Frankfurt Lions

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Frankfurt Lions
Greatest successes

German champion 2004

Club information
history Eintracht Frankfurt (1959–1991)
Frankfurt ESC (1991–1994)
Frankfurt Lions (1994–2010)
Löwen Frankfurt (since 2010)
Nickname The lions, ESC
Club colors Red - white - black
league German ice hockey league
Venue Ice rink on Ratsweg
capacity 6,990 seats (including 3,246 seats)

The Frankfurt Lions were an ice hockey club from Frankfurt am Main . "Frankfurt Lions Ice Hockey GmbH" was founded in 1991 as the Frankfurt ESC "Die Löwen". The company was the successor organization to the ice hockey department of Eintracht Frankfurt, which had existed since 1959 and was a founding member of the German Ice Hockey League , in which the Lions played continuously from 1994 to 2010, before filing for bankruptcy in 2010 and ceasing to play due to the license withdrawal. The parent club for the game operations of the women's and junior teams was the Young Lions Frankfurt Ice Hockey eV , which still exists today, which is now known as the Löwen Frankfurt Nachwuchs eVThe parent club of the Löwen Frankfurt is.

The greatest success of the club, which played its home games in the ice rink on Ratsweg , was winning the German championship season 2003/04 , when the Lions prevailed in the final against the Eisbären Berlin in four games. The club's colors were red, white and black.

history

prehistory

Ice hockey has been played in Frankfurt since at least the 1930s. In 1959, the Eintracht Frankfurt ice hockey department was founded. After their dissolution, the Frankfurt ESC "Die Löwen" was founded. On March 25, 1994 the Frankfurt Lions Eishockey GmbH was founded to introduce the professional league German Ice Hockey League .

Frankfurt Lions in the DEL

The Lions played in the top German division in the 1994/95 season. World stars such as Robert Reichel , who was brought to Frankfurt due to an NHL strike, and Jiří Lála, who was again the most successful player this season, played in the Frankfurt team. In the first DEL season the Lions reached the play-offs in 1995 and failed after five games against the Kassel Huskies (1: 4 wins). In 1996 the club reached the play-offs again, but then failed because of the huskies (0: 3).

The Frankfurt Lions after winning the championship against the Eisbären Berlin on April 16, 2004

In 1997, however, the now Finnish team was only just able to prevent relegation. The play-offs were not reached. The audience numbers fell. The year was also significant in economic terms. On January 31st, Gerd Schröder took over Frankfurt Lions Eishockey GmbH with all shares and liabilities, on August 7th Bernd Kress became managing director. With the change of management came new business premises, a new logo, new jersey colors and new staff. Bernie Johnston was signed as manager and brought on 17 new players, including eleven Canadians. The Lions reached the semi-finals in the 1997/98 DEL season and failed at the eventual champions Adler Mannheim . With second place after the preliminary round, they qualified for the European Hockey League and celebrated the greatest success in the club's history.

The 1998/99 season was turbulent: Coach Bob Manno left the club on October 17, 1998. Manager Bernie Johnston became a coach. The Frankfurt Lions were leaders of the DEL from mid-November 1998 to the end of January 1999, at times eleven points ahead of second place in the table. After a series of defeats of eight games with only one win, the play-off participation was still in danger. Johnston was replaced as coach, but remained manager. Under the new coach Rick Alexander they reached the play-offs, beat the Kölner Haie in the quarter-finals and penalty shoot-out in the fifth game and then lost to the Nürnberg Ice Tigers in the semifinals after three games .

In the 1999/2000 season , despite many injuries and after exchanging coaches and managers, they still reached the play-offs. They were only defeated by the eventual champions Munich Barons after five hard-fought games in the quarterfinals. The year 2001 was marked by another dismissal of trainers and assistant trainers. Rick Alexander later resigned as manager. Despite an increase under the new coach BJ McDonald at the end of the season, the play-off participation was missed. In the 2001/02 season, McDonald was released after just eight game days. Assistant coach Doug Bradley took over the chief position, but had to leave in January 2002 after an unsatisfactory season. The Lions finished 11th and did not reach the play-offs.

