"Today is a sad day" - Coach Anton Saal quits

In a few months, EC Peiting will start in the upper league. What is certain is that a new coach will be at the helm. However, the previous coach will remain with the ECP in a different function

Peiting – In the play-offs, there was talk for the first time at EC Peiting that Anton Saal might no longer continue as coach at the Oberliga club. After the end of the season, there were many discussions between the ECP officials and the 37-year-old, who took over the team after Sebastian Buchwieser's move to Weiden for the 2021/22 season.

Hopes that Saal would remain were not fulfilled

However, the hopes of the Peitingers to be able to keep the successful coach were not fulfilled in the end. "Today is a sad day when I have to announce that Toni Saal will no longer be our coach next season," Peiting's team manager Ty Morris announced on Tuesday evening.

When I do something, I want to do it one hundred percent, and that's not possible for private reasons.

Anton Saal

"I don't see spending five to six hours a day in the ice stadium like last season. When I do something, I want to do it one hundred percent, and that's not possible for private reasons," said the father of five, explaining his decision to step down as coach at ECP after two years. "The decision was not easy for me. We have a great team that I really enjoyed working with. And I'm attached to the guy," Saal confessed.

Saal to act as a helper in the background

However, there is one positive aspect to the whole affair: the hall will be retained by the people of Peitingen in a different function. "Toni will take over the position of sporting director," Morris explained. This office also fits better into Saal's everyday life: "I'm more flexible in terms of time and don't always have to be there," says the outgoing coach. But you definitely won't see Saal in training on the ice. "The coach or the coaching team should do his job, I'm not going to interfere," Saal clarifies. He sees himself more as a helper in the background, who keeps in touch with the funding license partners and who conducts scouting and video analysis.

After the cancellation of Saal, the Peitinger are now intensively looking for his successor. "We are currently looking at various options," says Morris. He hopes to be able to present a solution soon, as potential newcomers want to know who they will play under in the future.