In the coming season, Dominik Bittner will play for Red Bull Munich. However, the Peißenberger's move to the newly crowned German ice hockey champion is not only for sporting reasons.
Peißenberg – The semi-final series in the DEL between Red Bull Munich and the Wolfsburg Grizzlys went the full distance of seven games. The Munich team finally won the series 4-3 and thus ensured the end of the season for the Wolfsburgers. Dominik Bittner, the Peißenberg in the jersey of the Grizzlies, played his last games for the Lower Saxony.
Since the age of 15, Bittner has been on an ice hockey tour
Shortly after the Munich team won the championship in the final against Ingolstadt, the 30-year-old announced his move to the new title holders. "I wanted to be closer to home again, after all, I spent half of my life on the move," said Bittner, who moved to Jungadler Mannheim at the age of 15 after his youth career in Peißenberg and Bad Tölz, explaining his decision to go to Munich.
In Wolfsburg, Bittner matured into a national player
In Mannheim, the defenseman gained his first DEL experience before coming to Wolfsburg via Schwenningen, for which he went on the ice for four years. "That was a nice and successful time with a runner-up finish and two semi-finals, where we always failed at the eventual champions Munich," said Bittner, who has now played 484 DEL games and matured into a national player with the Grizzlies. During this time, he was allowed to play for the German team at the World Championships in 2021 (fourth place) and 2022 (seventh place) as well as the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing (tenth place). "I'll be living in Munich, which gives me the opportunity to be with my family more often for birthdays or Christmas," says Bittner, who became a father shortly after the play-offs. "My daughter also played a role. This gives her grandparents the opportunity to see her grow up," reports the new father, who will also be able to spend a lot of time with his offspring in the next few weeks.
Bittner disappointed about non-nomination for the World Championship
But that wasn't planned at all. Bittner joined the German national ice hockey team, which was already preparing for the current World Championships in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia, immediately after the Grizzlies' season. After the last friendly against the USA, however, Bittner received the unpleasant news that he was not part of the 25-man squad of national coach Harold Kreis, which is going to the World Cup. "Of course, I'm very disappointed, also because I felt my performances were very good. Against the USA, I wasn't on the ice when I conceded a goal and I played pretty solidly," Bittner said. From a purely sporting point of view, he couldn't blame himself. "Nevertheless, I will of course follow the World Cup now and I wish the boys every success," says Bittner, who can console himself with the fact that he can now spend a lot of time with his wife and daughter.
For the German team, things are not yet going according to plan at the World Cup, despite appealing performances, they had to admit defeat against Sweden (0:1) as well as against Finland (3:4) and the USA (2:3). If the DEB team wants to reach the quarter-finals, they will have to pick up plenty of points in the following games against Denmark (Thursday, 18 May), Austria (Friday, 19 May), Hungary (Sunday, 21 May) and France (Tuesday, 23 May).
