For the polar bears, the situation in the final sprint for the playoff places in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) is clear: “We have to win every game and also need a little help from our competitors. That’s the reality,” said coach Serge Aubin after training on Thursday. “But that doesn’t stop us from believing in our chance.”
In fact, the reigning champions are under pressure on Friday evening in the league classic against Adler Mannheim (7.30 p.m., live on Magentasport): Only five main round games remain for the 13th table to catch up a nine-point deficit on the Löwen Frankfurt , which currently ranks tenth.
Coach Aubin is expecting a difficult task against the third-placed team: “I can’t remember ever having an easy game in Mannheim and I don’t expect that to change on Friday,” he said.
In order to provide fresh impetus after the recent 0-1 draw in Wolfsburg, the Canadian recently experimented with new row combinations in training. “We worked hard in the last game but we didn’t have the spark we needed up front and we didn’t create many chances,” admitted Aubin. However, the coach is still not sure whether he will use the changed attacking formations on Friday. “We could start like this, but maybe I’ll change something if I don’t like what I see,” he said.
In any case, defender Marco Nowak and attacker Bennet Roßmy, who played for the Lausitzer Füchsen in the DEL2 last weekend, will return to the team. (dpa)
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