Sunday saw the
Eisbaren Berlin (Berlin Polar Bears) win the DEL Playoffs and crowned kings of
Germany for the 3rd straight season giving them a hat trick of championships as
they beat the Kolner Haie (Cologne Sharks) 4-1 and overall giving them a 3-1 series
win in the best of of 5. Berlin and Cologne played out a very physical and at
times unmissable hockey over the series as it was a fantastic advert for the
game, with two teams going at it for the whole 4 games and arguably deserved
the series as they won both games on the road in the intimidating LANXESS Arena
as they showed their Championship class grinding out wins.
Plus they finally
ended the home team curse between them and Cologne as the one it seemed to fall
in place that the first victory for the home side in the series would be the
one that lifted the title and so it proved to be as Eisbaren Berlin are the
2012-2013 DEL Champions and Congratulations to them and the whole club.
GAME
1: Saw
the two sides in Cologne meet for the first battle over the Deustche Meister
(German championship) TROPHY. Eisbaren Berlin were the brightest side of the
two sides as the nerves were getting to the Koln Haie as this was a new
experience to them compared to their counterparts, Berlin are going for a three
peat as they have won the DEL title 2 seasons running so they were used to the
big occasions. Koln showed they were a bit over rawed while Eisbaren played a
patience game.
Berlin
were waiting for Koln to make a mistake and when they did they capitalized on
it as an error by Moritz Muller who tried to pass the puck up ice but fanned on
it, was took by TJ Mulock who threw it in the slot for Jullian Talbot who back
handed high past Danny aus den Birken for a 1-0 lead.
Berlin
should have been 2-0 up straight away as Mulock had a open net to shoot at but
contrived to miss it and Berlin hope that chance wouldn`t come back to haunt
them.
2nd
period and Koln Haie got back into the game as a Wrist shot by Andreas Falk
made it 1-1 early on and at the back end of the period Eisbaren retook the lead
after another sloppy defence play by the home side gifted the puck to Talbot
who passed to Mulock and he put it five hole through the legs of Aus den Birken
for a 2-1 lead and that goal frustrated the Kolner players and silenced the
home support.
Eisbaren
Berlin made it 3-1 after Darin Olver played it off Marco Sturm as he skated
near goals and deflected in for a 2 goal cushion. Kolner came close as they
struck the post pressing for a second goal but found Rob Zepp in good form and
the metalwork coming to his rescue as well. Uwe Krupp pulled the net minder
with 2 minutes left and when good play down low by John Tripp he passed to
Charles Stephens and he found Andreas Falk stood in front of goals and he
pounced to make it 3-2 with 52 seconds left in the game.
Koln
had their tails up now and were upping their game trying to get this 3rd goal,
Koln tried to fire one in from a faceoff but was blocked by Andre Rankel who
skated up ice with the puck and despite the diving attempt to dispossess the
Berlin forward, Just as Rankel went to score he got slashed hitting the post
with an empty net beckoning at his call. So despite not scoring the referee
gave a goal due to him denied a clear goal scoring chance and as no net minder
was in he couldn`t call the penalty shot so it was an automatic goal.
This
led to bottles thrown upon the ice by the home side’s fans as they were angry
and outraged with the call, leading to delay in the game as glass was sweeped
up and bottles picked up by ice staff as coins were launched too towards the
officials. The remainder of the game was played out with Berlin picking
up the crucial road win in the series.
KOLNER HAIE 2-4 EISBAREN BERLIN
(EISBAREN BERLIN LEAD 1-0)
GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS: http://bcove.me/c5k6iryr (taken from SERVUS HOCKEY NIGHT)
GAME
2: Both
sides travelled to the 02 World Arena in Berlin as the teams recommenced battle
as Kolner Haie tried to wrestle back control of the series, as with Eisbaren
getting the win in Cologne it swung the advantage to the defending champions.
Things
got to a terrible start for Berlin as Mulock was serving a 2 minute penalty for
TRIPPING, Marco Sturm opened the scoring for the visitors as he scored on the
power play banking it off Rob Zepp in the Eisbaren nets for a 1-0 lead.
Berlin
responded as Constantin Brown and Andre Rankel set up Ryan Caldwell who struck
from near the point as his onetime shot was smashed low by the Canadian and
tied it up at 1-1.
Koln
Haie then scored for a 2-1 lead as Phillip Gogulla skated round the back of the
Eisbaren nets passed toward traffic in front of goals and it was Andreas Falk who
was first to react and fired passed Zepp for the lead.
Rob
Zepp was a one man side as Koln Haie showed how devastating they could be as
they torn Berlin to shreds but the Berlin net minder came up strong and was
keeping the home side in the game with save upon save and was denying the
visitors any chance they had of pulling away in this game.
However
he could do nothing about the 3rd goal as Koln stretched the defences of Berlin
and when Nathan Robinson shot round the boards, puck came to John Tripp who
spotted the movement of Charles Stephens and with accuracy slotted home from
between the face off circles to make it 3-1 and Berlin were practically done as
they lacked any real energy or fight to get back in the contest and so Koln
Haie regained the swing in the series and also carried on the continued streak
between the sides this season with the away side coming out on top on every
occasion .
EISBAREN BERLIN 1- 3 KOLNER HAIE
(SERIES TIED 1-1)
GAME
3: Saw
an aggressive game as the series switched back to the LANXESS arena in Cologne
as the Kolner Haie looked to reassert their dominance as they had previous in
game 2 in Berlin, as they looked to have Berlin floundering after they took
them apart. So for Berlin it was a chance to avenge their home lost and once
again regain control of the series and knowing if they could win in Cologne
then they was one step again from winning their 3rd title in a row.
