The players and coaches were a little helpless after the championship match between ERSC Amberg and the Erding Gladiators.
Amberg/Erding – The Wild Lions had won 6:3, and immediately after the final whistle the calculations were being made to see who was the winner in Group B, who was second and who would meet whom in the playoffs.
But then everything was suddenly completely different after the game was abandoned in Schongau.
In the meantime, however, it is clear: Erding's playoff quarter-final opponent is ESC Kempten.
Game one will take place next Friday, March 3rd, at 8 p.m. in Erding.
According to the implementation regulations, the requirements were actually clear: first the points count in the table, in the case of a tie the goal difference or goal difference.
If there is a tie here too, the direct comparison is used. If this is also the same, the more goals scored decide.
If there is a tie here too, there is a decider.
After the game on Sunday, Amberg and Erding each had 10 points, the same goal difference (+4) and the same direct comparison (6:3, 3:6).
However, the Gladiators scored more goals (30) than the Wild Lions (28).
But there was still the game in Schongau.
Here Ulm led 3:2 when the game was stopped in the 23rd minute.
Apparently, the ice masters hadn't cooled the ice enough, so that it had become too thin in a few places and the advertising foil underneath the ice was sticking out.
These were cut out in some places, but the holes in the ice could no longer be closed, so the game was abandoned.
League leader Frank Butz saw no fault in the Schongauers and immediately set a replay for Sunday.
Erding's team boss Felix Schütz and Amberg's trainer Dirk Salinger initially addressed the game in the press conference.
Here, after a 1:0 lead, the Erdingers quickly fell behind by 1:4.
In the end, after the 5-1 and 6-2, it was Daniel Krzizok's goal to make it 6-3, which the Gladiators absolutely needed to stay in front of the Wild Lions in the table.
"It was a difficult game," said Schütz and added with a smile: "Of course, the players know the table and calculate in advance how many goals they need and how many they can concede." Amberg played brutally offensively in the first third.
“We wanted to play normally, but four of five shots went in straight away and then the carousel started,” analyzed Schütz.
"It was up and down until the end, and in the end the team got exactly the result they needed." At the end there was another big compliment for the team.
"I'm incredibly proud of the team that has played extremely strong ice hockey in recent months," praised the Gladiators team boss
Salinger was "extremely satisfied", admitting that he didn't know exactly what the tie-break situation would be like.
"If the number of goals scored then counts, if the dice are rolled, or if we go by the alphabet, then we'd be first," he said with a grin, adding: "Jokes aside.
Erding is the team of the hour and has in the.
Intermediate round played very well.” His team didn't have that much self-confidence recently.
He is all the more excited about the win and the playoff round.
"It doesn't matter who you play against, you have to beat everyone." Salinger summed it up: "We definitely achieved home advantage."
He wasn't quite right about that.
Only later did the two coaches realize that something could definitely change.
Should Schongau win against Ulm, then even three teams would have the same number of points.
And then the calculation starts all over again.
But that has now been settled.
On Sunday evening, Schongau won 4:3 against Ulm - after a 1:3 deficit, which ultimately wasn't enough for home advantage.
Schongau is tied on points with Erding and Amberg, but has the worse goal difference (26:24) - three goals were missing for first place.
Erding will play in the quarter-finals against Kempten, Amberg against Miesbach, Königsbrunn against Ulm and Peißenberg against Schongau.
Game one will be played next Friday 3rd March, game two on Sunday 5th March and a third game that may be required on Tuesday 7th March.
pre sales
The Erding Gladiators are already starting today with advance sales for the first quarter-final home game against the Kempten Sharks next Friday.
For the playoffs, a surcharge of two euros per ticket will be charged due to cost increases, including for the referees.
Tickets can now be reserved via the homepage.
