DEG experienced its most difficult season in a long time, but is proud of what has been achieved

Out in the quarterfinals
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That is why DEG is proud of a remarkable season

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The DEG players say goodbye to the fans after losing the fourth game in the play-off quarter-finals against Munich. Front: Victor Svensson.
Photo: RP/Ralph-Derek Schröder

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DEG experienced its most difficult season in a long time. But because it only ended in the quarterfinals, the mood brightened quickly. The Düsseldorfers were also celebrated by the fans.

It is in the nature of things that the season of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) ends with a good feeling for only one of the 15 clubs. For the rest, the long summer break usually starts with a disappointment. Either he was relegated, missed the play-offs or was eliminated from them. The latter also applied to the Düsseldorfer EG on Saturday. The 2:4 against EHC Red Bull Munich was the third defeat in the fourth quarter final – the season was over shortly before seven thirty. And when Captain Alexander Barta grabbed the microphone a few laps of honor later, he made no secret of the fact that he and his colleagues were “very depressed”. All in all, it’s all “very emotional” because it “wasn’t an easy season, with ups and downs, with Corona”.

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But anyone who thinks that the minutes after the last DEG game was like a funeral service could hardly be further wrong. The fans had already stood up and celebrated before the final siren – half an hour later thousands were still singing and clapping in the stands. And it didn’t take long for the players’ disappointment to give way to pride. “We all mastered it together, we overperformed again,” said Barta, triggering loud cheers in the Dome. The captain spoke for a team that had started as a relegation candidate.

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The result was a season in which the relationship between the team and the fans was closer than it had been for a long time. The number of spectators left a lot to be desired, not even 7500 fans came on Saturday. But those who were there appreciated the passion with which their team had cleared new stones for months: the departure of top performers who, even in the second Corona season, were anything but lavish salaries, the skepticism about the Start, the Corona outbreak in autumn, more and more infections and injuries, the tight schedule, new ghost games. Added to this were the series of defeats over the turn of the year and at the end of the main round, as well as the farewell to coach Harold Kreis, which was announced early on.

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Nevertheless, the DEG qualified confidently for the knockout round, experienced dark hours against Krefeld or Bietigheim on the way there, but also real celebrations like the 6: 1 in Cologne, the wild 7: 6 in Berlin, the victories in Mannheim and Munich. And then the play-offs: the success against Nuremberg despite numerous failures and the absence of Harold Kreis in the meantime, the home win against Munich. The fact that there was nothing to celebrate afterwards was also due to the “uneven encounter”, as Kreis called the duel with the second in the table, “but you didn’t see that during the series, we made up for it with heart and passion. The outer scoreboard wasn’t in our favor, but the inner one is right,” Kreis said. It was the same on Saturday, when DEG had more shots and chances and tried everything again. “We couldn’t ask for more from each other,” said Bernhard Ebner.

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Throughout the year there had been praise from the league for manager Niki Mondt and the coaching team. For having the courage to give young players responsibility. Mondt also believed in two-league players like Stephen MacAulay, Carter Proft or Niklas Heinzinger, found a goalscorer like Brendan O’Donnell in Slovakia. And he managed to keep most of the team together: This is probably the most important news: DEG not only got through the most difficult season since Metro left, it also already has a foundation for the next few years.

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That commands respect from opponents. Munich’s winning goal scorer Philip Gogulla even refrained from exuberant jubilation out of respect for DEG, as he said afterwards. This may also have been due to the fact that he will soon be playing in his hometown again. Others will then no longer be there, such as defense chief Marco Nowak or coach Kreis. So the game on Saturday was also a farewell. As always when a season ends. After that, beer crates were hauled in for a final cabin feast. They come together one last time at the weekend, then the end-of-season party with the fans is on. This will definitely have nothing to do with a funeral service.

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