Herford EV

Herford EV
Greatest successes
Champions of the Regionalliga West: 1987, 1991, 2000, 2015, 2018, 2019 Champions of the NRW League: 2015 Cup winners of the 1st League West: 2016 Cup winners of the NRW League: 2014
Club information
history	Herford EG (1980–1994) Herford EC (1994–2004) Herford EV (since 2004)
Location	Herford , North Rhine-Westphalia
Nickname	Ice Dragons
Club colors	Black - red
league	Oberliga Nord
Venue	Ice rink in the small field
capacity	1,029 seats (including no seats)
Head coach	Jeff job
captain	Fabian Staudt
2019/20	3rd place ( Regionalliga West ) ▲

The Herford EV (full name: Herford Ice Hockey Club eV ) is an ice hockey club from Herford . The club was founded in 2004 and has the club colors black and red. As "Ice Dragons" ( Engl .: ice dragon known) players went up in 2020 in the third-rate Oberliga Nord on. From 2011 to 2013, the Herford team played in the Oberliga West. Home arena is the ice rink “Im Kleiner Felde ”.

The previous clubs Herford EG and Herford EC played in the third-class league for a few years . The Herford EG was German regional league runner-up in 1991 and reached the promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga in 1994 . The greatest success of the Herford EC was promotion to the Oberliga West in 2000.

history

Herford EG (1980–1994)

Early years and ice hockey boom

The Ostwestfalen-Lippe region is primarily known for its soccer and handball clubs such as Arminia Bielefeld , GWD Minden and TBV Lemgo . Ice hockey was only played at the Bielefeld RSC until the late 1970s . In 1980 the ice rink “Im Kleinen Felde” was built next to the outdoor pool on Diebrocker Straße . Before the construction work was finished, the Herford Ice Skating Association (HEG for short) was founded under the board of directors Egbert Aschoff (1st chairman), Peter Thilker (2nd chairman and managing director) and Horst Opitz (treasurer). After the team had trained for some time, the team played a friendly match against a team from Arminia Bielefeld and lost 2:22.

In the first three years of the club's history, the HEG only provided a hobby team that played friendly games in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony . Pole Stanislav Bruno, who lives in Espelkamp , was the first coach . In 1983, the State Ice Sports Association of North Rhine-Westphalia introduced the district league as the lowest division. The team, meanwhile trained by Karl Kemner, was able to strengthen itself with players from the disbanded ice hockey team of Bielefeld Arminia and took second place. A year later, the team was divided into the NRW League and finished fourth. In the team coached by Bernd Haake , Brad Haugen and Steven Shea were the first foreign players to play. The subsequent qualifying round for Regionalliga West was successful.

Bernd Haake

As a climber, the team finished fourth in the 1985/86 season and was allowed to participate in the qualifying round for the league . There the HEG was penultimate. The next season provided the high point of enthusiasm for ice hockey in Herford. The games against ERC Westfalen Dortmund and EC Nordhorn were each watched by over 4,000 spectators. Throughout Germany, Herford EG was one of the ten ice hockey clubs with the highest average attendance. Led by the goal scorers Jeff Job and Pat Brodeur, the Herford runners-up in the Regionalliga West and finished third in the qualification for the Oberliga Nord . Since the Berlin ice skating club withdrew its team for the coming season, the HEG moved up to the top division.

Despite the sporting success, there were quarrels in the club's environment. Residents of the stadium complained about the noise caused by the spectators and forced the court to limit the number of spectators to 800. The club, in turn, complained about a lack of training times. There was also trouble on the board. Trainer Bernd Haake switched to the support team of the German national team . Mike Wenner was his successor. The league season 1987/88 ended the HEG in seventh place with ten points behind the EC Nordhorn. Although the team managed to stay in fourth place in the qualifying round, the club management waived another year in the league.

