Coach Aubin sees Eisbären “ready” for Ingolstadt

Coach Serge Aubin from league leaders Eisbären Berlin is confident going into the top game of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL), despite the hardships his team has had to endure recently. “I expect that we will be ready,” he said with a view to the duel with second-placed ERC Ingolstadt on Thursday (7.30 p.m. / Magentasport).

The Canadian emphasized that the fact that his team had to play ten games in the past 22 days should be “no excuse” after the Berliners beat Grizzlys Wolfsburg 5-4 after extra time and thus won their eighth league game in a row. “It’s physically and mentally demanding. We play every other day. There is hardly any time to train and a lot of travel,” said Aubin. “But the boys are professionals. We’re approaching this like we’re in the playoffs.”

Even though the coach “didn’t like the recent performance against Lower Saxony overall” due to numerous puck losses, he expressed full confidence in his team. “We have depth in the squad,” said Aubin. “We have four strong attacking lines and six really good defenders. I can use every single player against everyone on the other side.”

Team captain Kai Wissmann, who scored the important 3-3 against Wolfsburg on his 28th birthday, warned about the upcoming opponent. “Ingolstadt has strengthened itself really well. “They are really very dangerous, especially on offense,” he said. “We need our best game if we want to get points.” (dpa)