Hanover Scorpions

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Hanover Scorpions
Greatest successes

German champion 2010
Champion 1st ice hockey league 1996
Promotion to DEL 1996

Club information
history ESC Wedemark (1975–1994)
Wedemark Wildcats (1994–1996)
Wedemark Scorpions (1996–1997)
Hannover Scorpions (1997–2013)
Nickname The scorpions
Parent club ESC Wedemark (until 2006)
ESC Hannover (2006–2008)
ESC Wedemark Scorpions (2008–2010)
SC Langenhagen (2010–2013)
Club colors Red - black
Venue Ice House Mellendorf , TUI Arena (2001-2013)

The Hannover Scorpions were an ice hockey club from Hannover that played in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) from 1996 to 2013 .

The club was founded in 1975 as ESC Wedemark. The first team called Wedemark Wildcats qualified for the DEL in 1996. The team was then outsourced from the ESC Wedemark. Since 1997 the club played under the name Hannover Scorpions . In 2001 the company moved to the capital of Lower Saxony. In 2013 Scorpions-GmbH including the DEL license was sold to Schwenninger Wild Wings .

The club's greatest success was the 2010 German championship . In addition, the team reached the play-off semi- finals in 2001 , 2006 and 2009 , as well as the 2009 DEB Cup final . The club colors of the Hannover Scorpions were red and black.

The name Hannover Scorpions was taken over in 2013 by a successor club that has played in the Oberliga Nord since then . In 2008 a successor club to the now dissolved ESC Wedemark was founded in Wedemark, which bears the name ESC Wedemark Scorpions , has been a senior team since 2012 and currently also plays in the Oberliga Nord. In addition, the first team of EC Wedemark played from 2009 to 2012 under the name Wedemark Scorpions.

history

season league Main round Finals
1977/78 RL 1st place -
1978/79 RL 5th place -
1979/80 RL 4th Place
1980/81 RL 6th place
1981/82 RL 6th place -
1982/83 RL 4th Place -
1983/84 RL 5th place 4th place
1984/85 RL 6th place -
1985/86 RL 5th place -
1986/87 RL 5th place 1st place
1987/88 RL 6th place 3rd place
1988/89 RL 2nd place 9th place
1989/90 RL 3rd place 2nd place
1990/91 RL 1st place 2nd place

in the promotion or relegation round of the Regionalliga

The beginnings of ice hockey in Wedemark (1973 to 1991)

The history of the Scorpions began in Wedemark , a community 20 kilometers north of Hanover , where in 1973 an artificial ice rink was built next to the outdoor pool in the Mellendorf district . However, this ice surface was initially neither roofed nor, with its 30 × 40 meters, did it meet the international dimensions for ice hockey rinks. In 1975 the ESC Wedemark was founded, which initially offered the sports of ice hockey , curling , figure skating and ice dancing in four departments . A year later, the ice rink was enlarged to the size of 60 × 30 meters, so that ice hockey games could be played on it for the first time, the ice rink was also covered and the first spectator tiers were built. In the 1977/78 season , an ESC men's team took part for the first time in the Regionalliga Nord , the fourth-highest German division at the time, and won the league championship in the first season , also with the help of the former Finnish national player Esko Kaonpää .

However, the team was unable to repeat this success in the following years and mostly occupied places in the middle of the league. In the 1983/84 season , the ESC Wedemark met for the first time on local rivals EC Hannover , who had been relegated from the league the year before . Although the Wedemärker lost 4: 6 under coach Sepp Sappl, who returned to ESC Wedemark at the beginning of the season after two years at the EHC, in front of the record crowd of 1,200 spectators at the time, both the ECH as champions and the ESC finished fifth in the relegation round to Oberliga Nord in 1984/85 . In the participation in a promotion round, however, the ESC Wedemark only finished fourth and thus last place, while the EC Hanover waived the promotion due to bankruptcy.

After renewed placements in the middle of the table, the team only reached the promotion round to the league again in 1989 under the new player- coach Jari Pasanen , in which, however, they initially only finished ninth and penultimate place. In the following year , the ESC could not achieve the declared goal of promotion and had to play in the relegation round to stay in the regional league, as in many years before. After the entry of the later owner and financier Jochen Haselbacher into the management of the club, the championship of the Regionalliga Nord was won in 1991 after some significant victories, such as a 12: 6 against EC Wilhelmshaven . In the promotion round , the ESC Wedemark took second place and thus rose to the league for the first time in its club history.