After a catastrophic 2002/2003 season, the Lions only reached the penultimate place in the table (13th place) and had to face the Schwenninger Wild Wings in the play-downs . Here they lost in six games and relegated athletically. However, since the opponent Schwenningen was insolvent and therefore the DEL game operations were not allowed to resume in the coming season according to the league regulations, the Lions remained in the DEL.

2004 turned out to be a great year for the club. On April 16, the Frankfurt Lions won the German championship in the fourth final game after having only finished fifth in the main round. Lions striker Pat Lebeau was not only voted the most successful scorer in the main round (23 T + 46 A), but also the most valuable player in the league ( MVP ). The 2004/05 season was also very successful at first, as leaders moved into the play-offs after the preliminary round . But then the Lions lost after five games in the semifinals against Adler Mannheim and had to give up hope of defending their title. The season was marked by the lockout in the NHL and thus by many guest players who increased the level of the league. Frankfurt was able to call defender Stéphane Robidas of the Chicago Blackhawks and later the star striker of the St. Louis Blues , Doug Weight , their own for at least this one season.

In the 2005/06 season they could not build on the strong performances from previous years and missed the play-offs in ninth place. Reasons for this lay in the aging of the team, newcomers who did not meet expectations and an unfortunate injury that was spared in previous years. Among others, top scorer Patrick Lebeau was out for a long time. For the 2006/07 season , the goal was to be among the top six teams at the end of the season. This goal was just missed, after a temporarily strong, but sometimes also weak main round, certainly due to the bad luck injured by many (key) players throughout the season, the Lions placed eighth after 52 games and therefore had to make the pre -Playoffs prove they were playoff eligible. There you met the reigning German champions, the Eisbären Berlin . In a best-of-three series, the Lions prevailed with 2-1 victories and thus qualified for the playoff quarter-finals. There they met their arch rivals and title favorites, the Adler Mannheim . In a not undisputed series, the Adler prevailed in five games with 4: 1 wins against the Lions, who were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Co-founder and main owner Gerd Schröder died in August 2008 at the age of 49 after suffering a stroke in the spring of 2008 and lying in a coma for months. However, after initial concerns, the future of the Lions was declared secure. Jürgen Arnold , partner of ERC Ingolstadt , took over Schröder's post as chairman of the supervisory board of the German Ice Hockey League.

On June 30, 2010, the Frankfurt Lions' license for the 2010/11 DEL season was withdrawn and the Lions stopped playing. The parent club will continue playing in the DEL2 under the name Löwen Frankfurt .

Placements

The German Ice Hockey League was founded for the 1994/95 season , of which the Frankfurt Lions were a founding member until 2010. The high point was the German championship in 2004, the low point of the sporting descent in 2003, when they only remained in the league due to the insolvency of Schwenninger Wild Wings.