Consolidation and resurgence

With the US coach Jerry Morrissey, the club sought financial consolidation in the 1988/89 regional league season . The audience limit has been increased to 1,000. With Peter Derksen and Frank Burchot , the club signed two players who were to shape club activities as players and coaches for many years to come. With one point behind the EHC Unna , the HEG was only third and missed the qualifying round for the Oberliga. The subsequent qualifying round for the Regionalliga ended without losing points. Also in the 1989/90 season , the team missed promotion as fourth.

It was only in the 1990/91 season that the HEG managed to return to the top division. The team was superior to champions of the Regionalliga West. The team won 25 out of 27 games and scored 353 goals. As third in the league qualification, the team made the return to the league perfect. In the semifinals of the German regional league championship, the HEG met the northern champion ESC Wedemark . After a 10:10 draw in the first leg, Ostwestfalen reached the final against 1. EV Weiden with an 11: 5 away win . The Upper Palatinate celebrated the championship with a 12: 5 win at home and a 9: 7 win in Herford.

In the major league season 1991/92 the team had to tremble for a long time to avoid relegation. The HEG finished the preliminary round as the team with the worst points. In the qualification for the upper league a seventh place was enough to keep the league, as the upper league was increased from ten to 14 teams. In terms of sport, the team improved in the next season . With one point ahead of the Herner EV , the HEG finished eighth and qualified the team for the final round, in which only the last place was achieved.

The greatest success of the HEG era was achieved in the 1993/94 season. Both after the preliminary round and in the championship round of the Oberliga Nord, the Herford team took seventh place. The team qualified for the promotion round to the 2nd Bundesliga . Opponent in the last sixteen was the runner-up in the Oberliga Süd, EC Bad Tölz . The Tölzer team won the first game 3-2 on their own ice. Bayern could also win games two and three (4: 1 and 6: 2). While Bad Tölz later became champions of the league, the Herford EG had to file for bankruptcy.

Herford EC (1994-2004)

With the Herford ice hockey club (HEC for short) a successor club was founded, which was allowed to start in the fourth-class NRW league. From now on the team was also known as the "Ostwestfalenteufel". The HEC immediately made it into the qualifying round for the 2nd Northern League . In the end, the Ostwestfalenteufel were tied with EC Lünen 89 . However, since the Herford team had the better goal difference , the HEC made it to the 2nd division north. There the team placed in tenth place in the 1995/96 season . In the following qualifying round, the Herford team came fourth and met EC Lünen in the play-off quarter-finals. After a 6-2 away win in the first leg, the Herford team were now 0-5 behind in the second leg, which would have meant relegation. However, four goals in the final third brought the turnaround and the sporting relegation. The DEB, however, denied the challenge the license for the new season.

In the following years, the HEC mixed in with the top group of the Regionalliga NRW, but without coming close to the promotion round. It was not until 1999 that the HEC became runner-up in the Regionalliga NRW behind the Herner EV. In the qualifying round, the team made it to the top in eighth place, but refrained from participating in the league for financial reasons. A year later, the promotion was made up. First, the HEC won the championship of the Regionalliga NRW with seven points ahead of EJ Dorsten . Then the Ostwestfalenteufel had to compete in the joint final of the regional leagues North Rhine-Westphalia, North and East. Despite a 1: 2 defeat after extra time at the Rostocker EC , the HEC was one point ahead of the Mecklenburg winners of the final round and rose to the top division.

As the number one relegation candidate, the team went into the 2000/01 league season . But the team kept up well and surprisingly finished fifth at the end of the preliminary round. Esbjörn Hofverberg was voted the best defender of the Oberliga Nord. In the play-off round of 16, however, after three defeats came the end against ERC Selb . After the season, the Oberliga Nord was dissolved for lack of clubs. While the Dresdner Eislöwen and the Ratinger Ice Aliens remained in the upper league, other clubs in addition to the HEC withdrew to the regional league.

After a messed up season, the Ostwestfalenteufel only finished seventh out of nine places. In the play-offs, the team reached fifth place. The 2002/03 season ended the HEC in sixth despite a blatant home weakness and was eliminated in the play-off quarter-finals against the Herner EG . However, the bottom came a year later when the team had to be withdrawn during the season. The Herford EC filed for bankruptcy in December 2003 and was dissolved.

