Freeze the "Freezers"

And yet another European Trophy game in the O2 World. Its still not cold, I know but still the home of the Eisbären is about to Freeze or is it? The Hamburg Freezers are desperately looking for their first win in the European trophy and they have not looked good. Even though Berlin is almost like a home game (O2 World and O2 World) Berlin is anything but home. The Freezers have not been successful at all over the last couple of years and are arguably one of the most disappointing teams. Hamburg should naturally be a decent market for hockey and "Anschütz" has brought at least some hockey flair to the "Hansestadt". Nevertheless Berlin´s sister team is not as successful as its bigger brother. The more important it is to show what they can do early in the season even if its just a pre season game. So what can we expect?

Surely after the successful season last year the Freezers are looking to at least reach a play-off spot this year. Most impressive seems the addition of goalkeeper Dimitrij Kotschnew, who with 220 DEL games , should provide a secure spot at the goalie position. Hamburg has also greatly added to its lingering defense that cost them the 4:1 loss against the Adler Mannheim during the playoffs. I would watch for James Bettauer, Mathieu Roy and the NHL experienced Duvie Westcott to provide good protection in front of the net. As for goals, I felt like the Freezers needed to add far more power. Brandon Reid, old but experienced, is coming back to Hamburg as he played for them during the 04/05 season. I am more excited about Julian Jakobsen. The Danish player, who also plays for the Danish national team is young and very explosive. He seems especially dangerous behind the net and is very versatile on the outside and in front of the net. We´ll see what he can do. Defense was a focus for the Freezers but they could also provide for a balanced and quick offense.

On the Hamburg Freezers homepage, they all are part of the team and Freezers from the heart up. If you click on the roster, all players are introduced with a "Freezer" as their middle name. Julian Jakobsen quickly becomes "Julian Freezer Jakobsen". A nice gag to promote the Freezer attitude but is it going to help them play hockey against the undefeated Eisbären?

Matt Foy Vs. HC Kometa Brno

What to do on a hot sunday afternoon in Berlin? Sure, lets got see a hockey game and cool off. Thats what a lot of people actually did as they came to see the Eisbären Berlin play their second game in the European Trophy against the Czech club HC Kometa Brno. After the first game against Plsen I had lowered my expectations for this game greatly. However, the first period was very crafty and quite entertaining. Brno showed off their defensive skills as they fought of a couple of well played chances by the Eisbären Berlin. Brno´s blue line was quite active as they tried to get Rob Zepp to miss on one of their sharp shots from outside. On the other end, thats what Berlin did as well. The Eisbären wingers often tried to shoot it from the outside instead of trying to get in front of the goal as they so often do. Screening the goalie and trying to land a quick shot in the net seemed to be the strategy to get their second win during the European Trophy. And who else but Matt Foy, made sure that a deserved penalty resulted in the 1:0 lead for the Eisbären, we´ll hear about Foy a little later. The second part of the first period reminded me greatly of the last game against Plsen. Who would have thought that a friendly could provoke such harsh penalties as the one against Boris Valabik who violently checked Dominik Bielke into the boards. As the rule permits because seemingly there was a little blot involved Valabik had to leave the game and left his team with a five minute major penalty to defend before the break. The second period began more fast pasted then the first one. Both teams, but especially the Eisbären Berlin realized that they had to put a little more pressure on the opponent to decide this game without any doubt. The Eisbären seemed to have used the break better as they game out firering in the form of Jimmy Sharrow who placed the puck right below Martin Falter who had no chance. From there on it was only the home teams turn to win out this game. T.J. Mullock not only assisted a goal in this game but also made one himself to put the Eisbären up by 2. Shortly after Marc Katic unleashed his newly signed hammer and blasted the puck past Falter. Brno at that point seemed completely out of place and a little bit unlucky as well. Matt Foy added two more goals, one at the end of the second and one more during the third period. The Eisbären power play simply looked marvelous. Every man advantage  they got was used to put Brno out of the equation completely. I personally really liked Barry Tallackson. He might have not scored himself but to me, he often times orchestrated powerplay attacks and blue line strikes like his second nature. I am hoping that he can carry some of the younger players, especially those from the U.S. and Canada, to perform as well as they did sunday, during the regular season. But lets talk about Matt Foy a little bit.