season league Preliminary round Season end
1994/95 DEL 10th place Play-offs: 4-1 defeats in the round of 16 against the Kassel Huskies
1995/96 DEL 8th place Play-offs: 3-0 defeats in the round of 16 against the Kassel Huskies
1996/97 DEL 12th place Play-downs: 4: 2 defeats in the 1st round against the Kaufbeurer Adler , 3: 0 wins in the 2nd round against the Ratinger Löwen
1997/98 DEL 2nd place Play-offs: 3-1 victories in the quarter-finals against the Hannover Scorpions , 3-0 defeats in the semi-finals against the Adler Mannheim
1998/99 DEL 4th Place Play-offs: 3-2 victories in the quarter-finals against the Kölner Haie , 3-0 defeats in the semifinals against the Nürnberg Ice Tigers
1999/2000 DEL 7th place Play-offs: 3-2 defeats in the quarter-finals against the Munich Barons
2000/01 DEL 10th place Play-offs not reached
2001/02 DEL 11th place Play-offs not reached
2002/03 DEL 13th place Play-downs: 4: 2 defeats against the Schwenninger Wild Wings , thus sporting relegation. Since insolvency proceedings were opened on the Schwenninger Wild Wings, their license was withdrawn and they had to go into the lower leagues. Frankfurt remains in the DEL.
2003/04 DEL 5th place German champions after the play-offs: 4: 2 wins in the quarter-finals against the Kölner Haie , 3: 2 wins in the semifinals against the Hamburg Freezers , 3: 1 wins in the final against the Eisbären Berlin
2004/05 DEL 1st place Play-offs: 4-2 wins in the quarter-finals against Hamburg Freezers , 3-2 defeats in the semifinals against Adler Mannheim
2005/06 DEL 9th place Play-offs not reached
2006/07 DEL 8th place Pre-play-offs: 2: 1 wins against Eisbären Berlin , play-offs: 4: 1 defeats in the quarter-finals against Adler Mannheim
2007/08 DEL 4th Place Play-offs: 4: 3 wins in the quarter-finals against Iserlohn Roosters , 3: 2 defeats in the semi-finals against Kölner Haie
2008/09 DEL 9th place Pre-play-offs: 3-2 defeats against the Hamburg Freezers
2009/10 DEL 2nd place Play-offs: 3-1 defeats in the quarterfinals against ERC Ingolstadt

player

Champion team 2003/04

The Frankfurt Lions team from the 2003/04 season was able to secure the German championship with a single team performance. In the play-off final, the team defeated the favorite from Berlin. The outstanding player of the team at that time was the Canadian Pat Lebeau , who was not only the scorer with the highest points in the team, but was also voted MVP of the season in the end.

position Surname
Goal: Ian Gordon , Marc Dillmann , Marc Hansconrad
Defense: Peter Ratchuk , Paul Stanton , François Bouchard , Jonas Stöpfgeshoff , Mikael Magnusson , Sebastian Klenner , Markus Jocher , Daniel Peters , Michael Bresagk
Storm: Pat Lebeau , Jesse Bélanger , Jason Young , Dwayne Norris , David Gosselin , Martin Reichel , Mike Harder , Michael Hackert , David Sulkovsky , Christian Kohmann , Mark Etz , Robert Francz , Jan Hemmes

Blocked jersey numbers

Some shirt numbers were blocked by the club and also by the successor Löwen Frankfurt in honor of the players and no longer assigned.

Surname # position Time at the club Remarks
GermanyGermany Michael Bresagk 2 defender 1997-2010 German champion 2004, 645 DEL games for Frankfurt
CanadaCanada Pat Lebeau 11 Left wing 2002-2007 German champion 2004, player of the year 2004 and 2005, DEL top scorer 2004 and 2005
CanadaCanada Trevor Erhardt 27 striker 1983-1988, 1991-1993 first blocked jersey number in Frankfurt
Germany-Canada Jason Young 28 center 2003-2010 German champion 2004
Germany-Canada Ian Gordon 34 goalkeeper 2003-2010 German champion 2004

Members of the Hockey Hall of Fame Germany

Personalities who have rendered outstanding services to ice hockey in Germany will be admitted to the “Hall of Fame” of the German Ice Hockey Museum. Of the actors recorded in Frankfurt:

(Team membership and position in brackets)

The Frankfurt "Mister Ice Hockey" became treasurer in 1966 and later the head of the Eintracht Frankfurt ice hockey department. During this time he was able to bring some well-known players, such as the later Bundesliga top scorer Jiří Lála, to the Main.
The 38-time Czechoslovak national player has won eleven championships in his home country. The EC Bad Tölz and the Mannheim ERC led Olejnik as a coach to four runner-up championships and then worked from 1989 from 1991 in Frankfurt. From 1990 he was also assistant coach of the national team.
The multiple Olympic participant with the German national team was in the team of Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1990/91 season. After the season, the attacker switched to BSC Preussen and was German champion at the DEL premiere in 1995 with the Kölner Haien.
In 1991, the attacker moved from Mannheim's ERC to the top division to the newly founded Frankfurt ESC, with whom he was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga in 1993. For the German national team, Wolf played the Winter Olympics in 1984 and 1988 and five world championships.

