One last test before the second division ice hockey team Eisbären Regensburg fight for points in the league again. Tomorrow, Friday, September 6th, the Upper Palatinate team will play their sixth and final test match for the upcoming 2024/2025 round at ESV Kaufbeuren in Allgäu. The dress rehearsal in the “Energie Schwaben” Arena begins at 7:30 p.m.
Similar to the team from the cathedral city, the Buron Jokers also experienced a small shake-up in the squad in the summer: on paper, there were nine departures at the ESVK, but only six new arrivals. Among other things, three quota strikers and five talents left the club from the Ostallgäu region: Canadian captain Tyler Spurgeon signed up for ECDC Memmingen in a lower league, his congenial partner of recent years, John Lammers (also from Canada, both 38 years old) also did not receive a new contract, as did the Finn Micke Saari (30), who was signed last season. Three new, powerful offensive players are taking their place: former Czech junior international player Přemysl Svoboda is only 23 years old, but has plenty of potential; 26-year-old Canadian Nolan Yaremko has proven his enormous quality in the past two seasons, including in the second (AHL) and third (ECHL) professional leagues in North America; and 29-year-old Cole Sanford (also Canada) came to Wertach as one of the top strikers in Great Britain’s upper echelons.
With Keanu Šalmík (19 years old/goalkeeper – now Stuttgart/Oberliga), Philipp Bidoul (21/defense – named best U-21 player in the DEL 2 last season – now Frankfurt/DEL), Johannes Krauß (21/forward – now Ingolstadt/DEL), Maximilian Hops (21/forward – now Krefeld/DEL 2) and Yannik Burghart (22/forward – now Freiburg/DEL 2), the East Allgäu team also had to let five top talents go. But the renowned talent factory of the ESVK already has the next youngsters ready to take the next step, with only attacker Marvin Feigl (22 – previously Rosenheim) joining the team from outside. With the 29-year-old German-Czech Sebastian Gorčík, the Jokers also lost a key player in the offense – but they made a name for themselves with two well-known new forward signings from league rivals. Not only did they secure Dani Bindels (previously from Dresden), but also Samir Kharboutli (also Czech with a German passport – both 25 years old), the player who achieved the team’s highest points average per game in Landshut last season.
ESVK: Strong performance in tests against top teams
Together with the remaining established pillars – including the new captain and ex-Regensburg player Simon Schütz – the ESVK has a strong DEL-2 squad ready. Although two wins from six test matches so far seem like there is still room for improvement for the Swabians, the Wertachstadt team’s opponents were tough: after a narrow 1:2 defeat in the first test at home against second division newcomers Weiden, there were confident away victories against Bregenzerwald (7:3 – Alps Hockey League) and cooperation partner and local rival EV Füssen (12:3 – Oberliga). There were no victories against the Vorarlberg Pioneers from the strong international ICEHL, the top club from Finland’s second division Jokerit Helsinki (3:6) and Glasgow Clan from the top league in Great Britain (5:6), Kaufbeuren put in some of its best performances against the strong opponents and kept the matches completely open for a long time.
The EBR has another tough challenge ahead of them before the DEL 2 main round starts again. As reigning champions, the Eisbären want to end their preparations with another successful experience after their strong victory against the top Austrian team Linz (5:0).
Information about the game
Reports from the match Sportdeutschland.tv live (www. sportdeutschland.tv).
Game start: Friday, 16 September 2024, 19:30
Venue: “Energie Schwaben” Arena
Text: Jan-Mirco Linse
Photo: Melanie Feldmeier/arSito
Last test for second division ice hockey team Eisbären Regensburg before the reigning DEL-2 champions return to league life: On Friday, September 6, the team around the new Canadian striker David Morley (pictured) will play against ESV Kaufbeuren from 7:30 p.m.
Photo: Melanie Feldmeier/arSito
