The season for the Geretsried ice hockey team is over. It did a decent relegation round. Interview with ESC trainer Sebastian Wanner.
Geretsried - The season for the Geretsried ice hockey team has ended since 7 p.m. on Sunday. After a turbulent first round with late-night training sessions in Bad Tölz and home games in Mittenwald as well as a brilliant return to the renovated and covered Heinz Schneider Stadium, the River Rats put in a decent relegation round: the relegation was secured ahead of time, in the end you missed the pre- Play-offs and finished third. ESC trainer Sebastian Wanner spoke positively with sports editor Thomas Wenzel.
Mr. Wanner, you shouldn't have been completely satisfied after the 2-5 loss in Dorfen? You always want to win the last game of a season, don't you?
(grins) That's right, but we didn't succeed last year either. Maybe it would have worked out, but we failed to score in the second third. Bad luck was also there. And in the end, when we pushed for 3: 3 equalization, we ran into two counterattacks.
Honestly: Was the trainer happy that the season is over now?
No comment (laughs). No, seriously: we are athletes, and of course we would have liked to play the pre-play-offs. But at some point the mental and physical freshness was missing. But the boys did a great job when you think about all the difficulties at the start of the season. You shouldn't blame the team for losing twice in the end. Who knows, maybe the team would have jerked again if they won in Schweinfurt?
Overall, could you be satisfied with the way the relegation round went?
Yes, I would say that. We offered our fans good games, especially at home, and we won everything. Since the mode has certainly played into our cards that we could compete at home four times in the first half of the season. And we started very well against Peißenberg (3-2 win after extra time, editor's note).
However, there were four defeats in the second leg, and all of them away ...
These were opponents for whom everything was at stake in this phase - whether up or down.
Were the first two places Pfaffenhofen and Peißenberg so much better?
No. Pfaffenhofen has benefited from its three top scorers Endress, Fardoe and Lawrence alone. It was sensational, nobody could stop it. And after many injuries, Peißenberg had all men on board in the relegation round. Then you saw what quality the team actually has.
So you have to be satisfied with third place in Geretsried?
I think so. I looked through different tables - the away and home balance sheets, tables divided by thirds and so on. Amazingly, we are eighth or ninth almost everywhere - so this place corresponds to our level of performance. Of course, we can also compete against top clubs like Landsberg or Miesbach in a game, but we are not strong enough for longer distances.
"Not" or "not yet"?
You have to see how things develop in Geretsried. If you can now make a reasonable season preparation in the covered stadium. And what the team will look like next season. If everything fits, you could take the next step.
Speaking of which: will the trainer be called Sebastian Wanner again?
I do not know that. So far, nobody from the club has spoken to me. But of course I would still like to do the job. Funnily enough, my boss in the company asked me if I had been given a pen (laughs). Like Hansi Flick at FC Bayern, so that he can sign his new contract.
How does the season for the River Rats end? Is training still taking place?
We'll be training this week. We'll talk about whether we'll go on ice afterwards. And in May the team will go to Lake Garda together - provided that works until then because of the current problems with the Corona virus (grins).
Is there still a party in the ice stadium at the end of the ice age?
This week we will be holding the action where our fans can have their team photographed. And because our last game of the season was away, I really want to celebrate with the audience, have a beer and talk about the season. We have to think about exactly what we want to raise there.
Read also: The Geretsried ice rink is still a construction site
