The Tölzer Löwen secure themselves in the goalkeeper position with Philip Lehr
Bad Tölz – He got better from game to game.
Desperate the opponents more and more.
And then it was over: In the game against Füssen in mid-November, Enrico Salvarani made an unfortunate step in a defensive action.
The result: rupture of the syndesmosis ligament in the ankle.
At least the scheduled operation went well, but the keeper of the Tölzer Löwen still has to pause for a long time.
For this reason, the ice hockey league went in search of a replacement.
And now he found what he was looking for in Philip Lehr.
replacement for replacement
The 29-year-old comes from the talent factory of the Mannheimer Jungadler and went through all youth national teams in his youth.
Most recently, he helped out at league competitor EV Lindau, and in previous years he was at the premier league clubs Herford, Weiden, Hanover, Erfurt, Duisburg and Weiden - mostly as a substitute goalkeeper.
Lehr also has DEL experience from Nuremberg and Mannheim, and also played in the second division for Frankfurt and Heilbronn.
The Berliner was also in the squad of the Berliner Eisbären and Mannheim when they became German champions in the DEL in 2013 and 2015.
Two more weeks of training until he is really fit
“Bad Tölz is a top location in the Oberliga.
I want to be ready when I'm needed and take my chances," Lehr explains his move to the Tölzer Löwen.
With Josef Hölzl and Joshua Baron, they have two other goalkeepers under contract, who did their job quite well at times.
But in one or the other situation, you can tell that they lack experience.
The goals conceded – the Tölzer have a lot of them – are sometimes very easy.
"Baron is still very young and inexperienced, and Hölzl's performance is inconsistent," says Löwen coach Ryan Foster.
"We need extra protection should something happen to a goalkeeper, so I'm happy to have another alternative available in Lehr," says Foster.
However, the 29-year-old will probably need another two weeks until he is really fit again.
"He only trained as a hobby this year, holds up well in training, but after a while his condition drops," says Foster.
Finding a replacement keeper was difficult
The search for a replacement goalkeeper was anything but easy for the Tölzer Löwen, especially as the position had to be filled by a German keeper.
That's why Ralph Bader, managing director of the Tölzer Eissport-Gesellschaft, is happy to have found a satisfactory solution with Lehr: "We have eight games in a two-day rhythm from Christmas onwards, so all players have to be ready, and this is one for our goalkeepers enormous burden, so I just wanted to take precautions,” says the 58-year-old.
