There are turbulent days behind the ice pirates Crimmitschau. After the two derby defeats and the leave of absence of head coach Marian Bazany, the next tasks in the DEL2 are now waiting for the West Saxons. The home game against Bayreuth (February 17, 2023 – 8:00 p.m.) and the away game in Freiburg (February 19, 2023 – 6:30 p.m.) are also the first challenges for Jussi Tuores and Esbjörn Hofverberg as the Ice Pirates’ new coaching team. Starting position, personnel and a look at the upcoming opponents – in the preliminary report you will get the most important information.
A pleasant preparation for a point game weekend looks different. After the two tough derby defeats against Weißwasser and Dresden, the pressure on the ice pirates and the team grew immeasurably. This finally led to the suspension of head coach Marian Bazany, who will no longer be in charge of the Crimmitschauer with immediate effect. Jussi Tuores will now take over his position, who, together with assistant coach Esbjörn Hofverberg, will prepare the team for the upcoming games.
A breath of fresh air and a bit of calm should now return – and of course new motivation, which should help the ice pirates to score points this weekend. These are also sorely needed if you want to keep the remaining chance of the pre-playoff places, on which the people from Pleißestadt are already five points behind.
André Schietzold about to return to the squad – defender Bernhard Ettwein comes from Salzburg
Jussi Tuores still has to do without Valentino Weißgerber and Jannis Kälble at his debut as head coach this weekend. André Schietzold, who is back in team training after an injury break of almost five weeks, could be back in the squad. Whether the West Saxons will receive support from their cooperation partners from Bremerhaven and Leipzig against Bayreuth and Freiburg is still open.
Bernhard Ettwein is a new addition to the Ice Pirates squad. The 20-year-old defender joined the second division ice hockey club just before the end of the transfer window. The defender, who is 1.93 meters tall and weighs 87 kilograms, played in the Red Bull Salzburg youth team until the very end. Ettwein will wear jersey number 24 for West Saxons. However, it is not yet clear whether he will be part of the Crimmitschauer team tomorrow.
Game one after Marian Bazany – Tigers in Sahnpark guest
The next home game of the Eispiraten Crimmitschau will take place in the Sahnpark tomorrow, Friday evening, with the Bayreuth Tigers starting at 8:00 p.m. With just 38 points, the Franconians are still in 14th and thus last place in the DEL2. Most recently, Rich Chernomaz’s team, who is already the third person in charge behind the Bayreuth gang this season, also suffered two defeats. The people of Wagnerstadt lost 2:3 to Heilbronn and 3:6 to Freiburg. In the previous direct duels, the ice pirates emerged victorious twice. The last game in the Crimmitschau artificial ice stadium ended with a 0:3 defeat against the Tigers.
At that time, Travis Ewanyk, who two years ago still wore the Crimmitschau jersey, was twice as successful. The best scorer in Bayreuth, on the other hand, is the Finn Ville Järveläinen, who scored 27 assists in addition to 16 of his own. In goal, meanwhile, Olafr Schmidt and Brandon Halverson keep interacting.
Continue to build on the positive record against wolves
On Sunday, the ice pirates will go to Breisgau for the second time this season. There, the West Saxons meet the Wolves Freiburg, who are in eighth place with 69 points. After a narrow 3:4 defeat against Krefeld, they recently won 6:3 over the Wolves Freiburg. In the previous three encounters, the people of Pleißestadt have had the upper hand twice. Both home games against Baden-Württemberg were victorious with 5:3 and 3:0. In the last duel in the Real Heroes Arena, they lost 0:1 in an open game.
Tor Immo, who has already scored 21 goals and 33 assists, is one of the best scorers in Freiburg and is also the Breisgauer’s gold helmet. He is followed by Nikolas Linsemaier, who has scored 13 goals and contributed 29 assists so far. There will also be a reunion with the former ice pirates Hagen Kaisler and Patrik Cerveny. The latter is the Wolves’ regular goalie and has a capture rate of 89.62 percent.
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