This couldn’t be any worse! The Dresden Ice Lions embarrassed themselves in a very important DEL basement duel against the penultimate Iserlohn Roosters and were defeated 1:6 at home.
The horror of bankruptcy may also be too much for promotional coach Niklas Sundblad (52). The player from Sweden is on the verge of elimination.
Also because the first third was such a bitter disappointment that fans found it hard to believe. Before the match, Iserlohn had gone almost 215 minutes without scoring an own goal, but was rewarded by the bottom team after four minutes and 25 seconds.
With the score 1-0, four Dresden players ran to the bench, only one outfield player remained on the ice and suddenly found himself facing three visiting strikers alone. Christian Thomas had no trouble ending his mega goal drought cheaply – 1-0 (5th)!
Dresden Ice Lions fans entered Wednesday night’s game with hope and were sorely disappointed.
Even though there were repeated shots forward, the Sundblad team again wasted their best opportunity. Trevor Parkes failed to get past goalkeeper Andreas Jenike (2nd). David Suvanto hits the disc from a central position towards the goalkeeper without any pressure (8th).
Yes, what opportunities do you really want? Especially if you also defend physically in the back line.
When Daniel Fischbuch made it 2-0 (10th), no ice lions came close. At this point, the level of duels is beyond doubt with 39 per cent of duels won for relegated teams.
It was no surprise that the Roosters increased their lead just 37 seconds after making the score 2-0. Julian Napravnik saved from behind, Eirik Salsten deflected a shot with his stick in the air, pressed by defender and goalkeeper Jussi Olkinuora, to make it 3-0 (11). Because Salsten stick-up, the goal was checked through video evidence and proven to be within the rules.
What’s next for Sundblad?
The fact is that the master coach can record the biggest success in the history of the club and the first promotion of the Eastern club in 29 years. But after these signs of disintegration on the ice, despite his advantages, he could no longer be contained.
Sports director Matthias Roos (45) only said during the German Cup break almost two weeks ago: “We first spoke with our coach, but also about him.” On MagentaSport after the match, he didn’t blame Sundblad fairly: “Niklas has as much responsibility as I do. We became champions of the second division and now the limits are showing for us.”
It is possible the split will be announced soon and the next game in Ingolstadt will be a day later with assistant coach Petteri Kilpivaara as a temporary solution. According to BILD information, the search for a replacement for Sundblad is already underway.
Dresdner Eislöwen’s performance around Trevor Parkes was completely disappointing against Iserlohn.
The ambitions in Dresden’s ambitious surroundings are too great to allow themselves to be five points behind in one more game Iserlohn just accept the offspring.
Significance: Just five minutes before the end of the first third there were a lot of whistles in the hall, otherwise it was mouse-quiet until the first break. After Sebastian Gorcik made it 3-1, there was a brief celebration before Salsten (28th) and Kyle Wood (32nd) took their places. Dresden Ice Lion forced to 5:1.
The managing director even got into the fan curve
“YOU have robbed us of our last glimmer of hope,” fans wrote on banners at the time and hung them in front of the block. Niklas Sundblad is seen frozen in the video cube for a few seconds – followed by a loud concert whistle in the second intermission.
Finance director Maik Walsdorf even took action in a corner and asked the supporters to continue cheering for the team. Despite 1:6 by Tyler Boland (50th), the funereal atmosphere is revived somewhat in the third third…
