Heilbronn falcon
| Heilbronn falcon | |
|---|---|
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| Greatest successes | |
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Promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga 1987 , 1998 , 2007 |
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| Club information | |
| history |
REV Heilbronn (1980–1986) Heilbronner EC (1986–2003) Heilbronner Falken (since 2003) |
| Nickname | The hawks |
| Parent club | Heilbronner EC e. V. |
| Club colors | Red - white - blue |
| league | DEL 2 |
| Venue | Kolbenschmidt Arena |
| capacity | 4000 seats (including 800 seats) |
| executive Director | Stefan Rapp |
| Head coach | Michel Zeiter |
| captain | Derek Damon |
| Season 2019/20 | 4th Place |
The Heilbronner Falken are a German ice hockey team from Heilbronn , Baden-Württemberg , who play in the DEL2 . The ice hockey department of the REV Heilbronn , established in 1980 , was re-established in 1986 as the Heilbronner ice hockey club , the professional team was spun off into the Heilbronner Falken GmbH in 2003 . So far, the club has won the South German Championship four times and has also been promoted to the second highest German division twice, most recently in 2007 .
The teams of the club, which was a cooperation partner of Adler Mannheim from 2004 to 2015 and has been the Kölner Haie from the German Ice Hockey League since 2015, play their home games in the Kolbenschmidt Arena , which was completed in 2002 .
history
Ice hockey in the REV Heilbronn (1980 to 1986)
In March 1980 the first ice hockey team in Heilbronn was formed within the roller skating and ice skating club Heilbronn, founded in 1934 around the former Czechoslovak national player Josef Matoušek , which initially measured itself as a hobby team with other teams in the region. In the following months, the development of the ice hockey department of the REV was pushed further, so that in the 1980/81 season the first Heilbronn ice hockey team took part in the games of the Landesliga Baden-Württemberg. If they only reached fourth place out of six teams in the season, the REV, with the support of former national players Wim Hospelt and Sigi Stotz, as well as Detlef and Dieter Langemann, made direct promotion to the Baden-Württemberg league with the support of the Cologne EC signed former national players . Together with the forces hired by the neighboring Mannheim ERC and the reinforcement of various US soldiers stationed in Heilbronn, the team was able to establish itself quickly in the league and was promoted to the fourth-class regional league south / west in the first season . In addition, the club was able to consolidate itself economically and in the period that followed, the average attendance rose significantly.
The player- coach Eugen Kielbicki , who was signed up for the dismissed Josef Schalkowski in December 1984, already led the REV into the promotion round to the ice hockey league in its first regional league season . Despite numerous failures and the departure of the former Cologne players who had left the club due to the great distance to their hometown, Heilbronn was able to prevail against the competitors and was thus eligible for the league season 1985/86. For the new season, the REV signed the former Bundesliga player Jiri Bolehovsky as a coach, so that Kielbicki was from now on only working as a player for the club. Although they immediately took second place in the Oberliga Mitte, due to a point deduction in connection with the invalid contract of defender Grant Campbell , the REV Heilbronn finally had to play in the relegation round for relegation. In addition, the parent club had to raise ever larger sums of money for the maintenance of the game operations due to the promotion to the Oberliga Mitte, so that the ice hockey department was spun off into the newly founded Heilbronner EC in the summer of 1986.
Sporting success and economic decline (1986 to 1990)
The new team qualified in the season 1986/87 with sovereign performances and under the leadership of coach Wilbert Duszenko and the first chairman Joachim Weitzel as well as the storm partners Steve Pépin and Robby Geale on the ice for the promotion round to the 2nd Bundesliga South . There the HEC was able to defeat ERC Sonthofen in the decisive game in the penalty shootout. The game is still regarded today as the most important game in the club's history due to its drama and the overcrowded audience. With well-known newcomers such as Peter Stankovic , Jürgen Lechl or Bob Attwell , the HEC reached fifth place in its first second division season, but in the relegation round they secured relegation early on. With fourth place in the 1988/89 season, the team reached the promotion round to the ice hockey Bundesliga for the first time in the following year and thus the greatest success in the club's history to date. After four defeats at the beginning, however, the HEC gambled away any chance of promotion early on. Far more serious, however, was the fact that the club's debts had risen to almost one million DM by the end of the season due to a lack of sponsors and after the stadium had been expanded. As a result, the club had to file for bankruptcy in the summer and not participate in the coming season.