Club-internal records

One of the most successful players in the club's history is the Canadian Patrick Lebeau , who holds the respective record in three different statistics.

Record player
space player Games
1. Michael Bresagk 593
2. Ian Gordon 305
3. Toni Porkka 283
Top scorer
space player Points (T / A)
1. Patrick Lebeau 307 (111/196)
2. Jason Young 239 (77/162)
3. Chris Snell 197 (69/128)
Top goal scorers
space player Gates
1. Patrick Lebeau 111
2. Dwayne Norris 85
3. Jason Young 77
Top template provider
space player templates
1. Pat Lebeau 196
2. Jason Young 162
3. John Chabot 147
Most effective scorer
space player Points per game
1. Robert Reichel Ø 2.11 (70 games)
2. Jiří Lála Ø 1.59 (99 games)
3. Doug Weight Ø 1.50 (18 games)
Penalty minutes
space player Penalty minutes
1. Chris Snell 699
2. Michael Bresagk 614
3. Jason Young 555

(all statistics are current at the end of the 2007/08 season )

Other important (former) players

(Team membership and position in brackets)

The goalkeeper won silver and two bronze medals at the Olympic Games with the Finnish national team and was Finnish champion with Ilves Tampere in 1985. In 1996 Tammi left Finland and moved to Germany, where he ended his career in Frankfurt in 1999.
Potz played 204 international matches for the Polish national team and took part in the Olympic Games several times during this time. The defender played for Eintracht Frankfurt from 1982 to 1989 and finally ended his career in 1990 at EC Bad Nauheim.
The German national player has been on the ice for the Lions for over twelve years and has played over 700 main rounds and play-off games for the Hessians during this time. With the national team, Bresagk played the world championships in 1994, 1995 and 1998.
The defender came on 248 missions for the Frankfurt Eintracht and the Frankfurt ESC, in which the trained defender was able to achieve an unusual 312 points scorer. With the Cologne EC, Anton Forster became German champion in 1984 and returned to Frankfurt as a trainer in 1991.
The current NHL player of the Dallas Stars played during the NHL lockout 2004/05 with the Frankfurt Lions, with whom he reached the play-off semi-finals. In addition, the Canadian international was already active in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Snell played 34 NHL appearances for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Los Angeles Kings and moved to Frankfurt in 1998. After a year-long stint with the Hannover Scorpions, the Canadian returned to the Lions in 2001, where he ended his career after a season.
Stanton played over 300 NHL games for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders and moved to Germany in 1995, where he was three times German champion with the Adler Mannheim. In 2004, the American won the championship again in Frankfurt.
The attacker played with Mario Lemieux for the Pittsburgh Penguins and made eleven international matches for the Canadian national team. From 1997 to 2000 he was part of the Frankfurt Lions squad.
Egen played 117 games for Eintracht Frankfurt between 1987 and 1990, in which he was able to achieve 141 points scorer. The attacker, who ended his career with local rivals EC Kassel in 1993, was also at EV Füssen and Düsseldorfer EG.
The Canadian was one of the public favorites in Frankfurt and played there in the 1980s for both Eintracht and from 1991 on again for the newly founded Frankfurt ESC, to which he returned from Austria in 1991. The attacker also played a year in Bad Nauheim.
The attacker became German champion with the Kölner Haien in 2002 and then switched to the Frankfurt Lions, with whom he was able to repeat this success again in 2004. After two years with the Straubing Tigers, Jocher played two seasons for the first division club EHC Munich and one season for Löwen Frankfurt .
Lála won silver with the Czechoslovak national team at the 1984 Olympic Games and took part in several world championships. In 1990 the attacker became Bundesliga top scorer and returned to the Lions for two seasons after the DEL was founded.
The Canadian was on the ice for the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers in the NHL and moved from Switzerland to Frankfurt in 2002, where he was multiple top scorer, most valuable player and German champion in the 2003/04 season. From 2008 to 2010 Lebeau played for the Vienna Capitals and then returned to Canada, where he played for Saint-François de Sherbrooke for one season.
Obresa took part in the 1988 Winter Olympics and became German champion with the Mannheim ERC in 1980. After 14 years in Mannheim, the attacker moved to the Frankfurt ESC in 1993 in the 2nd Bundesliga, where he ended his career after a year.
The striker played 192 NHL games for the Philadelphia Flyers, the Florida Panthers, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Los Angeles Kings and, after moving to Frankfurt in 1997, was one of the crowd's favorites and the team's best scorer in the 1998/99 season.
The long-time NHL player was due to the NHL lockout in 1994 for a short time in the Frankfurt Lions squad and returned to the Main metropolis for one season in the summer of 1995. Until 2010, Reichel played again for HC Litvínov in his home country of the Czech Republic.
The American played in the Bundesliga for the ECD Iserlohn and the Cologne EC before moving to Frankfurt in 1989, where he scored 378 points in 223 games for Eintracht Frankfurt and the Frankfurt ESC. Nicholas ended his career after the 1993/94 season.
The attacker completed over 700 NHL games for the California Seals, Cleveland Barons, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins, in which he was able to score 711 points scorer. After a year in Frankfurt, Simmer returned to North America in 1989.
Worobjow is one of the public favorites in Frankfurt and one of the few players who was also on the ice for the Frankfurt ESC. After a two-year engagement in Mannheim, the attacker moved to his Russian homeland before returning to the Lions in 2007.
Weight played with Stéphane Robidas at the Lions during the 2004/05 NHL lockout. Later career stations included the St. Louis Blues, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Anaheim Ducks and the New York Islanders, with whom he was under contract from 2008 to 2011.
The native Canadian played a total of 122 games for Frankfurter Eintracht, in which he scored 144 points. He later stood on the ice for the Eisbären Berlin and the Augsburg Panthers in the DEL and ended his career in 2000 at SC Bietigheim-Bissingen.

