Nuremberg (DPA) – A win for the coach – The players of Düsseldorfer EG have dedicated the quarter-finals in the playoffs of the German Ice Hockey League to their coach, Harold Kreis.

The former German national defender missed the first two games of the first round of the playoffs against the Nuremberg Ice Tigers because he had to attend to an urgent family affair in his native Canada. “I couldn’t completely follow the first two games,” the 63-year-old told Magentasport after his team’s decisive 3-1 win at Nuremberg.

“Harry is back. It’s really great that we were able to give him this win,” said captain Alex Barta, who spoke in the DEG dressing room after the final preliminary round match (0:3) in Augsburg. Ongoing moments were also reported. , Kreis then told his players why he had to move to Canada on short notice. “We were very emotional after the game in Augsburg. It was not good,” Barta continued. “But we coped well. We’re glad we got on so well.”

Kreis’s assistant Thomas Dolak took care of Düsseldorf in the first two playoff games against Nuremberg (3:2 and 5:6 after extra time). Now Kreis is back in the gang and after a turbulent week waits at least a few hours of rest before continuing on Sunday (7:00 PM) at EHC Red Bull Munich, runners-up in the preliminary round . Then three wins are necessary to move forward.

Of course, the DEG is then an outright outsider. For Kreis, this could be the last game as Düsseldorf coach. After a total of six years as coach of the eight-time German champions, he is moving to Schweininger Wild Wings for the coming season. His successor in Düsseldorf will be Swede Roger Hansen. This has not been officially confirmed by the club yet.

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