At the start of the play-offs, the hockey ladies of the ESC Planegg have two home games against the Eisbären Juniors Berlin. The framework conditions are far from ideal.
Planegg - Before the start of the play-offs for the championship in the women's ice hockey Bundesliga, Michael Lehmann quotes old wisdom: "You have to make the big points," says the sporting director of the ESC Planegg. "It is important that you are successful." Before the two semi-finals of his team on Saturday (5 p.m.) and Sunday (11.15 a.m.) in the home ice rink in Grafing, he is preoccupied with the laws of the knockout series something different against the polar bears Juniors Berlin: the framework conditions before the season highlight.
Sports director Lehmann criticizes DEB: "The association doesn't care"
They are anything but ideal for the ESC. "The German Ice Hockey Federation takes no account of the clubs," complains Lehmann. The reason for the criticism is a measure taken by the Bundeswehr, which brought in sports soldiers from Monday to Wednesday for an extra training week. Of the penguins, Julia Zorn, Kerstin Spielberger, Anna-Maria Fiegert, Yvonne Rothemund and Franziska Albl were not available to their team. "The association doesn't care whether the clubs have the best possible conditions," says Lehmann, who would have liked the DEB to have presented the Bundeswehr with its schedule.
The team boss cannot understand this any more than Marcel Breil. Just yesterday the ESC coach was able to prepare for the games against Berlin with his entire squad. He had no more than this training session. Much to Lehmann's annoyance: "That explains someone who does his job from Monday to Friday and also does his hobby at a fully professional level."
The mode of the play-offs is also angry with ESC Planegg
But it is not just the Bundeswehr that, according to Lehmann, is responsible for the fire before the play-offs without being prevented by the association. The mode that was introduced just a year ago to give the international players a high level of game practice with regard to the World Cup is getting in Lehmann's sights: “It is not happy that we play against teams that we have already played in last weeks. ”Since January 18, the top three in the league have been competing against each other. At the weekend, Memmingen and Ingolstadt meet again after meeting for the last time eight days ago.
The "Best of three" mode also causes criticism. Since the first and second of the regular season in the semi-finals initially enjoy two home rights, third and fourth may be eliminated from the play-offs without having played once in front of their own audience.
Potential decision game for ESC Planegg in Berlin
Because only if there is a tie after two matches, a third game in a weaker team - Berlin or Ingolstadt - will decide in a week. According to Lehmann, this is a marketing disaster for a sport that is struggling for attention and sympathy in Germany.
There are only six Bundesliga clubs left anyway. With Hannover and Düsseldorf, the DEB lost two locations in the women's sector within one year. Lehmann expects initiatives from the association, above all because of the numerous prospective players from North Rhine-Westphalia who play with the boys in their clubs. "They belong to a league in which everyone gets even better," said Lehmann. Reaching them alone through the national teams does not help.
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