In itself, the starting position for the polar bears was simple. With a hefty 1: 6 defeat against Tappara Tampere, Berlin started the season of the Champions Hockey League (CHL) on Friday and with this unsightly result behind them, the German champions wanted their 2,000 spectators in the arena at Ostbahnhof in the game against Skelleftea AIK on Sunday also show that such a master from the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) is a task for the clubs from Sweden and Finland that can be done on the side. Seen in this way, the Berliners actually earned themselves a little more respect, but that didn’t earn them any points.
They led 3: 2 into the last third – but in the end they lost 3: 5 (1: 0, 2: 2, 0: 2) and after the first two group games are as good as out of the adventure Europe. Next week we’re going to Tampere and Skelleftea, it can hardly be assumed that the Berliners will get so many points in these two games that they can still make a difference in the two final duels against HC Lugano.
The Eisbären started courageously on Sunday, quickly leading 1-0 through Matt White and White in the second third after a counterattack to 2-0. But within a few seconds the Swedes met twice – what does the Swedes mean? Stefan Loibl, next to Tom Kühnhackl one of the two German national players at Skelleftea, scored the 2-2. However, the polar bears struck back and then took another 3-2 lead through Giovanni Fiore. In the last third, however, their strength was no longer sufficient. After equalizing, Skelleftea won in the final sprint – the guests made it 5-3 when Mathias Niederberger had already left the Berlin goal.
“I expected an answer to the game on Friday and we gave it,” said Eisbären trainer Serge Aubin. “Today we would have deserved more, but it is the way it is.” Goal scorer Fiore saw it similarly: “It is a process, we are improving.”
Overall, the DEL looked bad compared to the Swedish teams at the CHL at the weekend. RB Munich lost against Rögle at 3: 4 with a goal against a penalty six seconds before the end, the Fischtown Pinguins went down 0: 5 with no chance at Swedish champions Växjö.
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