New start in the top division and promotion to the second division (1990 to 1998)
After a year and a half break, the Heilbronn EC finally resumed playing in the Oberliga Süd in the 1990/91 season . After the debts had almost been paid off, the club reached ninth place in the middle of the table. Under the new coach Jaromír Fryčer , the HEC managed to qualify for the championship round in the following season with second place in the table after the preliminary round and finally finished it in fourth place. In 1994 the club achieved the greatest success in club history to date by winning the South German Championship. In newly introduced Oberliga play-offs, the club finally reached the semi-finals after victories over ASV Hamm and EC Bad Nauheim , but failed there at the later runner-up ETC Timmendorfer Strand .
With the redistribution of the leagues for the 1994/95 season, in the course of the establishment of the DEL as the new highest German professional game class, the Heilbronn team were assigned to the second-class 1st League South . After extensive personnel changes, the HEC reached the play-offs again. This time, however, the team failed in the quarter-finals at the ice hockey club from the Baltic Sea. Before the beginning of the 1995/96 season , Sascha Barinew inherited the previous coach Gerd Wittmann , who had been in charge of training for Heilbronn since 1993. With the newcomers Wolfgang Koziol , Andrej Jaufmann and Sven Valenti , the team reached the South German championship and the play-off semifinals, which they lost in the penalty shoot-out against EC Bad Tölz . Since it became apparent early in the following year that the new coach Pierre Rioux could not meet the expectations of the club management in relation to the first-time title win, Barinew returned to the dugout after a few games. With the later leading players Igor Dorochin and Robert Hock , who were on the ice for the first time for the HEC, and thanks to the new foreigner regulation, which now allowed six instead of two contingent players in the second division, the Heilbronn EC took second place in the table at the end of the season , but failed again in the semi-finals.
When the new, single-track 2nd Bundesliga was to be launched at the end of the 1997/98 season , but the Heilbronn team ran the risk of failing to qualify for the new division as South German champions, the former trainer Gerd Wittmann solved it in the championship round unsuccessful Jiří Kochta as coach. Only with a 7-0 win in the last game of the championship round did the Unterländer secure qualification for the 2nd Bundesliga against ERC Sonthofen , which ultimately compensated the fans for missing the play-offs.
Single track 2nd Bundesliga and renewed bankruptcy (1998 to 2004)
With mostly young and unknown players, the Heilbronn EC clearly missed the championship round of the 1998/99 season , but in the relegation round the Heilbronn team , who are now unofficially known as the Falken, secured their place in the league. The HEC started the following season with a team that had changed again in many positions , but at the end of the season , despite the crowd favorite Ladislav Svozil , who took over as coach from Gary Prior in January 2000 , the play-offs were again missed. The curious high point from Heilbronn's point of view was a 27: 5 against GEC Nordhorn, who played without a goalkeeper, and thus the highest win for the Unterländer in professional hockey. The 2001/01 season was the most successful season to date for the Heilbronn EC since the introduction of the double-track 2nd division. A number of players who moved from EHC Freiburg to Neckar before the season and included players like returnees Igor Dorochin or Oļegs Znaroks , as well as the up-and-coming talent Michael Hackert , ultimately played a major role in the semi-finals of the Heilbronn team, who ultimately ended up in five games were beaten by EC Bad Tölz.
At the beginning of the 2001/02 season , the falcons had to cope with the departures of old star Michael Rumrich and young player Martin Ančička . Nevertheless, the HEC finally reached the play-offs, where, however, after a victory over the ETC Crimmitschau , they failed again in the semifinals, this year on the outstanding team of the preliminary round, the ERC Ingolstadt . Since the new Knorr Arena was not yet completed at the beginning of the next round , the Heilbronn EC had to compete exclusively away from home for the first three weeks of the new season. After initially impressive performances, newcomers like the former NHL player Mike Bullard were unable to ensure consistency. Although the HEC reached the play-offs with fifth place after the preliminary round, the team failed there after a disappointing performance in the first round against promoted EV Landshut . Since the club lacked important income due to the poor sporting performance, the club's debts rose again to over 430,000 euros after the season.
After the collective resignation of the management team, the professional team was outsourced to the Heilbronner Falken GmbH for the 2003/04 season, but this could no longer avert the financial collapse at the end of the season. After the surprisingly clear sporting relegation from the 2nd Bundesliga, from which the Falcons said goodbye with zero points in the relegation round, the club's second economic decline took place with a bankruptcy application by the players against the GmbH due to a lack of salary payments. Only the strict implementation of an insolvency plan during the summer break was able to give the team, which at that time was burdened with more than 1.3 million euros in debt, a license for the following season in the Oberliga Süd.
