white water. Lusatian Fox pulled the emergency brake. After only ten points from eleven games in December and, above all, a completely disappointed and helpless appearance at the start of the year at home against the weak Tlzer Löwen (0:4), Fuchs managers asked Chris Straub as head coach. as separated.

The goal of reaching the pre-play-offs with at least a tenth place at the end of the main round and the nervous tension of the relegation play-offs was in danger of being unreachable. Table tenth Kaufbeuren was five points away after last weekend, table ninth Bad Tölz also nine. More than an alarm signal, even if the foxes have played a game or two less.

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Straube lives with foxes

“It was the result, but the way we played our games inspired us to take this step,” explains Managing Director Dirk Rohrbach. Even the victory in the Last Selb shortly before New Year’s Eve was not convincing. The game against Bad Tollz was a revelation then. “We acted randomly against twelve of Tölz’s guys. And Chris might have made some bad decisions,” Rohrbach says.

The night that followed, he decided to switch coaching positions. Rohrbach, himself a player for many years, later a coach and now Fuchsey’s managing director, did not find it easy because he knew how much Chris Straub was attached to the club, how carefully he worked.

“But in the end everything that is analyzed and tactical has to be put in the mind of the players and implemented in the game, and in the end it did not succeed. In the end, the players were at a loss,” said the managing director. Explains. Chris Straub will fulfill his contract at Weisswasser and, in consultation with Rohrbach, will oversee players who are possible for Fuchs for the coming season.

There are several reasons for the fact that things went so quickly on Monday: Rohrbach had already thought about this in December, when this negative trend became apparent, also in consultation with fellow collaborator Berliner Eisberen.

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During a phone call with Isberen’s sporting director Steffen Richter, which had been agreed to before the weekend, there was a reference to Petri Vakiparta, who had returned to Germany from the U20 World Cup in Canada – where he was assistant coach. German U20 national team. Fuchsey’s managing director then asked Pat Cortina, whom Rohrbach has known for a long time and who has worked with Petrie for many years, as well as U20 national coach Tobias Absterter.

“I heard a lot of good things and then contacted Petri. Then he traveled by car from Wolfsburg on Monday, we had a good three hours of conversation. Then he went to the hotel, talked to his family and agreed within 90 minutes Gone,” explains Rohrbach, who absolutely wanted the new coach to be behind the gang at Wednesday’s game in Kaufberen. Initially there was no Plan B. “I wanted to avoid calling all kinds of people on Monday about the coaching post,” Rohrbach said.

For 44-year-old Finn Vakiparta, Weisswasser’s call came as a surprise, even though he said: “You can never be surprised in ice hockey. But yes, it happened very quickly. It was only 24 hours after I returned from Edmonton.” Was at home.” He had previously known the traditional club of Weisswasser, especially when it guest-starred with the young Eagles Mannheim at the Berlin Welblechpalst, where GDR ice hockey history is presented. Little was known. He knows Tony Ritter from the team (from his time at Mannheim in 2007) and now sponsorship license players Bennett Rosmi and Corbinian Gebel.

It is no coincidence that the Finn speaks German very well. He has been in Germany for many years. Vakiparta was born in Henola, Finland, a small town in the south of the country with about 20,000 inhabitants. As a defensive ice hockey player, he did not achieve great success, entering between the second and third leagues and ending his playing career at the age of 24. After his career, he started coaching studies in his home country, which he successfully completed three years later.

Helmut de Raf brought him to Mannheim in 2007 as an assistant coach for the Young Eagles, where Vakiparta coached, among others, Dominic Kahun and Leon Driestel. Finn worked for six years in Mannheim and then gained six years of DEL experience with Pat Cortina in Schwenningen and Wolfsburg. Most recently, he was in charge of the German U20 national team as an assistant coach with national coach Tobias Abster.

Above all, fighting spirit is needed

A good first impression of a new coach is, of course, not much that can be achieved after just one training session. Dirk Rohrbach, contrary to custom, was in the Kaufberen, and he saw a positive change in addition to the fighting spirit. “We allowed only two shots on the goal from the slot in front of the gate. We have scored a lot of goals from there recently. And our strong goalkeeper Leon Hungrekar was able to pass several shots from outside. ”But most importantly from the point of view of Petri Vakiparta:“ We presented ourselves as a team, the fighting spirit was always there, even if not everything. Workout,” said the new coach at a post-game press conference. That’s exactly what he asked the team.

The fact is that Friday’s game against Freiburg in Bresgauer has been canceled due to coronavirus cases. You can take training there. And there should also be time for phone calls with family in Wolfsburg. The family currently resides there because of two school children – a twelve-year-old girl and a ten-year-old boy.