double goodbye

Created: 01/12/2022, 19:14

By: Patrick Hilmes

It remains at 17 games in the white and blue dress: Lukas Koziol (middle) leaves the SCR, but does not want to talk about the background.

He is probably drawn back to the Oberliga Nord.

©Andreas Mayr

With Lukas Koziol and Simon Gerstmeir, two players are leaving the SC Riessersee ice hockey league with immediate effect.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen –

Three bankruptcies in a row, slipped to fifth place in the table and now this: SC Riessersee is parting ways with Lukas Koziol and Simon Gerstmeir.

The contracts with the two players were terminated by mutual consent with immediate effect - for various reasons.

Koziol farewell: background unclear

The two farewells have nothing to do with the recent sporting misery.

SCR Managing Director Pana Christakakis also assures us: "The issue did not arise because of the three defeats." At first glance, the separation from Koziol may come as a surprise, as the 26-year-old had only switched from Rostock to Alpspitze before the season and had signed a two-year contract with the SCR.

The press release from the SCR can only clarify a little on this point.

It speaks of "different views in achieving the sporting goals".

Christakakis doesn't want to go into detail either.

We need players who identify with everything here, who proudly wear the crest on their chests."

SCR Managing Director Pana Christakakis

From the environment of the traditional club it can be heard that Koziol did not feel comfortable with SCR, the relationship between him and coach Pat Cortina should not have been the best, that the chemistry was not right.

Cortina had already emphasized weeks ago that Koziol and Alexander Höller would need more time to fully integrate – also because neither of them live in the immediate vicinity.

The separation was definitely not a short-circuit reaction.

However, no further background is known.

Christakakis only said this much to the Tagblatt: "We need players who identify with everything here, who proudly wear the coat of arms on their chests." Koziol, on the other hand, did not want to comment.

"We agreed that I would not say anything about the background.

In any case, everything went well," says the player.

Koziol himself reports that he will probably be drawn back to the Oberliga Nord.

Gerstmeir not at Oberliga level

Simon Gerstmeir missed the jump.

© Peter Volk

The case with Simon Gerstmeir is different.

He simply didn't manage to raise his performance to the level required for the Oberliga.

For many reasons.

"Unfortunately, Simon was not able to focus on professional ice hockey to the required extent due to his job as a baker and other private reasons," says Christakakis.

In addition, minor injuries repeatedly threw the 20-year-old back in his first professional season.

Hence the separation.

"With him we are losing a talented, young and local defender," regrets the managing director.

Gerstmeir is said to have already held talks with the club management of TSV Peißenberg (Bayernliga) - cooperation partner of the SCR - for which he was recently equipped with a funding license.