Renewed consolidation and resurgence (2004 to 2013)
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Even before the start of the first league season in ten years, the Heilbronner Falken had to deal with the next bad news. Viktor Karachun , who was on the ice for the HEC that same spring, died on August 11, 2004, one day before his 36th birthday, of complications from cancer. In November, his former teammates held a charity game for the benefit of the attacker's relatives. In terms of sport, almost the entire team had to be equipped with new players after many top performers had left the club after relegation. For this reason, the Falken entered into a close cooperation with the DEL record champion Adler Mannheim , so that players from the young eagles could also strengthen the HEC in the Oberliga. Surprisingly, the younger team around the new coach Rico Rossi found themselves in first place in the Oberliga Süd after the preliminary round and thus won their fourth South German championship. In the championship round, however, the Falcons lacked the necessary consistency, so that the play-offs were missed for the time being. Due to the increasing number of spectators and good crisis management, the club reported at the end of the season that the debts could be reduced by half to 700,000 euros within just ten months.
In the from now on single-track league, the team reached the play-offs again in 2006 with fifth place in the championship round for the first time after relegation, but there the Falcons were subject to the Hanover Indians in the quarter-finals . At the end of the following season , the Falken took second place in the table behind SC Riessersee . After EHC Freiburg had been defeated in the quarter-finals, the Heilbronn team met EC Bad Tölz in the semi-finals that were decisive for promotion, and they were finally defeated in the fifth game in the Knorr-Arena. After the sporting promotion, the Falken then defeated EV Ravensburg in the voluntary play-off final and also secured the 2007 Oberliga championship.
In the 2007/08 season , the Heilbronner Falken surprisingly reached third place in the 2nd Bundesliga and only failed in the play-offs in the semifinals against later runner-up Landshut Cannibals . In the following year , the team reached the play-offs with fourth place after the preliminary round, but failed there in the quarter-finals against the Lausitzer Füchsen .
The quarter-finals of the play-offs should mean the end of the line for the Falcons several times in the following years. The 2009/10 season brought that with 2: 4 wins in the end clearly out in the round of the last eight against EV Ravensburg . It was only on the last day of the game that the direct play-off qualification was achieved through an away win at the later champions and DEL promoted EHC Munich .
The following two years were particularly bitter for the falcons. Both in the 2010/11 season and in the subsequent season , the leap to second place in the main round table was achieved - but both times it was again in the first play-off round. First they were swept by the rising star Starbulls Rosenheim , which was topped a year later in negative terms when a 3-0 series lead against Ravensburg was not enough to advance. The Upper Swabians finally won 4: 3. The coming season, in which the second-highest German division last operated under the name of the 2nd ice hockey Bundesliga , was also disappointing. Starting the season as one of the top favorites, the Falken narrowly made it into the play-offs, but were clearly beaten by the Schwenninger Wild Wings with 1: 4 wins.
Relegation battle and two rescues at the Green Table (2013-2017)
The past few years were only disappointing with regard to the fact that the Falken had to throw in the towel early in the play-offs, but events around the Kolbenschmidt-Arena should even get worse in the following two years. The fact that the long-time Falken coach Rico Rossi took over the newly created post of sports director, the new commitment to the coaching bench, Ken Latta, but above all the team that was trimmed for a masterclass with numerous expensive top-class players should create a new spirit of optimism at Europaplatz. Instead, the near-relegation followed after a disaster season , which was finally prevented after the wear and tear of several coaches under Igor Pavlov . Thanks to an outstanding Michael Hackert , the no longer thought possible rescue succeeded in the 1st play-down round against ESV Kaufbeuren . This time it was the Falcons who were able to turn a 3-0 series deficit into a 4-3 triumph.
However, the fact that the failed attempts to establish a top team in Germany's second-highest ice hockey league in Heilbronn were associated with a high financial outlay, again caused a turning point at Falken-Horst in the coming season . From then on, significantly smaller rolls had to be baked in Käthchenstadt in order not to endanger the license for the future. In addition, the controversial managing director Ernst Rupp, who determined the fate of the club for a good quarter of a century, was replaced by Atilla Eren. The new, young team of the season was the expectations At no time does meet and ultimately got into the play-down revenge against Kaufbeuren after a period of weakness that brought not have its own gate success almost 180 minutes, earned in the hockey league at .
