In the last seconds before the final siren sounded, the Eisbären professionals were no longer on the bench. They prepared to storm the ice of the Bremerhaven ice arena and attack each other. The “German Champion EHC” from the curve had already been heard for a long time.
When it was done, the helmets, sticks, everything, just everything that is part of the ice hockey uniform, flew. Serge Aubin and his coaching team set out to warm this team that had done the job exactly according to plan. On the other side, kneeled and crying from Bremerhaven, who had played the season of their lives, but probably won’t be playing for a title any time soon. Nevertheless, the fans sang a proud “runner-up”.
Thanks to a rip-off 2-0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0), which was no longer in danger in the final minutes, the Eisbären celebrated their tenth championship title since 2005, it is the third championship in the last four years. Only three defeats in 15 play-off games show how superior the record champions were in this knockout phase. One year after the low blow with the botched play-offs, the Berliners have impressively returned to the ice hockey throne. Coach Aubin personally took extensive photos of the celebrations.
This was a success for the entire team and belongs to all the players.
Eisbären captain Kai Wissmann
The shiny trophy was accepted for the first time by captain Kai Wissmann, who was also the first to escape the golden confetti shower to carry the trophy to the traveling fans. From now on, the coveted piece traveled through the Berlin ranks.
As expected, the hosts had come out of the dressing room with great ambitions. And an early Berlin penalty by Ty Ronning could have helped Bremerhaven take the lead for the first time in this series. However, the Eisbären’s outnumbered formation hardly allows anything in these play-offs. And this time too, the minority did not result in a goal being conceded.
Berlin is the perfect place. It’s unbelievable how much work is done here and how everything fits together perfectly.
Polar bear attacker Lean Bergmann
There weren’t many shots on goal in the first third anyway – six on both sides. And in this case that spoke for the Berliners, who, despite the anticipation of the approaching title, definitely didn’t want to be carried away into over-motivated maneuvers.
Goalkeeper Jake Hildbrand is once again surpassing himself
However, it was now probably the most difficult phase for the Eisbären to survive, as they had to compete again without Marcel Noebels. Seven of Bremerhaven’s nine goals in this final series had come in the second third. And it was clear from the home team that they wanted to continue this trend.
Eisbären keeper Jake Hildebrand, who had already arrived with a catch rate of 93.3 percent, once again surpassed himself. With only two goals conceded in the last three games of these play-offs, he made it clear once again why he was probably the most important signing before this season. Without a goalkeeper, the comeback title after a messed up year would not have been possible.
Before the second break, the Eisbären gained momentum and put pressure on the Bremerhaven goal. It was already a foretaste of the final third. In this final series, the Bremerhaven team never managed to score a goal in the last 20 minutes because their strength dwindled faster than with the Eisbären due to the thinner squad. Accordingly, his colleagues piled up over him after the final siren.
And so it happened as it had to happen. Leo Pföderl, the outstanding Berlin striker in this final series with eleven points and the logical winner of the MVP award, drove the puck into the goal in the 44th minute. Pretty much everyone in the ice arena suspected that this 30th ice hockey championship in the history of the German Ice Hockey League was decided. The certainty followed five minutes later with Manuel Wiederer’s 2-0.
Eisbären defender Jonas Müller said after the championship trophy was handed over: “It was definitely not an easy series, every game was close. But we really found ourselves in the play-offs after the first defeat against Mannheim, and in the end we deserved to win this.”
Müller’s colleague Leo Pförderl, on the other hand, said: “That’s just crazy. You can see how strong the solidarity is in the play-offs.” And then the MVP went to the celebrations. Pföderl said beforehand: “Now we’ll celebrate until next week.”