Participation of players in the All-Star-Game

Some Frankfurt Lions players have been nominated for the DEL-All-Star-Game , a friendly game that has been held annually since 1998 and in which the most outstanding players in the German Ice Hockey League compete against each other.

Participation in the All-Star-Game while being part of the team
Surname position Participation (noun) team
German Michael Bresagk defender 1998, 2006
2007, 2008		 GermanyGermany
EuropeEurope
Canadian Rich Chernomaz Trainer 2005 DEL All-Star Team DEL all-stars
German-Canadians Ian Gordon goalkeeper 2008
2009		 North America teamNorth America
EuropeEurope
German Michael Hackert striker 2005, 2006
2007		 GermanyGermany
EuropeEurope
German Let Kopitz defender 2008, 2009 Europe Europe
Canadian Patrick Lebeau striker 2004, 2005, 2006 DEL All-Star Team DEL all-stars
Canadian Dwayne Norris striker 2005
2007		 DEL All-Star TeamDEL All-Stars
North America teamNorth America
Americans Peter Ratchuk defender 2004 DEL All-Star Team DEL all-stars
Canadian Richard Regehr defender 2008 North America team North America
German Martin Reichel striker 2004 Germany Germany
Russian Alexander Selivanov striker 2002 DEL All-Star Team DEL all-stars
Canadian Chris Snell defender 2002 DEL All-Star Team DEL all-stars
Americans Paul Stanton defender 2003 DEL All-Star Team DEL all-stars
German-Russian Ilya Vorobyov striker 1998 DEL All-Star Team DEL all-stars