Establishment as a serious ice hockey player (1991 to 1996)

season league Preliminary round Finals Play-offs
1991/92 OIL 3rd place 5th place -
1992/93 OIL 3rd place 2nd place -
1994/95 1st League 3rd place 6th place Round of 16
1995/96 1st League 1st place 1st place master

After the complete takeover of the club business by the Haselbacher family, a new player-coach, the Canadian Kevin Gaudet, was hired , with whom the ESC will be celebrated in the first league year with a fifth place in the final round of relegation. In the following season , after a third place in the preliminary round and with the help of 179 points from the British-Canadian striker Joe West , who was newly signed up before the season , the ESC reached second place in the final round and thus only just missed promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga . This was achieved in 1994 when the team around the new striker and later national player Leonard Soccio , who together with West achieved the record of 328 scorer points, after a first place in the championship round made the leap into the 1994 as a substructure of the newly founded German Ice Hockey League introduced two-pronged 1st league .

At the beginning of the 1994/95 season , the club was renamed ESC Wedemark Wildcats . In addition to well-known newcomers such as Jari Pasanen or Dieter Reiss , owner Haselbacher also managed to bring Russian national player Vladimir Konstantinov from the Detroit Red Wings to Wedemark for the duration of the players' strike in North America due to the lockout in the National Hockey League . With fourth place in the preliminary round, the newcomer surprisingly reached the championship round of the first division, which ended in sixth place. In the subsequent play-off round of 16, however, the Wildcats failed at Heilbronn EC . After the team had finished both the preliminary and the championship round in first place in the 1995/96 season , they played the play-offs as a promotion favorite. After victories over EHC Klostersee , EV Landsberg and EHC Freiburg , ESC Wedemark reached the final there, in which EC Bad Tölz was defeated in three games.

Admission to the DEL and move to Hanover (1996 to 2006)

season league Main round Play-offs
1996/97 DEL 14th place 3rd round
1997/98 DEL 8th place Quarter finals
1998/99 DEL 11th place -
1999/00 DEL 9th place -
2000/01 DEL 7th place Semifinals
2001/02 DEL 10th place -
2002/03 DEL 10th place -
2003/04 DEL 13th place 1st round
2004/05 DEL 12th place -
2005/06 DEL 7th place Semifinals

play-downs

The scorpion - the heraldic animal of the Hanover Scorpions since 1996

Since the financially troubled neighbor EC Hannover renounced its DEL license, the ESC Wedemark was able to take the place in the DEL, which was otherwise played as a closed league, as champions of the 1st league. In the 1996/97 season the professional team, which was outsourced to a limited liability company under the new name Wedemark Scorpions , was named after the rock band Scorpions from Hanover. With a budget of just three million D-Marks , the team finished 14th in the league at the end of their first season.

For the 1997/98 season , the team was renamed from "Wedemark", unknown at national level, to "Hannover Scorpions" due to its proximity to the state capital. Before the season, the club's top transferred some former NHL professionals such as Troy Crowder , Gary Leeman , Jason Lafrenière , Mark Pederson and Bryan Fogarty to the Scorpions. Also because of these experienced players, the team reached the DEL play-offs for the first time, in which the Scorpions, however, failed after four games in the quarter-finals against the Frankfurt Lions . At the beginning of the following season , well-known players such as long-time NHL defender Claudio Scremin added to the squad, but the team clearly missed the final round with eleventh place in the table.

In the 2000/2001 season , the Hanover Scorpions achieved the greatest success in the club's history to date, as they were eliminated in the play-off semifinals against eventual champions Adler Mannheim after a quarter-final victory over the favored Kölner Haie . The team played the semi-final home game for the first time in the sold-out Preussag Arena, which has been called the TUI Arena since 2005 and was built for EXPO 2000 at the Hanover Exhibition Center. At the beginning of the 2001/2002 season , the Scorpions moved from their old home, the Icehouse Mellendorf, to the new multifunctional hall. In contrast to last year, they missed the play-offs with a tenth place in the preliminary round of the premiere season in their new home.