Early
exchanges saw the physical play up a bit more in this series and after
Christopher Minard was penalised for leading to an early opportunity for
Eisbaren on the power play & that is just what they did. Good puck
movement by power play unit with fast passing with Florian Busch and Frank
Hordler setting up Jullian Talbot whose shot found a way to beat Danny aus den
Birken for a 1-0 lead for the visitors. Koln then replied back minutes later as
an attempted clearance off the boards by a Berlin defenseman was deflected into
the path of Andreas Holmqvist, whose shot was diverted by Marcel Ohmann but
saved by Rob Zepp and Rok Ticar put the rebound home to make it 1-1.
Eisbaren
regained the lead as James Sharrow scored after a Barry Tallackson pass sent a
charging Florian Busch down the right wing and his pass across to Sharrow
towards the slot was put home after the 2nd minute of play in the 2nd period.
Berlin
extended the lead mid way through the second when James Arniel and Corey Locke
gave the puck to Mark Katic and he beat Aus den Birken over the shoulder for a
3-1 score line they looked to have semi knocked the stuffing out of the Kolner.
Mads Christensen then made it 4-1 when Ryan Caldwell chased down a puck in the
Koln zone which was dealt with quick enough, his pass came to Matthew Foy who on
the second attempt got a shot away and was diverted home by Christensen for a 3
goal cushion and looked game over at that point.
The
third saw a more physical game as Koln attempted to rough up their visitors
including charging the net minder on a couple of occasions leading to a lot
of fisticuffs after the whistle as players got into scrums and some
punches were thrown as officials tried to stop the players. Koln were looking
very frustrated and Rob Zepp was having another exceptional game between the posts
as his displays in the second and third periods especially were the reason
Berlin were in the position there were.
Koln
Haie were throwing everything at Eisbaren as they tried to find any way back
into the contest, but the defence and net minding was fantastic.
As we got to
the last five minutes of play Koln pulled a goal back
as
it was all down in the Berlin zone and after a mad scramble net the side of the
nets the puck came to Ales Kranjc and he backhanded the puck high for a 4-2
score line and then less than a minute later with the net minder pulled Marco
Sturm scored for 4-3, As Charles Stephens passed by the boards to John Tripp
his pass towards the front of the Eisbaren nets found Sturm and his quickly
dispatched it home to set up a nervy finale.
Koln
still had the extra skater out as they looked to get an unlikely comeback after
looking down and out in the contest. Andre Rankel then made up for his earlier
missed empty netter in Cologne back in game 1 as he swept it home for an empty
net goal at 58:45 before Mads Christensen scored another empty net goal with a
slapshot with 2 seconds remaining after skating out of his zone and launching
it. That win now puts them within touching distance of retaining their crown
and also continues the home team hoodoo as neither side has beaten the visitors
all season.
KOLNER HAIE 3 - 6 EISBAREN BERLIN
(Eisbaren Berlin leads series 2-1)
GAME
4: Eisbaren
Berlin returned home to the 02 World Arena in Berlin standing on the verge of
glory as they knew one win would give them a historic Third championship in a
row, But they knew Kolner Haie weren`t going to just turn up and lay down for
them to capture that title easily. Also the fact the "Home hoodoo"
was still ongoing between the sides, As yet neither had won on home ice in the
regular season and in the playoffs too. So that thought could have played on
the minds of the Berlin players before the game started.
Both
sides had early chances as they tested the other teams net minder just to get
them warmed up, Berlin got given the opportunity to take the lead as Corey
Locke was adjudged to have been Hooked back by Nathan Robinson when Locke was
clean through on goal and the official awarded a penalty shot to Berlin.
Corey
Locke stepped up to take the penalty shot and he buried past Danny aus den
Birken to give them the lead at 8:46 and gave them the perfect start in the
game.
Berlin
out shot their visitors 14-9 in the first period as they couldn`t make more of
the chances they created in the period.
Koln
tied the game up in the second period as Rok Ticar as skated in towards the far
side unmarked and put home a great pass as Andreas Holmqvist vision spotted the
movement and Ticar score with Gregory Claassen getting an assist on the goal
too at 24:50.
Eisbaren
Berlin doubled their lead as Jullian Talbot shot from the blue line to give
them a 2-1 lead, as Darin Olver pass towards the forward was smashed home
beating Aus den Birken on his near post as he was screened by traffic in front
of him while the power play just expired as he scored.
Few
minutes later Berlin scored again as Constantin Brown skated in the Koln zone
his shot was off target but bounced nicely for TJ Mulock to score past Koln
Netminder and make it a 3-1 hockey game, the fans were already slowly starting
to celebrate as the goal knocked the stuffing out of Koln as a few of the heads
dropped as Berlin confidence grew in abundance they looked to have to put the
game out of reach of the visitors grasp.
Berlin
controlled the game from then on and sewn the game up with a power play goal
from Jullian Talbot, Play by Corey Locke and Barry Tallackson on the power play
led to a pass towards back post by Locke where Talbot had the simple task of
just directing it into the net and made the score 4-1 and the party really
could begin as the fans counted down the last ten seconds of the game and the
traditional throw of gloves, sticks and helmets over the ice came as they
celebrated with Rob Zepp who was one of the most important players on the
Berlin side throughout this series.
EISBAREN BERLIN 4-1 KOLNER HAIE
(EISBAREN BERLIN WIN SERIES 3-1)
Game 4 HIGHLIGHTS: http://bcove.me/eugqad38
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