On the penultimate point game weekend of the DEL2 season 2022/23, the ice pirates Crimmitschau will meet two aspirants for promotion. The protégés of the new head coach Jussi Tuores will meet the Kassel Huskies tomorrow, Friday evening (February 24th, 2023 – 7:30 p.m.), on Sunday there will be a duel with the Krefeld penguins on the third Veterans Day in the Sahnpark (February 26th, 2023 – 17:00 o’clock). Starting position, personnel and a look at the upcoming opponents – in the preliminary report you will get the most important information.
Two games, six points and thus the full yield for Jussi Tuores’ debut as head coach of the Ice Pirates. The Finn, who only took over the position of Marian Bazany on leave last week, could be quite satisfied with the performances, but above all with the results of his team against Bayreuth and Freiburg – the gap to the pre-playoffs thus melted to just one point.
In order to be able to achieve this in the end, however, important counters are still required. Two tough duels are on the program for the Crimmitschauer on this league weekend. So the guest performance at the undisputed leader Kassel is on the agenda. Only two days later, the Krefeld Penguins, the next aspirant for promotion, will come to the third Veterans’ Day in the Sahn Park in Crimmitschau.
Jannis Kälble and Valentino Weißgerber are still not there
Also this weekend Jussi Tores and his assistant Esbjörn Hofverberg will have to do without the still injured Jannis Kälble (lower body injury) and Valentino Weißgerber. Also absent is Bernhard Ettwein, who will not be included in the squad for the upcoming games and will continue to keep fit in Salzburg. Tuores will probably have the same staff available as in the previous week. It is still unclear whether the West Saxons will receive support from Bremerhaven or Leipzig.
Guest at the undisputed league leader
The Kassel Huskies are still chasing records. The sled dogs, who greeted them from the top with 122 points, can no longer take the main round championship away. With the 3:2 win over ESV Kaufbeuren last Monday, the Hessians even broke their own point record from the 2007/2008 season. Countless ice hockey experts claim that the Huskies seem to be in a league of their own. Bohuslav Subr’s charges have won 24 of their last 25 matches – what a feat!
“Every team in this league is beatable, including the Kassel Huskies. Of course they have four strong ranks and will demand everything from us. Nevertheless, we are starting the journey to kidnap points,” says Jussi Tuores, setting the direction. Four days before the end of the season there is no longer any time for fear and doubt – even if the quality of the Hessians is almost frightening. Timothy McGauley is the sled dogs’ top scorer with 46 points (17 goals/29 assists). Ex-Eipirat Maximilian Faber is the strongest offensive defender and has already scored 37 assists in addition to eight goals of his own. Vincent Schlenker, captain of the Crimmitschauer last year, has contributed 17 assists and scored four goals of his own – including the game-winning goal against Kaufbeuren on Monday. A duel continues in goal between Jerry Kuhn and Jake Kielly, both of whom are true masters of their craft.
Krefeld comes to the Sahnpark for the third Veterans Day
While the Ice Pirates will be celebrating their third Veteran’s Day in the Sahnpark on Sunday, the Krefeld Pinguinen will not only be guests, last year’s DEL relegated team, but also one of those aspiring to promotion. Boris Blank’s team, the third Penguine coach in the current series, is in fifth place in the DEL2 table with 76 points and is well on the way to the playoffs despite a rather inconsistent main round – even if the past ones three games against Ravensburg, Heilbronn and Landshut were all lost.
The men of Jussi Tuores and Esbjörn Hofverberg should pay particular attention to Marcel Müller on Sunday. The former NHL, DEL and national player is the top scorer of the DEL2 with 58 points and was able to prove his accuracy this season in the duels with the ice pirates. He is followed by Zach Magwood with 48 points and Kael Mouillierat with 37 points.
Incidentally, the first and last meeting of the two teams during a league game in the Crimmitschau artificial ice stadium ended in a 5:2 for the hosts, who reported back impressively at the beginning of December after a long dry spell – perhaps a good omen for the next home game and the third Veterans’ Day the West Saxons.
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