Before the 2003/04 season , there was a dispute between owner Jochen Haselbacher and those responsible for the arena, who demanded more professionalism and a say, after which the Scorpions initially returned to Mellendorf until they played three home games in December 2003 and January 2004 in the Preussag Arena had to complete. After these games it was agreed that the Scorpions should also play their remaining home games of the 2003/04 season in the arena. In terms of sport, the team narrowly escaped relegation to the 2nd Bundesliga after winning play-downs against Wölfe Freiburg in five games .

Before the 2004/05 season , the Scorpions changed hands because the long-time club boss of the ESC Wedemark, Jochen Haselbacher, sold the "Hannover Scorpions Eishockey Betriebs GmbH" to the building contractor Günter Papenburg . Since Papenburg also owned the Preussag Arena, the stadium problem could be solved in the long term. In addition, the Scorpions entered into a cooperation with the second division club REV Bremerhaven before this season , as the Hanoverians with a new concept are increasingly relying on young German players who should also be used as promotional license players in Bremerhaven. Nevertheless, the Scorpions only saved themselves on the last match day of the preliminary round on a non-relegation place and thus avoided renewed play-down participation. In the following season , however, the team reached the play-offs for the first time in five years , in which they made it to the semi-finals again after winning seven games over ERC Ingolstadt , but failed there at the eventual champions Eisbären Berlin .

Hans Zachs engagement and promotion to the top team (2006 to 2011)

season league Main round Play-offs
2006/07 DEL 6th place Quarter finals
2007/08 DEL 8th place qualification
2008/09 DEL 2nd place Semifinals
2009/10 DEL 4th Place German champions
2010/11 DEL 5th place Quarter finals

With the German coaching legend Hans Zach , the Scorpions were able to introduce a prominent newcomer away from the ice for the 2006/07 season . In addition to respectable victories against the top teams, the team also had to take a few setbacks with their new coach, such as a clear 1: 9 defeat against the Kölner Haie . In the end, the team reached the direct qualification for the play-offs, but failed there despite two wins at the beginning of the series with 2: 4 games at the Sinupret Ice Tigers . The Scorpions finished the preliminary round of the 2007/08 season in eighth place, but missed qualifying for the finals in the pre-play-offs against the ninth-placed DEG Metro Stars . In the decisive third game, the winning goal for the guests only fell after 91 minutes and 44 seconds in the second extension, which is now the third longest game in DEL history.

The Scorpions, however, were able to present themselves more successfully in the German Ice Hockey Cup , where the team only lost to the Frankfurt Lions in the semi- finals. In the 2008/09 season they were able to surpass this success when, after defeating the Kassel Huskies, they entered the final, but the team there was defeated by Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg . The Scorpions ended the 2008/09 regular season in second place and had to admit defeat to the DEG Metro Stars in the subsequent play-offs in the fifth game of the semi-finals . In 2010 the Scorpions won the German championship for the first time in the club's history, after a 3-0 play-off series against the Augsburg Panthers . In the 2010/11 season, the Hanoverians were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Sporting failure and sale of the DEL license (2011 to 2013)

season league Main round Play-offs
2011/12 DEL 14th place -
2012/13 DEL 11th place -

In the 2011/12 season , the Scorpions finished 14th and last place. So they missed qualifying for the play-offs for the first time since the 2004/05 season. In the 2012/13 season , Thomas Greiss decided , due to the NHL lockout that began on September 15, 2012 , for a time with the Scorpions. The goalkeeper, who actually belonged to the San Jose Sharks team, signed a contract in Hanover in November for the duration of the lockout. Greiss alternated with goalkeeper Dimitri Pätzold for the Lower Saxony . In total, he completed nine games for the Scorpions by the end of the lockout on January 6, 2013. Nevertheless, the Scorpions only finished 11th and could not qualify for the play-offs again. On May 23, 2013, the Scorpions announced that they would sell their DEL license to the second Bundesliga runner-up , the Schwenninger Wild Wings . A connection was made publicly with a decision by Deutsche Messe AG to modernize further exhibition halls against the background of a loss-making business by the arena operator that has been going on for years.

After the sale of the DEL license, a new Hannover Scorpions team - organized by Hannover Scorpions Eishallen- und Spielbetriebs GmbH - was founded, which took over their right to participate in the Oberliga Nord from the SC Langenhagen club.

