EC Bergisch Land
| EC Bergisch Land | |
|---|---|
| Greatest successes | |
| Club information | |
| history |
SC Solingen (1975–1995) EHC Solingen (1995–2005) EC Bergisch Land (since 2005) |
| Nickname | Raptors |
| Parent club | EC Bergisch Land "Raptors" eV |
| Club colors | white, blue, yellow |
| league | Regionalliga West |
| Venue | Ice rink Birker Strasse |
| capacity | 2,000 seats |
| executive Director | Thomas Poeter |
| Season 2019/20 | 6th place LL-NRW / promotion |
The ice hockey club Bergisch Land e. V. ( EC Bergisch Land or ECB for short ) is an ice hockey club from Solingen , which was founded in 2005 as the successor to the Bergisch Blue Knights . The men's team plays under the name Bergisch Raptors . The women's team, the Raptöse , played at times in the 2nd women's division north. The ECB's jersey colors are white, blue and yellow.
history
SC Solingen / SC Solingen 88
Even before the Bergisch Raptors were founded, there were organized ice hockey clubs in Solingen. Before the opening of the first Solingen ice rink at the end of 1975, SC Solingen was founded the summer before, which initially did not include an ice hockey department. It was only after the Birker Strasse ice rink was completed that the ice hockey area was founded and the SCS played the first game against GSV Moers (final score 7: 9). For the 1980/81 season, the SCS registered a team for league play for the first time and started in the Landesliga NRW. In the first two years, the Solingen team were runner-up in the regional league. In 1982, SCS signed Ulrich Rudel as a new coach, who had previously been with the Kölner Haien in the 1st Bundesliga . Due to his good contacts in Cologne, he brought Bundesliga experienced players from the cathedral city to Solingen, including goalkeeper Axel Richter . With a top team succeeded in the 1982/83 season promotion to the Oberliga - the Regional was skipped at the green table - with two significant victories against arch-rivals Neuss EC .
In the first season in the major league, the Solingen team reached the qualifying round for the 2nd Bundesliga . In the end, one point was missing to make the direct march through to the second highest division. In order to get closer to promotion, more former Bundesliga players and German champions were signed for the 1984/85 season, including Guido Lenzen , Jörg Lautwein and Georg Kink , who moved to the city of blades . In the final of the league championship, the SCS won against EHC 80 Nuremberg and qualified in the subsequent promotion round for the 2nd Bundesliga, which he belonged to until 1989. During the 1988/89 season , SC Solingen had to stop playing in the 2nd Bundesliga due to financial problems and withdrew from professional ice hockey.
Immediately after the collapse, “The Pumas” was founded as the successor club of SC Solingen 88. This returned in the 1991/92 season in the fourth-class regional league and in 1994 even rose to the then third-class 2nd division north . After only one season, however, the SCS 88 finally ended in the summer of 1995. Those responsible had to realize that the financial situation had deteriorated enormously.
| Playing times of SC Solingen: | |
| Playing times as SC Solingen 88: | |
EHC Solingen / Bergisch Blue Knights
With the voluntary withdrawal of SCS 88 from the 2nd League North, the founding of the successor club EHC Solingen on May 17, 1995 was simplified. In 1999 he was promoted to the regional league under coach Peter Schrills . By 2004, the EHC established itself in the fourth-highest division, before the successor of SC Solingen threatened financial failure. The collapse could only be avoided by outsourcing the first men's team to Bergisch Blue Knights GmbH . But only one year later the Blue Knights were about to end and it was decided to found a completely new club.
| EHC Solingen playing times: | |
|
|
EC Bergisch Land
During the summer break of 2005, the EC Bergisch Land (ECB) was founded as the successor club to the EHC Solingen and the Bergisch Blue Knights. The ECB should make ice hockey known not only in Solingen, but also in the neighboring cities (especially Remscheid and Wuppertal) and attract more spectators. The chairman was Wolfgang Lingen in the first year , Rolf van Hauten (formerly Düsseldorfer EG ) worked as a trainer and sports manager . In the first season, the Raptors started in the Association League NRW, where the team just missed the championship. The subsequent cup round, which is also about promotion to the regional league , ended the ECB as an undefeated winner and celebrated the direct promotion.
