Sharks from Cologne did it!

Sharks from Cologne did it!

The Cologne Sharks reach the quarter finals of the DHL Ice Hockey session 2022/2023.

Sharks vs Eagles! Cologne versus Mannheim – we're looking forward to the quarter-final series against the Adler, which promises excitement, emotions and passion. In the past, the duels between the KEC and the Adler have offered a lot and this series also has a lot of potential to become intense and gripping. We take a look at our opponent who finished the main round of the PENNY DEL in 3rd place.

The prestigious club from Mannheim secured third place with a convincing 4-0 away win in Düsseldorf on the last day of the main round - for a long part of the season it looked as if head coach Bill Stewart's team might even finish second , but two weeks in February, in which the Adler, who otherwise scored very consistently, lost six of seven games, cost the eight-time champion an (even) better starting position.

From Mannheim's point of view, the season was going extremely well up to the point in time, mid-February - the Adler were in second place after 47 games played and had a strong record of 31 wins, which were offset by only 16 defeats. Then, however, the Baden-Württemberg fell into a small hole, which, however, could be left in time. The eagles caught themselves.

Two games before the end of the regular season, Mannheim won 6: 3 against the top team from Ingolstadt despite being 3-1 down at the time and thus turned back on the right path in time for the playoffs - the strong away win with equally ambitious Düsseldorfers on 56. and thus the last day of the main round underlines the upward-pointing form curve of the eagles.

The balance between the Haie and the Adler from Mannheim is almost equal – in 150 direct duels so far, 75 went to the Haie, the Adler won 72 games and three games ended in a draw. The record game from the 2007/2008 season will not be forgotten. Back then, on March 23, the Haie met the Eagles in game 3 of the quarter-final series in the LANXESS arena - the game went down in the history books as it was the longest game in DEL history to date. The official end result is 5:4 a.e.t. (3:1, 1:1, 0:2, 0:0, 0:0, 0:0, 0:0, 0:0, 1:0). Philipp Gogulla's goal in the ninth minute of the 6th overtime at 0:11 ended a memorable game that had started at 17:30. 168 minutes of emotions, 168 minutes of pure ice hockey, 168 minutes of eternity.

It is undisputed that the upcoming series against the eagles could again write special stories. With the Adler, the Haie meet a traditional team that is aiming for the championship title. The squad around head coach Stewart is heavily manned with players like Matthias Plachta, Borna Rendulic, Markus Eisenschmid, ex-NHL player Korbinian Holzer and David Wolf. Mannheim lost three of the four duels against the KEC in the main round – Andreas Thuresson, KEC striker and top scorer in the main round, summed it up quite well after reaching the quarter-finals: “We played well against them, but that doesn’t count more.” Right, it's playoffs. And then everything starts again from scratch. More precisely on Tuesday evening at 19:30!

The Haie then play the first home game of the quarter-final series on Friday. There are still a few tickets left for game 2 (LANXESS arena, Puckdrop: 7:30 p.m.)!

THE DATES OF THE QUARTERFINALS
Game 1 – Tuesday, March 14, 7:30 p.m. – Mannheim vs. Haie
Game 2 – Friday, March 17, 7:30 p.m. – Haie vs. Mannheim –
Game 3 – Sunday, March 19, 7:00 p.m. – Mannheim vs. Haie
Game 4 – Tuesday, March 21, 7:30 p.m. – Haie vs. Mannheim –
Game 5* – Friday 24 March – Mannheim vs. Haie
Game 6* – Sunday, March 26 – Haie vs. Mannheim (in Krefeld)
Game 7* – Tuesday/Wednesday, 28/29 March – Mannheim vs. Haie

*if required

Here we explain the rules and special features of the playoffs again!

FACTS
Tight at the back: With only 136 goals allowed, the Eagles had the second-best defense of the main round after leaders Munich

Contrast: Of the top six teams in the main round, Mannheim scored the fewest goals (162)

Strong in penalty kills: The Mannheimers were the second-best outnumbered team after the Grizzlies from Wolfsburg in the main round – the Eagles survived a good 83% of outnumbered situations unscathed

Staying power: Eagles' games in the main round went into overtime or penalty shoot-outs 17 times – that's the PENNY DEL's top value.