Significant past teams

Champion 1st league 1996

position Surname
Goal: Marcus Beeck , Andrei Hanisz , Marco Herbst
Defense: Antonio Fonso , Vladimir Macholda , Jirko Seib , Heinrich Synowietz , Paul Synowietz , Peter Willmann
Storm: Matthias Ballach , Laszlo Csata , Gary Cummins , Markus Menschig , Larry Mitchell , Jari Pasanen , Lars Reinke , Gary Schwindt , Leonard Soccio , Jürgen Trattner , Joe West
Trainer: Kevin Gaudet

German champion 2010

position Surname
Goal: Travis Scott , Levente Szuper , Youri Ziffzer
Defense: Aris Brimanis , Sascha Goc , Rainer-Georg Köttstorfer , Patrick Köppchen , Nikolai Goc , André Reiss , Peter Baumgartner
Storm: Thomas Dolak , Chris Herperger , Klaus Kathan , Tore Vikingstad , Adam Mitchell , Martin Hlinka , Garrett Festerling , Sachar Blank , David Wolf , Tino Boos , Nikolaus Mondt , Ben Cottreau , Matt Dzieduszycki , Marvin Krüger
Trainer: Hans Zach ; Christian Künast

player

Blocked jersey numbers

So far, the shirt numbers of three players have been "blocked" due to their merits for the club, which means that they are no longer given to active players. To commemorate the award winners, banners with the corresponding numbers were placed under the roof of the TUI Arena.

British / Canadian Joe West
(Sturm, 1992-1994, 1995-2001)
German-Canadians Leonard Soccio
(Sturm, 1994-2006)
Banner with the number 10 under the roof of the TUI Arena The native Canadian played for the ESC Wedemark in the league from 1992 to 1994 and then moved to the Heilbronn EC, but returned to Lower Saxony after just one year. In the 1997/98 season the winger was top scorer in the German Ice Hockey League with 50 points and reached the play-off quarter-finals with the Scorpions. In his last professional year 2001, West failed with Hanover in the semi-finals. Banner with the number 20 under the roof of the TUI Arena The attacker played in the DEL exclusively for the Wedemark or Hanover Scorpions, to which he had switched from Canada in 1994 and for which he scored 492 points in 505 DEL games. To this day, Soccio is the record player, top scorer, assists and scorer in the history of the Scorpions and at the same time the player with the most penalty minutes. With the Lower Saxony, the Canadian with German citizenship also reached the semi-finals of the play-offs in 2001 and 2006.

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 recorded actors, or are working in Hanover:

(Team membership and position in brackets)

During his playing days, Bögelsack was one of the most successful ice hockey players in the GDR, for whom he played 188 international matches. With the SC Dynamo Berlin, the attacker was GDR champion 14 times and ended his career at the EC in Hanover. Today the Greifswald native works in the organization of local rivals Hannover Scorpions.
The defender won a total of eleven East German champions with SC Dynamo Berlin and made 296 international matches for the East German national team. After reunification, Frenzel was at EC Ratingen in the ice hockey Bundesliga and for various second division teams on the ice and then worked as a coach, including in the 2001/02 season with the Hannover Scorpions.
During his active time, Zach played 668 Bundesliga games and became German champion in 1982 with SB Rosenheim. He then coached various first division clubs, including the Düsseldorfer EG, with whom he was able to celebrate three championship titles. The national coach from 1998 to 2004 moved from the Kölner Haien to Hanover in 2006, where his contract expired after the 2009/2010 season.

Club-internal records

The following players have been able to set various club-internal records since the Scorpions joined the DEL:

Record player
space player Games
1. Leonard Soccio 505
2. Thomas Dolak 457
3. Patrick Köppchen 384
4th Sascha Goc 371
5. Martin Hlinka 352
Top scorer
space player Points
1. Leonard Soccio 492
2. Thomas Dolak 306
3. Sascha Goc 297
4th David Haas 215
5. Mattias Lööf 198
Top goal scorers
space player Gates
1. Leonard Soccio 156
2. Sascha Goc 131
3. Thomas Dolak 107
4th David Haas 98
5. Wallace Schreiber 75
Top template provider
space player templates
1. Leonard Soccio 336
2. Thomas Dolak 199
3. Sascha Goc 166
4th Gates Vikingstad 141
5. Mattias Lööf 130
Penalty minutes
space player Minutes
1. Leonard Soccio 760
2. Sascha Goc 745
3. David Haas 669
4th Martin Hlinka 459
5. Dan Lambert 429

