new sports director Larry Mitchell, who would also have taken over as coach in the event of relegation. Kassel parted ways with coach Bill Stewart after the fifth final game, but also lost the sixth match with interim coaches Sven Valenti and Daniel Kreutzer.