Before the 2006/07 season, there was another bankruptcy in the room, and the Raptors' participation in the regional league was only confirmed two weeks before the start of the season. Van Hauten had recently resigned and was replaced by Jiří Šmíček as coach. Lingen also resigned as chairman shortly before the end of the year. His successor was Johannes Hammerstein , who was also elected managing director of the newly founded Limited . The men's team was spun off into this in order to take the financial risk of regional league games from the home club. In the 2006/07 main round, the spontaneously put together team played very inconsistently, missed the league promotion round early on and had to fight relegation in the NRW Cup round. However, as fifth in the cup, he managed it confidently with a ten-point lead. In the 2007/08 season the ECB will play again in the Regionalliga NRW. The lack of interest from sponsors and spectators - the average attendance in the 2006/07 season was 200 - forced those responsible to rejuvenate the squad significantly. In addition, the plan to start with a so-called 1b team was not implemented. Instead, most of the players on this team were reported in the first team. The team has been organized since the summer of 2007 by the newly founded “Services on Ice” -Limited, chaired by Ms. Hammerstein. After only a few games in the new season, however, the parent club terminated the contract with the Limited after there had been disagreements between the club's board and Ms. Hammerstein. The Regionalliga team has since been maintained by EC Bergisch Land itself, finished ninth after the 2007/08 preliminary round and secured relegation in the Regionalliga Cup.
Although the Raptors had also qualified for the regional league the following year, they did not make use of this right for financial reasons. The main reasons for the withdrawal were a decline in sponsorship income and a reduction in municipal support for the use of the ice rink. While around 42,000 euros were still available for the senior team in the 2007/08 season, it was only around 30,000 euros in the 2008/2009 season. Since no competitive regional league team could have been set up with these reduced funds, the people from Klingenstadt started in the regional league from 2009. In their second year in the regional league, the Solingen team reached sixth place in the preliminary round table and missed the play-offs by just a few points. Because of this good development, the people in charge decided to accept the offer of the regional association to start as a successor in the regional league from the 2011/12 season .
| EC Bergisch Land seasons: | ||
| Level of the league in brackets: (IV) fourth highest class, (V) fifth highest class | ||
Further teams of the EC Bergisch Land
In addition to the first men's team, there are various other teams in the EC Bergisch Land. The women's team of the ECB, the so-called Raptosen , made it into the second division in 2006. In the 2006/07 season they achieved relegation, but withdrew for the 2007/08 season in the association league NRW, the third highest division. There they achieved second place in the promotion round. By restructuring the game operations and withdrawals of other teams they played in the 2008/09 season again in the second division. However, this could not be maintained. Because some players ended their careers, the team of coach Andreas Jordan started the season 2009/2010 in the Landesliga NRW and achieved direct promotion to the Association League NRW two game days before the end of the season. In the following year, the Raptöse played a strong season in the association league as a climber and only failed in the play-offs for promotion to the 2nd division. In the summer of 2011, the women's team was dissolved despite the successes of recent years, because the club wanted to invest the money saved in the men's team.
In the youth sector, various ECB teams take part in league games in the age groups Bambini to youth . The Raptors also offer a running school for 5- to 8-year-olds, in which the children are taught the basics of ice skating. Furthermore, the mothers of the young players are organized in a hobby team, the DollFinis , in the ECB , but do not take part in any games. The former 2nd men's team last played in the 2006/07 season under the name Old Snakes in a hobby league, but was disbanded in favor of the 1st team during the current season. Some of the former players are now active in the Raptors' regional league team. This breakup was not permanent, because the "Old Snakes" are now back on the ice.
Well-known former players
|
|