(all statistics are current at the end of the 2011/12 season )

Other important (former) players

(Team membership and position in brackets)

The Norwegian played for the DEG Metro Stars for seven years and was the top scorer of the 2005/06 season together with Dave McLlwain in 2005 . He also took part in a total of nine world championships with the Norwegian national team.
Goc completed 22 games in the NHL for the New Jersey Devils and the Tampa Bay Lightning and also over 300 DEL games in which he was able to achieve 116 points scorer. He is the older brother of Marcel and Nikolai , both of whom are also ice hockey professionals.
The attacker took part in the 1994 Winter Olympics with the Canadian national team and won the silver medal. He also completed 41 NHL games for the Minnesota North Stars .
Lambert is a former NHL player and went there for the Quebec Nordiques, among others . The defender became German champion in 2003 with the Krefeld Penguins and also won the gold medal with the Canadian national team at the 1991 World Junior Championship .
The Canadian was selected during the NHL Entry Draft 1986 in the first round in a total of 15th place and then played for several NHL teams, including for the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings .
Kidd came to a total of 397 NHL appearances, including for the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers . The goalkeeper ended his career in 2006 after reaching the semi-finals with the Scorpions and now runs the company "Mountain Bean Coffee Co".
The Canadian played with the Scorpions during the 2004 NHL lockout and was under contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Phoenix Coyotes , among others . Today (2014) he is on the ice for the New York Rangers in the NHL.
The native Czech reached the play-off semi-finals with the Hannover Scorpions in the 2005/06 season . With 87 scorer points in 56 games, he was the top scorer of the DEL in 2008, ahead of Steve Walker from Berlin . Currently (2018) he plays for league competitor Iserlohn Roosters .
Leeman was a long-time NHL player and was there for the Toronto Maple Leafs on the ice. In the 1989/90 season , the Canadian was the top scorer of his team and was nominated for the 1989 NHL All-Star Game . In 54 games, the defender scored 56 points scorer for the Scorpions, where he ended his ice hockey career after the 1998/99 season.
The Canadian has played in his career for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim , the Chicago Blackhawks and the Montreal Canadiens, among others . In 2007 he ended his career after a season with the Scorpions.
The attacker was several times in the squad of the Canadian national team, with which he won the silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics. With the Kölner Haien Warriner reached the play-off final in 2007 .

Participation of players in the All-Star-Game

Some players of the Hannover Scorpions were nominated for the DEL All-Star-Game , a friendly game which took place annually from 1998 to 2009 and in which the most outstanding players of the German Ice Hockey League competed against each other.

Participation in the All-Star-Game while being part of the team
Surname position Participation (noun) team
Czech Patrik Augusta striker 2004 DEL All-Star Team DEL all-stars
German Tino Boos striker 2009 Europe Europe
German Thomas Dolak striker 2004 Germany Germany
German Sascha Goc defender 2007 Europe Europe
Canadian Chris Herperger striker 2007, 2009 North America North America
German-Czech Robert Hock striker 2005 Germany Germany
German Alexander Jung goalkeeper 2007 Europe Europe
Canadian Trevor Kidd goalkeeper 2006 DEL All-Star Team DEL all-stars
German Patrick Köppchen defender 2005
2008, 2009
GermanyGermany
EuropeEurope
Canadian Dan Lambert defender 2005 DEL All-Star Team DEL all-stars
German Andreas Morczinietz striker 2005 Germany Germany
German-Canadians Wallace Schreiber striker 2003 DEL All-Star Team DEL all-stars
German-Canadians Leonard Soccio striker 2000, 2002, 2004 Germany Germany
Norway Gates Vikingstad striker 2009 Europe Europe

Trainer

Previous trainers
1977-1988 Romania 1965Romania Puskas 2001 Sweden Olle Ost
1978-1981 GermanyGermany Sepp Sappl 2001 * GermanyGermany Dieter Frenzel
1981-1982 CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia Jaroslav Dolezel 2001 * CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia Peter Ihnačák
1982-1983 CanadaCanada Danny Cuoto 2001–2002 * Sweden Christer Abrahamsson
1983-1985 GermanyGermany Sepp Sappl 2002–2003 * CanadaCanada Paulin Bordeleau
1985-1987 United StatesUnited States Andrew Koelling 2003 * Sweden Mats Weiderstal
1988-1991 Finland Jari Pasanen 2003-2004 * Sweden Gunnar Leidborg
1987-1988 GermanyGermany Ralf Mackensen 2004-2006 CanadaCanada Kevin Gaudet
1991-2000 * CanadaCanada Kevin Gaudet 2006-2010 GermanyGermany Hans Zach
2000 * Sweden Curt Lindström 2010–2012 GermanyGermany Anton Krinner
2000-2001 * CanadaCanada Kevin Gaudet 2012-2013 Russia-Germany Igor Pavlov

