If you want to be exposed to the historical dimension of the local ice hockey club at Bad Tölz Ice Stadium, the best thing to do is to go up the stairway, which is located between the north curve and the main entrance. From there, 20 stairs lead to the boxes and the VIP room, where you can see many framed pictures, 55 in total. On it you can see many great figures from the great Bad Tölz ice hockey history, for example, Lorenz Funk or Axel Kammerer. Those who have shaped German ice hockey – or are still shaping them, such as current national players Leo Födrel, Korbinian Holzer, Yasin Ehlies and Konrad Abeltshauser.
In the past five years, Tölzer Second Division ice hockey can be followed from the VIP room. Sometimes too good, for example last season when Tolzer Löwen finished second in the DEL2 main round. Hubert Hormann, president of EC Bad Tölz and spokesman for Löwen’s advisory board, believes it was “the best ice hockey ever celebrated at Bad Tölz”. They can only mean the recent past, as in the 1960s EC Bad Tölz celebrated two German championships. But second division ice hockey has also taken off in Bad Tölz for some time. On Tuesday, the Lions lost to Bayreuth Tigers 3:4 at their stadium after extra time and thus became firmly involved in the Oberliga as a game. It was as if the horse kicked him in the stomach, lion trainer Kevin Gaudette said the day after the descent.
“They told me: Kevin, you’re going to hell! They were fine,” says coach Gaudet. he’s going back to canada now
A year ago, second in the main round, now exiled: the question of how this could have happened. Managing director Ralph Bader had the answer just minutes after the decisive defeat. After trashing Bayreuthers handling champagne bottles on ice, he said in the press conference room: “The mistakes were made early in the season, in the summer.” You should know: Bader was not yet the managing director of Leuven in the summer, having taken office in January – the third in the position in just 13 months behind Christian Donbeck and Jurgen Rumrich. He blames “were responsible before my time” for the descent. His hands were tied financially.
Bader alleges: You can’t go through a DEL2 season with a squad of nine strikers and five defenders. Gaudet agrees that such a small team was the “biggest mistake”. SZ learned from internal team circles that team composition was also perceived as “atrocious cheek” in the dressing room as players were “burned out”. Gaudet says he received warnings from several quarters over the summer. “They told me: Kevin, you’re going to hell! They were fine.” But Gaudet, who has close ties to Hormann, did not want to disappoint his president. Time in Bad Talz has now come to an end for the 58-year-old. He will return to his home country of Canada at the end of the month and wait for offers from the top two leagues.
A day and a half after the descent, Bader and Hormann are seated in the lions’ office, with certificates from the multiple winners of the German youth and school championships hanging on the wall. The stadium ice has already melted. The Lion Management duo first looks back – before looking forward. “We have to clean the crumbs first,” Bader says. Horman, who has had a formative role with the Lions for twelve years, admits to “game” mistakes, “there’s no need to sugarcoat it”. They began their analysis in April 2021, when it was clear that the main sponsor at the time, V, would no longer transfer the money – according to Hormann, “a large sum of money for Bad Tölz”, which according to SZ’s information is in the high order. There was a six-digit limit.
Wee founder Cengiz Ehliz’s motto was “Back to the future. Here we go!” called
It’s clear to Gaudette: “She was the beginning of the end.” Canadians got into Bad Tollz in 2019 because of V’s big plans. Under the motto “Back to the future. Here we go!” Wee founder Cengiz Ehliz, Yasin Ehliz’s uncle, announced at the time that he wanted to move up to DEL by 2023 and become German champion in 2026. “I told myself: Wow, that’s a perspective,” Gaudet recalls. But things turned out to be very different: instead of playing in the DEL in 2023, the Lions will experience 2023 in the Oberliga.
Or maybe not? Hormann does not condone the league that, despite the ongoing coronavirus problems, playdowns were replayed this season after being suspended last season. “The league has destroyed a business through its inconsistent actions,” he murmurs, “and that is irresponsible.” Whether the club will take legal action against it is still open, Bader says, adding that “we will at least exercise the right to check everything.” He knows how difficult a direct resurrection will be. “Staying into DEL2 or maybe getting a chance to stay in it is easier than getting promoted again, that’s for sure.” There will definitely be a big change in the team. According to information from SZ, Markus Eberhardt and Thomas Brandl EV Landshut switch Maximilian Leitner to Adlern Mannheim. Bader is hopeful that Philipp Schlager and Lubor Dibelka will accept their Oberliga contract offers, and he is also interested in continuing to sign Tyler McNeely and Pascal Aquin.
Neither Bader nor Hormann uttered the word resurrection. Hormann fears the cost in the Oberliga will be the same as in DEL2 if you want to put together a team that plays at the top. There’s more than enough to do – not just in the VIP rooms. As far as it is concerned, the traditional club is “miles away” from the other DEL2 clubs, Hormann complains. A lot has to change in Tölz ice hockey. once again.