In the middle of the preparations for the new start in the league, in which the direct promotion should be targeted under the new coach "Mannix" Wolf , the news of the EVL Landshut ice hockey's license revocation burst , which the falcons, who had the first right of replacement, now suddenly brought a place in the DEL2 . For the Käthchenstädter, however, the problem arose that a squad that was put together at the league level had to be raised to the DEL2 level a few weeks before the start of the season. An undertaking that appeared to be very difficult due to the gaming market, which was already largely sold out at that time, and the continued tense - albeit no longer quite so precarious - financial situation. In the end, the critics should be proved right. The Falcons started the season with 18 defeats from 20 games , were at the bottom from the 4th matchday and did not give up the red lantern until the end of the main round. The change of coach to Fabian Dahlem didn't turn things around either: In the play-downs the Falken relegated for the second time in a row and should therefore compete in the Oberliga Süd after nine years of membership in the second division . Due to the withdrawal of the Hamburg Freezers from the DEL, the Fischtown Pinguins from Bremerhaven (DEL 2) applied for a starting place in the DEL. After the Bremerhaveners were awarded this and thus compete in the top German league in 2016/17, the Heilbronner Falken took the vacated place of the Fischtown Pinguins in the DEL 2 as successors.
Also in the 2016/17 season , the fear of relegation was around Europaplatz. Although the Falken improved slightly in their points yield, the qualitatively upgraded squad remained - it is almost a tradition - again well below its potential, so that - also a tiresome tradition - Fabian Dahlem at the Falken gang after a defeat in Rosenheim had to take his hat off. The new coach Gerhard Unterluggauer now had the task of preparing the team for the upcoming play-down series against those Rosenheimers. Since the Falken finished the main round as 13th and thus penultimate in the table, the home right was with the Upper Bavaria. But unlike in the two previous years, the mission "sporting relegation" was successful this time. After two narrow defeats at the Starbulls, the Falcons dominated the last three games of the series with 14-2 goals and secured themselves relegation in the first play-down round - and thus finally the long-awaited planning security for the squad composition during the summer break.
Present (since 2017)
The slight upward trend in Heilbronn ice hockey should continue in the following season . Four times in a row, the Falcons had to go into the relegation round. But for the first time the Unterländer now had the chance to avoid the precarious situation of play-down participation. And indeed: Although the main round had to shake until the penultimate match day, in the end it was official. The Falken reached the pre-play-offs in ninth place in the table, in which the Dresdner Eislöwen could be eliminated with 2-0 wins. And so the season ended with a special ice hockey delicacy at Europaplatz instead of a relegation battle: For the first time in the now more than 20-year rivalry with the Bietigheim Steelers , there was a derby against the unloved series finalists in a play-off series past years. The Steelers lived up to their clear favorite role and moved into the semi-finals with 4-1 wins. The falcons, who sold themselves dearly, deserved the respect and recognition of the spectators, who finally believed their club was on the way up again after very lean years.
After the season, coach Gerhard Unterluggauer received the call from home. Born in Villach, he moved back to Carinthia, where he would henceforth lead the fate of the EC VSV . Unterluggauer's compatriot Alexander Mellitzer took over the post on the Falken command bridge. The Falken finally offered an offensive spectacle again in the 2018/19 season , but to the disadvantage of a stable defense. So it came to the curiosity that the Falken had one of the best offensive departments in the league, but at the same time also had the worst defense. Two games at the end of January were emblematic. If there was a bad clap with 9 goals conceded on a Friday in Bad Nauheim , this was made up for on the following Friday against Deggendorf , when the opponent himself was given a 9-pack.