* Change of coach during the current season

Since the ESC Wedemark was founded in 1975, 20 coaches from eight nations have trained the club's teams to this day. The first full-time coach of the new ice hockey team was at the beginning of the 1977/78 season, when a team participated in regular league operations for the first time, the Romanian Puskas, who handed over the office to Sepp Sappl, the first German coach of the ESC Wedemarks, in 1978. Sweden and Germany are now the countries from which most of the Hannover Scorpions coaches came. Five trainers from these countries were each under contract with the Lower Saxony.

The Canadian Kevin Gaudet can look back on the longest term in office in Hanover, who coached the team between 1991 and 2000 and led the team from the top league to the German ice hockey league . In terms of titles, Gaudet is also the most successful coach of the Scorpions to date, with whom he won the championship of the then second-class “1. League “could celebrate. The Canadian can also look back on most terms in office in Hanover, having returned to the coaching bench both at the beginning of the 2000/01 season and from 2004 to 2006. In the last season together, Kevin Gaudet reached the play-off semi-finals with the Scorpions. The engagements of Olle Öst and Hans Zach, which focused on reaching the play-off semi-finals in 2001 and the cup final in 2009, were also successful .

Hans Zach took over the position of coach at the beginning of the 2005/06 season from his predecessor Kevin Gaudet. He led the Scorpions team into the play-off semi-finals in the 2008/09 season after a second place in the main round. This was the most successful season in the club history of Lower Saxony to date. The former national coach was supported by former goalkeeper and assistant coach Christian Künast . In the 2009/10 season he won the German championship with the Scorpions. With this success, Hans Zach ended his coaching career.

After the Hans Zach era, the Lower Saxony decided on Anton Krinner as the new boss of the gang. After the team had not reached the play-offs in the 2011/12 season , he was released on March 11, 2012.

Parent club

ESC Wedemark / ESC Hannover Scorpions (until 2008)

After the promotion to the top German league in 1996, the professional team was spun off into a limited liability company from ESC Wedemark, founded in 1975. After the name of the DEL association was changed in 1997 to Hanover Scorpions , the parent association was also renamed ESC Hanover in 2006 and was subsequently also called "Scorpions". After the renaming, the first team players founded the Wedemark ice hockey club, which as EC Wedemark Farmers - initially as a cooperation partner of the ESC - took part in the game until 2008. In 2008 the ice hockey club Wedemark became the Eis Club Wedemark, which from 2008 to 2012 first played as EC Wedemark Scorpions and from 2012 to 2016 together with SC Langenhagen as SG United North Stars .

Until 2008 the youth, women and amateur teams of the Scorpions were organized in the "ESC Hannover", whose youth teams go on the ice under the name YoungScorpions , the women's team as LadyScorpions and the hobby team as SeniorScorpions . In addition, in the 2008/09 season, an amateur team from the ESC Hanover under the name Langenhagen Jets will take part in the fourth-class Regionalliga Nord . The teams of the ESC Hannover meanwhile play their games in the ice rink Langenhagen.

ESC Wedemark Scorpions (2008-2010)

After disputes between the management of the Hanover Scorpions and the youth department of the ESC Hanover, the new parent club "ESC Wedemark Scorpions" was founded in April 2008 around the long-time owner of the DEL team, Jochen Haselbacher, and Scorpions managing director Marco Stichnoth Leader of the former GDR national player Friedhelm Bögelsack was exclusively responsible for the youth work of the DEL team. Initially, the department only started with Bambini, junior and boy teams.

Junior Jets SCL (from 2010)

Without giving any reason, from the 2010/2011 season onwards, Scorpions managing director Marco Stichnoth from ESC Wedemark Scorpions transferred the work to the junior jets of SC Langenhagen as a junior cooperation partner of the Hannover Scorpions. There the youngsters train under the direction of the former Scorpions player Leonard Soccio .

