Hey on the ice – EHC Freiburg

Do wolves rest in summer? no way. After a mixed season, those responsible at EHC Freiburg are planning the new season. The second division ice hockey team wants to take a step forward. How are the wolves going to do that? A visit during the summer break.

Simon Danner hardly gets any rest at the moment. Sweating despite the summer break, working hard for a comeback. The captain of EHC Freiburg is currently working hard on his rehabilitation after his knee surgery at the end of last season. There is hardly any peace. “It’s going well,” said the Freiburg ice hockey pro late on Monday evening.

The 35-year-old is an EHC homegrown, learned to play on the ice on Ensisheimer Strasse and still holds the record for the youngest scorer point for the wolves. In the highest league, the DEL, he gained a total of over 700 games for Frankfurt, Dsseldorf, Wolfsburg and Schwenningen. Since 2019 he has been cycling in Breisgau again. Also next season.

Danner is motivated. “I’m really looking forward to the coming season. We want to get back into the good midfield,” he says, adding: “The end of last season in particular made us want more.” The past season was mixed. After the two exceptional years under coach Peter Russell, the wolves under new coach Robert Hoffmann searched for their form for a long time.

Due to corona infections in most of the team, the runner cracks had to work every two days at the beginning of the year. That’s why the team never quite found their way in terms of play. In the end, the Freiburgers said goodbye handsomely. In the quarterfinals against Frankfurt it was over.

Captain Danner would like to build on the increase in performance from the end of the season. “We want to continue there,” he says and finds: “We are well positioned in the German positions.” Danner, Alexander de los Rios, Luca Trinkberger and Nikolas Linsenmaier, for example, have already extended. Top performers for maintaining the trend. And on the foreign positions? “I’m sure that we’ll sign top people,” Danner said calmly. EHC chairman Werner Karlin adds: “16 of the 23 players under consideration already have contracts, and key commitments can be expected in the foreign positions in the next few weeks.”

The first quota position has been occupied since Monday. In Trevor Gooch, a 27-year-old American comes to Breisgau. Gooch played in the top collegiate league (NCAA) and has already played in Hungary and the Alps League in Europe. The EHC managers had already wanted to sign the center and winger before the last season. Now it worked.

Coach Hoffmann is convinced of his new offensive power. “Trevor is a good skater who has very good technical skills. He has already played in Europe and has shown that he can use his scoring skills here too.” In addition, the EHC is again planning two to four licensed players who will play at the cooperation partner Schwenningen. All in all, that sounds like a lot of planning security. What makes them happy in the Real Heroes Arena. Because of the financial uncertainties of the pandemic, the wolves were only able to fill the fourth position of overseas professional during the course of the season.

Financially, the EHC must continue to make good budgets

Speaking of planning: After the municipal council decision at the beginning of April, the EHC can also shape the future with regard to the home stadium with perspective: until 2029 the game will be played in the Echte-Helden-Arena on Ensisheimer Strasse. Then the puck should whiz across the ice in the new hall on the exhibition grounds.

Financially, the ice hockey club still has to manage well. The competition upgrades, the EHC saves. Preparation begins at the beginning of August with the annual performance diagnostics. Then it’s off to a training camp in the Czech Republic for a week. “The advantage of this is that the expensive ice preparation in Freiburg doesn’t have to be done until mid-August,” explains Werner Karlin.

So the course has been set for the coming season. The advance sale has also been running for two weeks, and at the weekend the members confirmed the board in office. The play equipment will rest for only six weeks before it starts in August and the season begins in September. At the EHC they feel well prepared for this.

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