Before the Tölzer Löwen home game against EV Landshut, the Augsburg Panthers have ordered their license player Samir Kharboutli back.
Bad Tölz - You can be wrong: Before the season, Löwen coach Kevin Gaudet classified EV Landshut as a very hot contender for the championship title.
In fact, after 21 games this season, Niederbayern are in penultimate place in the DEL 2. Nevertheless, before the clash on Friday (7.30 p.m.), Gaudet is wondering: "It will be a damn difficult game."
What worries him most is the fact that his squad is melting like snow in continuous rain. The latest bad news: The Augsburger Panthers order promotion license player Samir Kharboutli back to the DEL. Since no injured person will return to the Löwen squad in the foreseeable future, Gaudet only has a handful of four defenders and eight strikers available. “That's a joke,” grumbles the trainer. "The team is totally on the gums."
The EV Landshut, on the other hand, actually has a very prominent squad.
The goal is guarded by ex-national goalkeeper Dimitri Pätzold, who made 552 appearances in the DEL.
Marco Pfleger is best known in Tölz, top scorer at EVL with 20 points.
Julian Kornelli also has a Tölzer and Reichersbeurer past.
Then there is Andreé Hult, whom Gaudet classifies as a “top foreigner”.
Despite everything, the EV Landshut is in the middle of a relegation battle.
Gaudet doesn't want to worry about the reasons: "I have enough problems here."
Head coach Leif Carlsson fell victim to the Landshut failure a month ago. Sports director Axel Kammerer acted as interim trainer. "We have analyzed the previous performance of the team in detail and found that, especially after the investments in the summer, the sporting development in the last few weeks did not meet our expectations," said EVL game operations manager Ralf Hantschke, explaining the decision. Last Monday, the EVL signed Heiko Vogler as his successor. He caused a bang in his first appearance on the gang and won the home game against leaders Frankfurt Löwen 3-2. Previously, the EVL had to accept eight bankruptcies in a row.
Yesterday the club reacted to the failure of striker Brandon Alderson and signed another contingent player: Josef Mikyska.
The 27-year-old Czech comes from the Slovak first division club HK Dukla Trencin and has signed a contract in Lower Bavaria until the end of the season.
"With Josef Mikyska we are getting a player who is in the juice and who will help us immediately", Axel Kammerer is quoted on the "Idowa" platform.
"He has really good skills, is a strong runner and is sure to be a great asset right away." Gaudet can only dream of such news.
He assumes that the personnel situation will improve in ten days at the earliest.