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“I call him ‘Marvelous Marvin'”, the ERC Ingolstadt coach reveals with a grin. The original, American boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler, recently passed away, “so our Marvin will take his place”.
Nobody knows whether Feigl’s sports career will be just as “wonderful” and successful as that of the boxer – but the first steps have been taken. The ERC licensed the 18-year-old for the current season of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL), Feigl has been training with the Panther cracks since Wednesday and can therefore hope to be the first native of Ingolstadt to make the leap from the youth department to the top division. “That would mean an incredible amount to me. It would be a childhood dream that will come true,” says Strmer, who is part of the apprenticeship at Braun Disposal.
At the age of three and a half years Feigl stood on ice skates for the first time in running school – at first reluctantly, then with increasing enthusiasm. “Now it’s like an addiction for me,” says the blond boy who names Ingolstadt champion panther Christoph Gawlik (“A small, bustling player like me”) and NHL star Patrick Kane as role models. “I’m a fan of the Chicago Blackhawks and I even got a cabin tour from Jimmy Waite when I visited them,” he says proudly. The goalkeeping legend of the Panthers has been the goalie coach of the NHL team since 2014.
Feigl had already had the chance to try out training with the ERC professionals several times, in November 2020 sporting director Larry Mitchell then placed him in the major league with his home club HC Landsberg with a sponsorship license. The offspring season had previously been suspended due to corona. “I made a promise to Marvin that if he works hard, I’ll keep promoting him,” explains Mitchell.
Although coach Fabio Carciola’s team clearly missed the play-offs, Feigl took his chance. “Everyone in Landsberg was happy with him,” says Mitchell. Shedden reports of “valuable experiences” for the left-wing shooter and “a lot of ice age, also in the power play”. “I think that I can be very satisfied with my yield for the first senior year,” says Feigl himself. “We didn’t have the best team, but we fought to the end and in the end we annoyed the top teams too.” Overall he got three hits and nine assists in 32 appearances.
Reason enough for Mitchell to bring Feigl to the ERC professionals as the 16th Strmer. Should the Panthers suffer serious injuries or even the coronavirus in the upcoming duels with the DEL northern clubs, “Marvin is a very good option for us,” says Mitchell. “He’s a tricky player and he still has a long way to go to play in this league,” said Shedden, “but one or the other effort won’t hurt him.”
The differences between the third and first league are enormous, Feigl knows: “Nobody touches you in the upper league. If you don’t pay attention in the DEL, someone slams you into the gang.” He thinks too much about his possible DEL debt not: “I do my best in training. If someone fails, I’m ready.” The 1.75 meter tall “Marvelous Marvin” has increased his “fighting weight” from 66 to 78 kilograms in the recent past.
ERC IN BRIEF
? Personal: Defender Simon Schtz could celebrate his comeback in the game against Krefeld on Monday (8.30 p.m.). “He should be fit by then,” revealed ERC coach Doug Shedden on Thursday. With Mat Bodie (about ten days of downtime), Hans Detsch (two weeks) and Justin Feser (possibly season-off) it still takes a while.
? Ex-Panther: Tommy Samuelsson is apparently about to return home: As reported by several media, the Swedish top division HV71 from Jnkping is interested in the services of the former ERC coach (July 2016 to November 2017). The 61-year-old is currently an assistant coach at ZSC Lions / Switzerland. alp DK
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