team
Squad for the 2019/20 season
As of September 10, 2019
| No. | Nat. | player | Item | Date of birth | in the team since | place of birth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 |
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Matthias Nemec | G | August 31, 1990 | 2019 | Vítkov , Czechoslovakia |
| 27 |
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Ian Brady | D. | May 22, 1994 | 2019 | Lombard (Illinois) , USA |
| 44 |
 
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Marcus Götz | D. | March 10, 1987 | 2017 | Gävle , Sweden |
| 6th |
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Kevin Maginot | D. | July 25, 1994 | 2019 | Mannheim , Germany |
| 24 |
|
Corey Mapes | D. | June 22, 1992 | 2017 | Heilbronn , Germany |
| 4th |
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Brock Maschmeyer | D. | July 31, 1992 | 2018 | Bruderheim , Alberta , Canada |
| 16 |
|
Tobias Möller ( FL ) | D. | July 27, 2000 | 2018 | Wuppertal , Germany |
| 71 |
|
Jan Pavlu | D. | July 16, 1994 | 2018 | Bolzano , Italy |
| 50 |
|
Louis Brune ( FL ) | F. | May 5, 2000 | 2018 | Munich , Germany |
| 19th |
|
Stefan Della Rovere | LW | February 25, 1990 | 2019 | Richmond Hill , Ontario , Canada |
| 71 |
|
Bryce Gervais | LW | February 26, 1992 | 2019 | Battleford , Saskatchewan , Canada |
| 17th |
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Sebastian Hon | F. | April 23, 2000 | 2019 | Darmstadt , Germany |
| 40 |
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Valentino Toilets ( FL ) | F. | February 1, 2000 | 2019 | Kaiserslautern , Germany |
| 18th |
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Tim Miller | W. | March 6, 1987 | 2019 | Davisburg , Michigan , USA |
| 22nd |
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Alex Nikiforuk | C. | September 30, 1983 | 2019 | North Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada |
| 36 |
|
Pierre Preto ( FL ) | F. | April 13, 1999 | 2018 | Speyer , Germany |
| 28 |
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Samuel Soramies ( FL ) | F. | June 30, 1998 | 2018 | Heidelberg , Germany |
| 26th |
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Yannik Valenti ( FL ) | C. | September 24, 2000 | 2019 | Bad Toelz , Germany |
| 11 |
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Dylan Wruck | LW | September 23, 1992 | 2019 | Saskatoon , Saskatchewan , Canada |
| Official | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| activity | Surname | Date of birth | place of birth | In the team since | Last team | |
| Trainer |
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Alexander Mellitzer | 5th February 1980 | Klagenfurt , Austria | since 2018 | Austria U20 |
→ see also: Heilbronner Falken / teams and placements
Previous shirt design
With the beginning of the cooperation with Adler Mannheim in 2004, the jersey sets of the Heilbronner Falken were adapted to those of the cooperation partner according to the North American " farm team " style. Previously, the Heilbronner EC teams had worn individually designed jerseys.
According to the requirements of the league, the home jerseys in the 2008/09 season must be dark, the away jerseys a light basic color. For this reason, the Heilbronner Falken wear black jerseys for home games this season, but mainly white work clothes for away games. On the chest of the jersey is the club's alternative logo, which is also the main emblem of the junior team “Jungfalken” in a slightly modified form. In addition, all clubs below the DEL wear the official logo of the ice hockey game operating company (ESBG) on their left shoulder. Since in Germany in ice hockey, in contrast to other sports, all surfaces of the jersey can be printed with advertisements, various sponsor logos are also attached to the jerseys and pants of the Heilbronner Falken.
player
Club-internal records
The following players have been able to set internal club records since the Heilbronner EC was founded in 1986:
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Current players are highlighted in yellow . All statistics are current at the end of the 2014/15 season
Significant former players
(Team membership and position in brackets)
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Player of the year
| Player of the year | |
|---|---|
| 2000/01 |
 Oļegs Znaroks
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| 2001/02: |
Radek Vít
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| 2002/03: |
 Marko Suvelo
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| 2003/04: |
 Mike Rosati
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| 2004/05: |
 Igor Dorochin
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| 2005/06: |
 Jean-François Caudron
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| 2006/07: |
Jean-François Caudron
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| 2007/08: |
Luigi Calce
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| 2008/09: |
Luigi Calce
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Since 2001, the club's supporters have been able to choose Player of the Year on the club's official website.
The first Falken player of the year was the Latvian Onegs Znaroks in 2001, followed by the native Czech Radek Vít in 2002 and the Finnish goalkeeper Marko Suvelo , who was named player of the 2002/03 season. As the only player who, in the opinion of the fans, had shown consistently good performance in the year of relegation in 2004, the Italian goalie Mike Rosati received the award and relegated strikers Shawn Heaphy and Wiktor Karachun to second and third place. In the following year, the crowd favorite Igor Dorochin prevailed by a hundred votes ahead of the two Canadians David Belitski and Mike Henderson , who were only 20 votes apart.
The only player to have won the award twice so far is Canadian Jean-François Caudron , who has played in the club's attack since 2005. He won the election among the supporters twice in a row in 2006 (ahead of Andrej Kawaljou and André Schietzold ) and 2007, and in the subsequent years of his involvement with the Heilbronner EC, he occupied at least one place among the top five players of a season. The German-Canadian Luigi Calce won the election for the 2007/08 season player with 385 votes. Frank Petrozza (359 votes) and goalkeeper Danny aus den Birken (323 votes) landed in second and third place . Calce also received the most votes the following year, making it Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Second and third place went to goalkeeper Marek Mastič and defender Torsten Fendt .