Herford EV (since 2004)

Years of construction

Immediately after the bankruptcy of the Herford EC, a successor club was founded to secure the game operations in the youth field. The Herford Hockey Association (abbreviated HEV) gave himself the nickname "Ice Dragons" ( Engl. : Ice Dragon ). A new first team was not reported for the 2004/05 season. Only in 2005 did a senior team start playing again. The team of coaches Peter Derksen and Frank Burchot consisted of former Herford EC players and some players from their own offspring. With a 6-4 win over arch rivals Lippe-Hockey-Hamm , HEV won the first game in the club's history. Eight wins and four defeats meant the runner-up behind Hamm and qualification for the Association League Cup. Here, too, the team took second place, this time behind EC Siegerland. As a result, the "Ice Dragons" made it into the association league.

The 2006/07 association league season was dominated by the DEG Metro Stars II . Together with Lippe-Hockey-Hamm, the Herford team fought for second place, which entitles them to participate in the regional league cup. On the last day of the match, one point was enough for the HEV against Düsseldorf, while Hamm had to win in Siegerland to hope for a Herford defeat. While the Hammer just won, the HEV held a draw for a long time before DEG was finally able to win 5: 2. In the Association League Cup, the "Ice Dragons" took third place.

The long-time reserve goalkeeper Andreas Ober took over as coach for the 2007/08 season. In the association league, the HEV was fourth. In the subsequent Association League Cup, the team won Group B by five points over SC Krefeld. In the final, the Herford team met the winner of the parallel relay, the EHC Neuwied . The "Ice Dragons" won the first leg 6: 5 at home. In the second leg Neuwied had the upper hand 3-2, so the decision had to be made in the penalty shootout . In the twelfth penalty, Neuwieds Daniel Walther made the decision for the Rhinelander.

The Herford team started furiously in the 2008/09 association league season and won the first seven games. A few narrow defeats finally ensured that the HEV came fourth again. As in the previous year, the team was first in Group B in the Association League Cup, with Patrik Preuße becoming the group's top scorer. In the final, the "Ice Dragons" met the Grefrather EC . The guests were able to win the final first leg in Herford 6: 4. The second leg in Grefrath developed into an exciting game in which the "Ice Dragons" led 3-0 after the first third. Herford ultimately won 6: 5, which is why the trophy went to the "Nierspanther".

Way to the top league

For the 2009/10 season, Anton Weißgerber took over as coach in Herford. With variable performances, which can also be traced back to the double burden of the young players in the junior Bundesliga, the team reached third place in the association league with the Grefrather EC tied for points and qualified for the regional league cup. The young players Jan-Niklas Linnenbrügger and Patrick Preuße were together top scorers in the league. Thanks to the strength at home, the team finished second in the following regional league cup. After a 5: 4 away win in Grefrath on the penultimate game day, the "Ice Dragons" secured promotion to the regional league.

For a long time, the Herford team played for the first three places in the 2010/11 regional league season , which entitle them to participate in the league relegation. However, unnecessary point losses against the direct competition ensured that the HEV was only fourth. The season was overshadowed by a serious injury to striker Adrian Saul, who broke two cervical vertebrae after colliding with a player from RSC Darmstadt . In the play-down round, the HEV secured relegation with two wins against the Iserlohner EC .

Although the team had not qualified for the Oberliga West , they moved up in 2011 because of the increase in the Oberliga in this third-highest German division. Reinforced by numerous players from the Hanover Indians and trained by the former Canadian international Bruce Keller , the Herford team fought against relegation from the start. Low point was a 2:22 defeat at the Rote Teufel Bad Nauheim . Nevertheless, the HEV was able to reach third from last place and managed to stay in the league cup that followed.

