The relegation of the Bietigheim Steelers from the German Ice Hockey League is finally certain. The Swabians lost 2:3 (0:1, 1:0, 1:2) at ERC Ingolstadt on Tuesday in the third to last matchday of the main round and have to return to the DEL2 after only two years in the upper house. On the remaining two game days, the Steelers can no longer leave the last place in the table.
The Augsburg Panthers won 5:4 (1:2, 2:1, 1:1) after extra time against the Adler Mannheim and will end the main round in penultimate place 14. This means that the Bavarian Swabians can still be relegated despite the victory on Tuesday. But only if Kassel, Krefeld or Dresden win the playoffs in the DEL2. Only these teams meet the economic requirements for promotion to the DEL.
Since the DEL will be reduced again to 14 teams for the coming season, there will only be two relegations if one team is also promoted. Until that is certain, Augsburg is now threatened with a week-long stalemate without planning security.
In Dusseldorf, the long-time national player Philip Gogulla played his 1000th game as the eleventh player in the DEL. The 35-year-old striker won with the Düsseldorfer EG against the Schwenninger Wild Wings 3:2 (0:1, 2:1, 0:0) after a penalty shoot-out, but still has to play for the direct playoff qualification two games before the end of the main round fear
The scorer of the decisive goal in Germany’s entry into the 2010 World Cup semi-finals was honored before the game by DEL Managing Director Gernot Tripcke, among others. Numerous companions of Gogulla also paid their respects via video message. In the past few days, national team captain Moritz Müller from the Kölner Haie and Gogulla’s DEG teammate Alexander Barta had each completed their 1000th DEL game.
DEL-Tables