Player of the month
In addition, since September 2003 fans have been able to vote for the respective Falken Player of the Month. So far, the following players have received the Player of the Month award :
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Trainer
| season | Trainer | season | Trainer |
| 1980-1981 |
 Josef Matoušek |
1998 |
 Gerd Wittmann
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| 1981-1983 |
Werner Neutz |
1998 |
 Craig Sarner
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| 1983-1984 |
Georg Hüttig |
1998-2000 |
 Gary Prior
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| 1984 |
Sigi Stotz |
2000-2002 |
Ladislav Svozil
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| 1984-1985 |
 Eugen Kielbicki (player- coach )
|
2002-2003 |
Georg Holzmann
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| 1985-1986 |
Jiří Bolehovský |
2003 |
Gerd Wittmann (interim trainer)
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| 1986-1989 |
Wilbert Duszenko |
2003-2004 |
Jamie Bartman
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| 1990 |
Werner Cecco |
2004 |
Bob Burns
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| 1990-1991 |
Wolfgang Rosenberg (player-coach)
|
2004 |
Gerd Wittmann (interim trainer)
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| 1991-1992 |
 Jaromír Fryčer |
2004-2013 |
Rico Rossi
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| 1992-1993 |
Paul Sommer |
2013 |
Kenneth Latta
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| 1993-1995 |
Gerd Wittmann |
2013 |
Gerd Wittmann
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| 1995-1996 |
 Sascha Barinew |
2013-2014 |
 Igor Pavlov
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| 1996 |
Pierre Rioux (player-coach)
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2014-2015 |
Gerd Wittmann
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| 1996-1997 |
Sascha Barinew |
2015-2016 |
Manfred Wolf
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| 1997-1998 |
Jiří Kochta
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2016-2017 |
Fabian Dahlem
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| 2017-2018 |
Gerhard Unterluggauer
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| 2018-2020 |
Alexander Mellitzer
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| since 2020 |
 Michel Zeiter
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Since the founding of the ice hockey department in 1980, the club has trained a large number of coaches from different nations. While the "founding father" and first trainer Josef Matoušek still practiced his activity in his spare time and was still more of a hobby building a functioning ice hockey team in Heilbronn, the coaching position with participation in the regular game operations of the Ice Sports Association Baden-Württemberg was from the season 1981/82 with Werner Neutz for the first time regularly occupied.
The current coach Rico Rossi can look back on the longest term of office with the Falken, who was promoted from assistant coach of the DEL team to head coach of the professional team of the HEC in 2004 as part of the cooperation agreement with Adler Mannheim and thus four complete seasons in the coaching bench sat. Having won the South German championship in 2005 and the league championship in the 2006/07 season , the Canadian is also the most successful trainer in the club's history in terms of titles won. The terms of office of Wilbert Duszenko (promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga 1987), Pierre Rioux (South German Champion 1996), Craig Sarner (South German Champion 1998) and Gerd Wittmann (South German Champion 1994) were also successful, all of whom won a title with the team could.
Wittmann is also the trainer who has so far had the most terms in office in Heilbronn. After two permanent positions from 1993 to 1995 and in 1998, he was the main person in charge of the "Heilbronner Jungfalken" and twice as an interim trainer training the professional team (2003 between Georg Holzmann and Jamie Bartman and 2004 between Bob Burns and Rico Rossi). In the club's history, Eugen Kielbicki (1984–1985), Wolfgang Rosenberg (1990–1991) and Pierre Rioux (1996) also held the position of player-coach and were thus used as trainers and players at the same time. However, all three were replaced after a comparatively short time in order to be able to devote more time to their activities as players. After the 2012-2013 season Rico Rossi was released from his coaching office, but signed a short time later as sports director.
Parent club
Since the professional team was outsourced to Heilbronner Falken GmbH in 2003, only the youth teams of the club have been organized in the parent club Heilbronner EC under the name Heilbronner Jungfalken . They include the youngsters, youngsters, boys and school teams as well as the youth and junior teams of the Falcons. In 2006, the young eagles Mannheim , the youth team of the Adler Mannheim in the German junior league, were reclassified from the previous parent club Mannheimer ERC to the Heilbronner EC, so that since then the players of the young eagles are also eligible to play for the Heilbronner Falken. The Jungfalken also cooperate with the ESG Esslingen , which has now also concentrated exclusively on youth work. From the 2018/19 season, the EHC Eisbären Heilbronn became the newly formed department Eisbären Heilbronn in Heilbronner EC., Where the Heilbronner EC team participating in the Regionalliga Süd 2018/19 is based.
