Anyone who currently has to market the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) doesn’t have a hard time. Because the outcome of the game is hard to predict, it’s exciting. It was to be expected that Berlin and Mannheim, in first and second place in the table, would be at the front. But these teams are not exempt from slack either. This is what happened on Sunday: Berlin lost against Bremerhaven (2:4), Mannheim failed in Düsseldorf (1:4).
Right in the middle in eighth place are the Lions Frankfurt, who won 3-2 in Ingolstadt after a penalty shootout on Sunday evening. The balance of the league is both an opportunity and a risk for the club: an opportunity because the Frankfurt team can earn a place in the top six and could thus move straight into the play-offs. Risk because the path to the bottom of the table is not far and many teams are pushing for the top places.
But the trend speaks for the lions, who appear playfully solid. Exactly a quarter of all main round games are over – and the Lions are a top team when it comes to scoring goals. Only the Eisbären Berlin and the Kölner Haie have scored more goals. The Frankfurters score an average of 3.5 times per game – and the scoring burden is spread across many shoulders.
Second-row winger Cameron Brace is currently the league’s top scorer. But the front row with Carter Rowney, Joseph Cramarossa and Dominik Bokk is also very present in the games, even if Bokk is having an even harder time than last season. Unlike last year, the Lions are not only characterized by their individual class in the offensive zone. The interaction in particular works excellently, which is proven by a look at the statistics.
Jürgen Kalwa, New York Published/Updated: , Valentin Teufel Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 1 Bernd Schwickerath Published/Updated: ,
In terms of shooting efficiency, the Lions are currently the best team in the league. This shows that good chances are created in all four lines and the strikers rarely have to resort to embarrassing shots. But the Lions are among the best four teams not only in terms of shots, but also in terms of passing statistics.
Head coach Matti Tiilikainen is not yet satisfied with the game, as he said to Magentasport before the Ingolstadt game: “We are on the right track in our process, we usually show a good 40 minutes against top teams.” And further: “We have to Putting the pieces together over the entire game has been our biggest problem so far.” The Lions’ next chance for a good game comes on Thursday (7:30 p.m.) against twelfth-placed Augsburg.
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