Sledge ice hockey

The sledge ice hockey department of the Hannover Scorpions won the championship of the German sledge ice hockey league eight times in a row between 2000 and 2007 , making it the most successful team in the Paralympic sport in Germany. The division was founded as RSG Hannover '94 as the first sledge ice hockey club in the country. In the summer of 2008, the sledge ice hockey department moved to SC Langenhagen and continues its game operations there as Ice Lions Langenhagen .

Venue

Ice House Mellendorf

The ESC Wedemark and all subsequent clubs played until 2001 in the "Ice House", the former Mellendorf ice stadium in the district of the same name in the municipality of Wedemark . The stadium was built in 1974 as an open-air ice rink and was first equipped with a roof and spectator stands in 1977, so that the spectator capacity could be increased to 1,200. After the last renovation in 1995, the arena can accommodate 3,800 spectators and is now used by the Hannover Scorpions DEL team for training units. The teams of the ESC Wedemark Scorpions, founded in 2008, are playing their home games in the Ice House again.

TUI Arena

Aerial view of the TUI Arena on the Expo site
Interior of the TUI Arena

In the 2001/02 season , the Hannover Scorpions moved to the Preussag Arena, which was newly built on the premises of the EXPO 2000 . By renaming the namesake Preussag to TUI AG , the company extended the contract for the naming rights and the stadium became the TUI Arena in 2005 . It offers 10,767 spectators for ice hockey games and also promises better comfort than the previous venue. In addition, the location enabled more audience income for the club. After the team moved to the new arena, the average attendance doubled to 5,051. In the following two years, this average fell, but was increased to a record average in 2006 and 2007, when an average of 6,186 fans came to the home games of the Hannover Scorpions. After another slump and a recovery in the average attendance, it fell continuously over the last four years from 5,527 to 3,114 viewers in 2013, when they no longer extended the user agreement.

Audience statistics for the last few years
season Home games 1 Spectators per game
2012/13 26    (26 / -) 3.114
2011/12 26    (26 / -) 3,847
2010/11 28    (26/2) 4,353
2009/10 35    (28/7) 5,074
2008/09 32    (26/6) 5,527
2007/08 30    (28/2) 4,746
2006/07 29    (26/3) 6,186
2005/06 29    (26/3) 6,186
2004/05 26    (26 / -) 4,711
2003/04 29    (26/3) 3,506

1 The numbers in brackets represent the home games during the season and the play-offs.

Club culture

Fans and rivalries

There are sixteen official Hannover Scorpions fan clubs, most of which are located in the greater Hannover area.

Since the founding years of the club, there has been a rivalry between the fans of the Scorpions and the supporters of EC Hanover, today's Hanover Indians , who play in the ice rink at the horse tower . With the change in the sporting balance of power due to the descent of the EC in Hanover from the DEL and the simultaneous rise of the Wedemark Scorpions to the highest German ice hockey class in 1996 as well as the move of the Scorpions to Hanover, this rivalry was intensified, as the supporters of the Indians are still today look at the true "Hannoverscher Ice Hockey Club" and see the Scorpions as a strong commercialization and a loss of identity for the sport in Hanover. This means that annual preparatory games in the run-up to the season are strongly emotionally influenced by both sides despite the interim class difference between three leagues.

In the 2009/10 season, the Hanover Scorpions opened a new chapter of sporting cooperation with the Hanover Indians, when the Scorpions backup Youri Ziffzer was given a license for the Hanover Indians. In the 2010/11 season, the Hanover Indians returned the favor when the Hanover Scorpions, who were injured without a goalkeeper, were also able to provide the Indians goalie Jonas Langmann with a sponsorship license. As a result, a cautious approach can also be observed among the fans.

Due to the regional proximity, the games of the Scorpions against the Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg and the Hamburg Freezers are often referred to by the media as Lower Saxony or North Derby , but these games in Hanover are not as important as the City Cup.

Partnerships

Since the 2004/05 season , the Scorpions have been working with REV Bremerhaven in the 2nd Bundesliga . According to the rules of the German Ice Hockey Federation , DEL teams could give players under the age of 25 a sponsorship license , which means that they are eligible to play for another club in a lower-tier league. The majority of the young players with such a sponsorship license have since been sent to Bremerhaven in order to be slowly introduced to the highest German ice hockey class, while they playfully reinforce the second division.