Trainer

became German champion in 2004 with the Frankfurt Lions
after 10 defeats in 16 games, Alexander left his place on November 1, 1999 and then became manager of the Lions
13th place (of 14) after the main round and subsequent relegation in the play-downs
  • 1998/99 (from March 1999): Canada Ricki Alexander
after a fourth place in the main round, he led the Lions to the play-off semi-finals, where they failed in the Best of Five series 3-0 to the Nürnberg Ice Tigers
ended up in midfield in eleventh place
  • 1998/99 (from October 1998): Canada Bernie Johnston
As a manager, he took over the coaching position for a short time on October 18, 1998 and then returned to management
was the interim coach for almost a month
was the trainer of the Frankfurt Lions until October 18, 1998
was released after 31 games with a record of 18 wins and 21 losses
  • 1997/98 (from March 1998): Canada Bernie Johnston
failed in the play-off semifinals in the Best of Five series with 0: 3 to the Adler from Mannheim
was released on October 1, 2001 after a bad start to the season (1S / 7N)
  • 1997/98: Germany Peter Obresa
his record: 44 games, 24 wins, 5 draws and 15 defeats
  • 2000/01 (from January 2001): Canada Blair J. MacDonald
missed a play-off place with the Lions in the end
  • 1996/97 (from January 1997): Germany Peter Obresa
secured relegation in the second round of the play-downs
after 21 defeats in 36 games, he was dismissed
after his team suffered 19 defeats in 38 games, Matikainen was sacked
  • 1999/2000 (from November 1999): Germany Peter Obresa
led the Lions into the play-offs, where they narrowly failed in the quarterfinals to the Munich Barons
reached the second round of the play-offs in 1995 and 1996

Venue

→ Main article: Frankfurt ice rink

The ice rink on Ratsweg was opened on December 19, 1981 and has long been considered one of the most modern halls of its kind in Germany. In addition to the main ice rink the size of an ice hockey rink, which is surrounded by 7,000 spectator seats, including around 3,500 seats and 3,500 standing places, the facility has a smaller, closed ice rink and a large 400 m long outer ring. Another ice hockey rink covered by a tent roof will be converted into tennis courts in summer.

Audience statistics from 2003 to 2009
season Home games spectator Spectators per game
2008/09 28    (26/2) 172,722    (161,422 / 11,300) ø 6,169    (6,208 / 5,650)
2007/08 34    (28/6) 210,800    (170,000 / 40,800) ø 6,200    (6,071 / 6,800)
2006/07 30    (26/4) 183,250    (157,550 / 25,700) ø 6,108    (6,060 / 6,425)
2005/06 26    (26 / -) 164,306    (164,306 / -) ø 6,319    (6,319 / -)
2004/05 32    (26/6) 208,400    (166,900 / 41,500) ø 6,513    (6,419 / 6,917)
2003/04 33    (26/7) 208.166    (160.066 / 48.100) ø 6.308    (6.156 / 6.871)

(The total occupancy rate for the entire season is given. The main / final round are listed separately in brackets.)

Club culture

mascot

Since 1991 there was a lion-like mascot, which could not prevail. The lion Leon was not able to establish itself until the 1999/2000 season . Together with stadium announcer Rüdiger Storch, he got the fans in the mood for the game before home games and in the breaks.

Leon wore the number 13 on his back. He was friends with Pucki , the mascot of the Nürnberg Ice Tigers .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hockey-Magazin.de : ( Memento from March 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Frankfurt's managing director Kress: "Lions remain absolutely competitive"
  2. ↑ kicker.de, Arnold new chairman of the supervisory board
  3. ↑ Florian Bässler: Ice Hockey History of the Lions Frankfurt. In: eishockey-online.com. December 27, 1981. Retrieved August 7, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Lions give up license war
  5. ↑ Löwen Frankfurt: An emotional evening with masters and legends. In: loewen-frankfurt.de. February 16, 2014, accessed September 9, 2018 .
  6. ^ Lions Archives
  7. ↑ Home. In: hockeydb-ffm.de. January 1, 2000, accessed September 8, 2018 .