This newly signed Eisbär, is advancing fairly quickly to one of the most liked players on the ice. Before, during and after the game, I heard many fans complementing him and saying how well he fits in the Eisbären organization. He has already left his mark and an especially large one during the game against Brno 3, very well played goals helped to spark the Eisbären to their victory. Foy is a very offensive minded guy. Sure he is a right winger but he seems to be everywhere on the ice. I would trust him with the center position as well. A very balanced skater, Foy can compliment his fast past speed with a great eye for the net and impeccable stick handling. His vision against Brno was without a doubt perfect. A guy who was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in 2002, Foy seems like the guy who fell through the grid. He played college hockey with Merrimack college and advanced to the OHL. Dominating in the OHL he was called to play for the Wild´s NHL affiliate "The Aeros" during the 2006/07 season. He did NHL hockey during the Wild´s 2007/08 campaign but never settled down within the organization. He briefly played for the St. Louis Blues and their AHL farm team before signing with other small American organization. In July he then departed for Berlin and has proven once more that his talent is not one that has gotten lost along the way. Battling through injuries during the last here, the 2012 season can be a big one for Foy. With the offensive output we saw during the game against Brno, there is surely more to come, and especially more goals in the DEL. Welcome Matt.

All though it was hot inside, everybody seemed to have enjoyed this wonderful day of hockey at the O2 world. The fans are slowly warming up for the upcoming season and the title defense. The only that can not seem so happy is Sebastian Elwing. His Goalie mask is proudly showing of the "Dynamo" logo and other Berlin landmarks. Rob Zepp is the goalie for now, and he has been on point so far, but why not give Elwing the chance to play in games like the one against Brno or Plzen. Get him in there let´s see what he can do. May against the Freezers? The Zepp Dynasty seems to stand for now and who can go wrong with a goalie who has won four league championships right?

Eisbären Berlin Vs. HC Plzen 1929

 

Who or what was HC Plzen 1929? I have to admit that coming into the game, I had no idea who would actually show up. The only name that rang a bell was Martin Straka. You don´t remember his name? No problem. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992, yes 1992. Straka was their first pick for the 1992 season and a solid addition to the roster. He even made it to an NHL All Star Game in 1999 not too bad of a resume right?

Back to HC Plzen! Its quite an important club in the  Czech Republic due to being a founding member of the "Extraliga". Since its founding in 1929 the club has held 12 different names and has fluctuated greatly also partly reasoned by the period before and after the cold war. Their most successful season dates back to the 1999/2000 season and they have only made the playoffs four times in almost 10 years. I had greater expectation especially because I like to think that eastern European teams normally play very attractive hockey. By the way, did you think about their Front logo, the blue Indian? I had no idea where that came from but I recognized the Indian ... anybody else? Yes its the mascot of the still existing 2nd infantry division of the U.S. Army. Somebody must have inspired somebody there as I looked through some of the Czech republics history and the second Infantry division never made and appearance anywhere.

Lets talk about the actual game a little bit. As mentioned, I had great expectations, but then again I am not a big fan of the European Trophy. I just do not think that its a competitive format, good to increase the quality of Hockey throughout Europe. Why not have the games during the season, and not use them as preparation games for the actual seasons in the different countries? Sure thing, thats what the game looked like. I was quite surprised with how much hardship Plzen actually put into the game. Tomas Frolo ring a bell? Yes thats the guy who put up his stick against Daniel Weiß´s face and got a game ending penalty early in the game. 

This sort of stuff continued. I actually liked the hard playing style and in a way thats what I want from a European Trophy game but still they just looked out of place. A 3-0 lead after the first period? Boring anybody? And at that point I knew that they would not come back unless we would help them, which we sort of did in the end, but anyway. The quality of the game was not as high as I thought. Still it was nice to see Vincent Schlenker make the first goal, one of the young guns I am quite excited  to see what he can do during the regular season. Frank Hördler and Julian Talbot did the rest during the first period. The goalie switch really seemed to help the guys from Plzen, but it just didn´t do enough. Sure they came on to 2 goals but I had the impression that the game was never in danger for the Eisbären Berlin. Rob Zepp looked good during a couple of scenes, the goals he got were all one on ones were the defense was simply outplayed in part due to the fact that the Eisbären knew that they had a commanding lead. Mid second period the whole thing seemed like a friendly to me, a couple of scrums penalty´s, but hey, its hockey. Overall a 6-4 was not what I expected, but after reading a little bit more about Plzen and their overall performance over the last couple of years, the Eisbären should have won the game in any circumstance. 7000 fans came to watch, thats about the size of the arena Plzen normally plays in. It was a friendly game right? Or is this really about winning a trophy in the end?