In addition, the Hannover Scorpions cooperate with schools from the region, which can visit the TUI Arena as part of a "fan school", whereby the stay of the school classes is combined with learning-oriented content. In addition, professional Scorpions players visit the schools to which they are assigned as fan school sponsors. Furthermore, the players act as godparents of cities and municipalities in the region, which they visit on special occasions and to which they offer a presentation platform.

coat of arms

The club's logo has been changed several times since 1996. After the promotion to the German Ice Hockey League and the associated spin-off of the professional team into a GmbH, it received a new coat of arms, which instead of the traditional club colors blue and yellow used the new color combination red and black and also the new heraldic animal, the scorpion . After the name change in 1997, the lettering "Wedemark" under the heraldic animal was replaced by "Hanover". The font was then changed because of a dispute over licenses with the band Scorpions , whose font was previously used. The new coat of arms for the 2004/05 season was supposed to appear more aggressive, whereupon the scorpion was given an evil-looking look and the font was changed again. In addition, the letter "H", since then also the alternative logo of the Hanover Scorpions, which is intended to raise awareness of the Scorpions' new home, has been used in a decisive way on many fan articles.

mascot

The mascot "Scorpi" is the mascot of the Hanover Scorpions adapted to the heraldic animal. Before and after the team's games as well as during the third breaks , it enters the ice rink in the form of a skater in a plush scorpion costume who tries to increase the atmosphere in the hall with various animation activities . The mascot is also a regular part of other Hannover Scorpions events and club marketing.

Goal anthem

The Scorpions' goal anthem was the song Rama Lama Ding Dong .

Sources and individual references

  1. a b c d h-scorpions.de Club history on the official homepage ( Memento of the original from February 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.h-scorpions.de
  2. ^ NDR online, Club with an eventful past ( memento from April 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  3. hockeydb.com, Kader 1997/98
  4. Ice Hockey Magazin, DEG finds the gate to the play-off quarter-finals after 91:44 minutes
  5. hannoverscorpions.de, Thomas Greiss on the approach to Hanover ( Memento of the original from June 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Accessed January 12, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hannoverscorpions.de
  6. ^ Press release from Hannover Scorpions Eishockey Betriebs GmbH
  7. Jens Heitmann: Messe invests 60 million euros. Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (online), June 29, 2013, accessed on September 6, 2013 .
  8. Björn Franz: Hannover Scorpions are thinking about withdrawing from DEL. Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (online), May 6, 2013, accessed on September 6, 2013 .
  9. Special edition of the ice hockey news for the DEL season 2012/13
  10. Unclear in Hanover: ice hockey club dismisses coach. Sueddeutsche.de , March 12, 2012, archived from the original on March 15, 2012 ; accessed on March 2, 2017 : "Coach Toni Krinner was dismissed after the worthless 5-0 win against Wolfsburg on Sunday"
  11. youngscorpions.de, team overview on the official homepage of the ESC Hannover Scorpions ( memento of the original from December 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.youngscorpions.de
  12. stadtmagazinlangenhagen.de, Who is the parent club of the Scorpions? , Accessed September 30, 2012
  13. Hannover Scorpions offspring ( Memento of the original from March 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hannoverscorpions.de
  14. ^ Hockeyarenas.net, profile of the Ice House Mellendorf
  15. h-scorpions.de, overview of fan clubs ( Memento of the original from February 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.h-scorpions.de
  16. hockeyweb.de, Five years after the change of power: Quo vadis, Hannoversches Eishockey?
  17. ^ Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung Online, Hannover Scorpions continue to rely on Langmann and Steinhauer , accessed on September 30, 2012
  18. eishockey.info, Derby lost after extra time: Grizzly Adams get point in Hanover
  19. ^ Hamburger Abendblatt Online, Derby with play-off character: Hamburg Freezers - Hannover Scorpions 4: 2
  20. ^ DEB Passstelle, DEL funding licenses ( Memento from February 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  21. h-scorpions.de Hannover Scorpions Fanschulen ( Memento of the original from February 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.h-scorpions.de
  22. h-scorpions.de, partner cities & municipalities ( memento of the original from February 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.h-scorpions.de
  23. h-scorpions.de, Scorpi - our mascot ( Memento of the original from February 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.h-scorpions.de

Web links

Commons : Hannover Scorpions  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on February 17, 2009 .