EA Schongau wants to expand its strong away run.
The team competes in Schweinfurt - the "Mighty Dogs" were recently slowed down by Corona.
On Sunday the “Mammoths” face Amberg at home.
Away the EA Schongau is so far a power in the ice hockey Bayernliga.
The "Mammoths" won all four games abroad.
You can expand this series on Friday (8 pm) with the “Mighty Dogs” of ERV Schweinfurt.
The Lower Franconia have only won one game, which is also due to the fact that the Schweinfurters were caught full of Corona and last paused for two weeks.
"It's hard to say how you're feeling now," says EAS coach Rainer Höfler.
His counterpart at ERV, Andreas Kleid, says: “During training, you noticed the deficits in those who were in quarantine.” With Dylan Hood and Joshua Bourne, the “Mighty Dogs” got two Canadians for the contingent positions in the summer.
However, if you have only used it three times, it is difficult to assess their qualities.
The last game against Schweinfurt almost exactly a year ago - after which the season was canceled - the EAS won 7: 4.
EAS trainer Höfler want to underestimate Amberg
On Sunday (5 pm) the “Mammoths” will also have a solvable task waiting for them in their own hall: ERSC Amberg has not yet won a game away from home. At home, however, the Upper Palatinate defeated the favorites from Miesbach and Waldkraiburg. “They're a surprise bag,” says Höfler of the “Wild Lions” that former Peitinger striker Dan Heilman trains.
“We just can't make the mistake of underestimating supposedly easier opponents like we did against Ulm and Dorfen,” said Höfler, expecting a concentrated performance from his troops. The coach doesn't know exactly what his squad will look like this weekend as there are some question marks. Marius Klein, Friedrich Weinfurtner, Tobias Findl and Philipp Keil are ailing or sick. Your respective assignment will only be decided at short notice. Roman Tomanek, who is on home leave, will definitely be missing. For him, Jakub Muzik, who has been injured for a long time, returns to the team. "He'll definitely try it," says Höfler. When putting together the defensive lines, the coach will probably have to improvise due to the failures. Not least because of this, he is cautious about the goal setting for the two games:“Everything is possible from zero to six points”.
Opponent ERV Schweinfurt comes from the "catastrophe"
It's an oppressive situation.
There could have been a leak somewhere in the ERV Schweinfurt's hygiene concept.
Although the local health department and the “Mighty Dogs” showed all their intuition, no one has yet been able to explain why ten players from the team and two supervisors contracted the corona virus.
“We are completely in the dark,” says Stephan Steinert.
"It's a very stupid situation."
The head of department won't forget the past two weeks anytime soon.
After the first win of the season over Pfaffenhofen on October 10th, a player reported to coach Andreas Kleid at midnight on the same day and complained that he was not feeling well.
On Monday, the entire team and the supervisor were immediately tested.
When it turned out by evening that a dozen had been infected with the virus, the shock was great.
After all, nine of those affected had previously been vaccinated against Corona.
"It was a catastrophe for us," said Steinert.
Schweinfurt now has a strict program of games
First of all, the entire squad went into quarantine. Then it became apparent that the "Mighty Dogs" could not possibly start playing again, as they could only fall back on eight healthy players. Together with the Bavarian Ice Sports Association and the clubs of the Bavarian League, the Schweinfurters agreed to initially cancel the games against Amberg and Dorfen. When it became apparent after a week that the “Mighty Dogs” would not bring a team together against Buchloe and Kempten, these encounters were also canceled. The situation has now stabilized. Yesterday, after their recovery, the last sick players resumed training.
"It is important to us to keep the sport alive", Steinert made it clear that the Lower Franconians definitely wanted to catch up on the failed games. Since they are serious about this request, they have to keep detention over the Advent and Christmas days. And so they have seven missions within 16 days. The game against Buchloe was postponed to December 28th, the derby against Amberg was rescheduled two days later and the game in Dorfen on January 5th. The away meeting in Kempten, on the other hand, is already on December 12th. And one day before Christmas Eve, the VfE Neu Ulm is already giving presents. This match had to be rescheduled anyway because the Swabians didn't have any ice at the actual time.
"I hope that we can now just make a fresh start," says Steinert.
The Schweinfurters want to be among the top eight teams in the table.
The marathon begins today (8 pm) in the local Icedome against the Schongau “Mammoths”.
It's less about points and more about normality returning in a league in which Königsbrunn and Waldkraiburg have also reported corona infections.
However, given rising incidence levels across the country and a decreasing number of beds in intensive care units, a scenario like last year's when the season had to be canceled is looming.
"I hope that we can continue playing," said Steinert, worried about the league.