Venues
Heilbronn ice rink
Since the club was founded in 1986, the Heilbronner EC has played its home games in the ice rink on Europaplatz in Heilbronn. After being promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga in 1987 , the stadium's capacity was expanded for the first time. During the 2001/02 season the old hall was demolished and in January 2002 the construction of a new multifunctional arena began.
Kolbenschmidt Arena
In October 2002, the Falken moved into the Knorr Arena , which was built on the foundations of the old ice rink and has a total capacity of 4000 people. The new building cost the club and the city of Heilbronn an estimated 8.2 million euros, only the ice surface was preserved from the old stadium. The most important donor and later namesake of the new arena was the food company Knorr . In 2007 the naming rights were transferred to Lavatec, which had been the main sponsor of the Heilbronner Falken since 2006. Due to the bankruptcy of the main sponsor, the arena was called Eisstadion Heilbronn between 2009 and January 2012 . Then KS Kolbenschmidt GmbH, a subsidiary of KSPG , took over the naming rights to the arena.
For the first 15 years, with the exception of the summer months, the Heilbronn-based EC is the general leaseholder of the Heilbronn ice stadium.
Club culture
Fans
With the establishment of the ice hockey department of the REV Heilbronn at the beginning of the mid-1980s, ice hockey became the most popular and soon the most popular sport in the region. When the REV ice hockey team was outsourced to the newly founded Heilbronn EC, the first official fan clubs were formed, of which there are five from Heilbronn and the surrounding area. The four largest fan associations organize joint events such as fan trips to away games of the Falcons. Over the years, on such trips away, closer relationships were formed with fans of other clubs, for example with fan clubs of the Revierlöwen Oberhausen or the Blue Devils Weiden , with whom the supporters of the Heilbronner Falken maintain fan friendships today.
Since 2006 the Falkenticker , an independent fan project that is not part of the club's official offer, has been formed on the Internet , but offers a free live ticker for every Heilbronner Falken away game .
Partnerships
In June 2004 the Heilbronner Falken announced that they wanted to enter into a collaboration with the DEL record champion Adler Mannheim . Since then, the Mannheim-based company has been supporting the HEC in terms of sport, primarily by helping to shape the training of the falcons with their own goalkeeper and fitness trainers, as well as by exchanging young and promotional licensed players. According to the rules of the German Ice Hockey Federation , DEL teams are allowed to give a sponsorship license to players under the age of 25, which means that they are eligible to play for another club in a lower league. The Adler's junior players gain their first professional experience with the Falken and are slowly introduced to the highest German ice hockey class, while they playfully reinforce the second division, which creates a synergy effect for both teams. As a result, the Falken undertook to introduce a game and training system similar to that of the Adler Mannheim in order to enable the exchange players to make an easier transition when changing teams. In addition, the Heilbronner Falken have been using the Adler Mannheim scouting system in North America since 2004, which means that young players from college gaming and ECHL in particular can be signed up, as the DEL Club primarily focuses on players in the higher-class NHL and AHL . At the same time, the eagles have the opportunity to observe players from North America signed by the falcons without obligation and then sign them themselves without risk.
The creation of a corporate identity based on the North American model was one of the other agreements in the cooperation agreement . Fan articles from the cooperation partner are sold at the other club, and the design of the falcons 'jerseys has been adapted to the colors and the design of the Mannheim eagles' clothing. In addition, the Adler stadium magazine has been reporting on the Heilbronner Falken games since 2004. For the 2006/07 season , the existing cooperation was further strengthened by reallocating the DNL team of the Mannheimers, the Jungadler , from the previous Mannheimer ERC parent club to the HEC. This measure makes it easier for players of the young eagles to play for the Heilbronner Falken in the 2nd Bundesliga, since no club boundaries have to be exceeded through licensing by the umbrella association.
In the summer of 2009, the cooperation with the first division club ERC Ingolstadt was strengthened, which in addition to the previous license player Sebastian Vogl also provided the young players Michael Rimbeck , Dominik Walsh and Norman Martens with a license for the Falken.
Polar bears Heilbronn
| Polar bears Heilbronn | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Greatest successes | |
|
Promotion to the Regionalliga 2006 |
|
| Club information | |
| history |
EHC Eisbären Heilbronn (2006-2018) Heilbronner EC (since 2018) |
| Nickname | Polar bears Heilbronn |
| Parent club | Heilbronner EC e. V. |
| league | Regionalliga South-West |
| Venue | Kolbenschmidt Arena |
| capacity | 4,000 seats (including 800 seats) |
| Season 2019/20 | 4th place / PO - |
In 1991, the official HEC fan club Eisbären Lauffen formed an ice hockey team, which initially competed as a hobby team against other leisure clubs from the Heilbronn area. In 1998, the club merged with SC Ilsfeld to form the Eisbären Ilsfeld syndicate , which from then on appeared in various low-class tournament competitions and hobby leagues. In 2005 the EHC Eisbären Heilbronn e. V. was founded, which began playing in the Baden-Württemberg Ice Sports Association in the fifth-class state league. In the first season as a registered club, a team was formed exclusively from Heilbronn players, the most prominent player being Michael Filobok , who had previously been on the ice for EHC Freiburg in the DEL. The club management financed the required budget of 30,000 euros with a broad-based marketing concept, which included printing their own stadium magazine and looking for sponsors. In the first season the Eisbären secured promotion to the fourth-class Baden-Württembergliga , renamed the Regionalliga Süd-West since 2009, in which the club has been on the ice since then.
After the fans of the Heilbronn EC, contrary to expectations, had little sympathy with the polar bears, over the years a separate fan base was formed around the polar bears, which today also includes its own fan clubs. At home games in the Kolbenschmidt Arena, the average attendance is around 850 today. After the polar bears had to make do with the runner-up in the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons, they were able to win the championship of the Regionalliga Süd-West four times in a row from 2013 to 2016 . The 2016/17 season also ended with the runner-up.
successes
- Champion Regionalliga Süd-West 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
- Runner-up Regionalliga Süd-West 2010 , 2017
- Vice-champion Baden-Württembergliga (4th league) 2009
- Promotion to the regional league in 2006
- Champion State League Baden-Württemberg 2006
Eisbären Heilbronn from 2018
On August 30, 2018, the EHC Eisbären Heilbronn eV association dissolved and became the Heilbronn polar bears department in the Heilbronn EC . The department provides the team of the Heilbronner EC participating in the Regionalliga Süd-West 2018/19.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e A feeling, almost like ski flying in the desert - The last 20 years of the century belonged to ice hockey in the region: From wallflower to number one sport ( Memento from December 23, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) In: Heilbronner Voice dated December 10, 2000.
- ^ Heilbronner-falken.de, History: The first years of Heilbronner ice hockey - game operation of the REV Heilbronn
- ^ Heilbronner-falken.de, History: The greatest moment of all time ( Memento from May 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Heilbronner-falken.de, An overview of the history of the Heilbronner EC: Part 1 - from 1980 to 1986 , 1986/87 , 1987/88 , 1988/89
- ↑ Heilbronner-falken.de, An overview of the history of the Heilbronner EC: Part 2 - from 1990 to 1998 in the Oberliga and 1st League South
- ↑ Heilbronner-falken.de, An overview of the history of the Heilbronner EC: Part 3 - from 1998 to 2004 in the 2nd Bundesliga
- ↑ Ice Hockey News from August 17, 2004, Farewell to a very special person - a memory of Viktor Karachun ( Memento from December 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Ice Hockey News from November 9, 2004, John Kachur gives falcons a basket ( Memento from December 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Heilbronner-falken.de, An overview of the history of the Heilbronner EC: Part 4 - from the 2004/05 season in the major league
- ↑ heilbronner-falken.de record statistics of the players since the club was founded in 1986 ( memento of October 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ heilbronner-falken.de, SteelersNews 07/08 - issue 14 - Heilbronn
- ↑ Heilbronner-falken.de, service providers extend in Heilbronn
- ↑ Heilbronn voice - Rossi signs as sports director
- ↑ Echo24: March 29, 2018: "The members have decided to integrate the polar bear: The decision has been made!"
- ↑ hec-dietreuen.de: History of the fan club Die Treuen ( Memento from July 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Ice Hockey News from June 22, 2004, Adler & Falken: The cooperation is perfect ( Memento from July 10, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ DEB Passstelle, DEL funding licenses ( Memento from September 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ heilbronner-falken.de, Sebastian Vogl the new number one - cooperation with Ingolstadt? ( Memento from April 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Two newcomers fixed: Cory Urquhart and Simon Wenzel - funding license players from Ingolstadt should also appear for Heilbronn
- ↑ a b eisbaeren-heilbronn.de, The history of the association of polar bears Heilbronn ( Memento from July 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ https://www.hockeyarchives.info/Allemagne2006.htm#Bade Passionhockey, accessed March 25, 2019
- ↑ Echo 24: March 17, 2018: "Extraordinary general meeting resolves dissolution. The polar bears are dead! Long live the polar bears!"