In the course of the 2012/13 season, however, a general wear and tear of the participants on and off the field became increasingly apparent. On the part of the association, this was mainly attributed to the inadequate ice ages and the lack of marketing opportunities in the ice rink in the small field. In May 2013, the newly formed board decided to withdraw the team from the league. According to the statutes of the state association, the HEV was therefore classified in the NRW League for the 2013/14 season and banned from promotion for two seasons. The previous team largely switched to the Hannover Indians team.

Rebuilding

In the NRW League 2013/14, the young and newly formed team surprised with good performances and was able to attract up to 600 spectators per game to the ice rink. In the end, the HEV finished fifth and qualified for the final round of the NRW League Cup. After victories over Lippe-Hockey-Hamm in the quarter-finals and Herner EV 1b in the semi-finals, the Ice Dragons reached the final against fourth-placed EHC Troisdorf , which was won in two games (4: 3 after penalty shootout in Herford and 6: 4 in Troisdorf). At the third attempt in the club's history, the HEV was able to win a league cup for the first time.

A year later, the team reached the championship round as first in the main round, which was also the promotion round to Regionalliga West. Already one matchday before the end, the Herford team secured the championship title with a 5-3 win at Grefrather EG . The audience boom of the previous year continued. The ice rink in the small field was sold out twice with over 1,000 spectators. Reinforced by the Canadians Chad Evans and Kilian Hutt, the Herford team also dominated the following 2015/16 regional league season and secured the championship and participation in the 1st League West Cup ahead of time with a 7-1 win at EHC Troisdorf Herford were able to secure two game days before the end.

The Canadian Jeff Job, who was a player for Herford EG at the beginning of the 1990s, was won as coach for the 2016/17 regional league season . After a failed start, the Herford team reached eighth place at the end of the main round and missed the championship round by just four points. Then the Herford won the lower placement round and qualified for the play-offs, where the team surprisingly prevailed in the quarter-finals against EHC Neuwied. In the semifinals, the HEV led against the Ratinger Aliens with 2-0 wins before the following three games were lost.

One year later , the Herford team secured the runner-up behind EG Diez-Limburg in the regular season . In the following play-offs, the Ice Dragons initially prevailed with 3-0 victories each against Soester EG and EHC Neuwied and met again on Diez-Limburg in the final. A clear 4-0 away win was followed by two narrow wins, each with a goal difference, which earned the HEV the championship title. Due to the high costs associated with a promotion, the club waived the sporting right to start in the Oberliga Nord run by the DEB.

Thus, the team competed again in the Regionalliga West in the 2018/19 season . The largely unchanged team got off to a good start after a few initial difficulties and finished the main round in second place behind the Hammer Eisbären. In the play-offs, the pairings from the previous year were reissued in both the quarter-finals and the semi-finals. First the Soester EG was defeated again with 3-0 victories. In the semifinals, EHC Neuwied was able to come close to 2: 2 after two games won by the HEV. In the decisive fifth game, the HEV then had the upper hand in their own hall with 7: 3. In the final against the Hammer Eisbären, the Herford EV won 3: 1 and thus successfully defended the championship title.

player

Squad of the 2020/21 season

Goalkeepers
No.		Surname		Date of birth	place of birth	in the team since	Last team
30th		Kieran Vogel		July 26, 1997	Dusseldorf , Germany	2017	Mosquitoes eat
	Defender
No.		Surname		Date of birth	place of birth	in the team since	Last team
13		Kris Gehring		February 25, 1995	Herford, Germany	2013	own youth
44		Philipp Brinkmann		May 24, 1993	Herford, Germany	2014	Hanover Indians
94		Kevin Rempel		May 10, 1997	Warstein , Germany	2015	Iserlohner EC
0?		Daniel Bartuli		April 14, 2000	Amberg , Germany	2020	Düsseldorfer EG
0?		Lukas gardener		January 25, 1995	Kempen , Germany	2020	Foxes Duisburg
0?		Dennis King		June 2, 2000	Neuss , Germany	2020	Düsseldorfer EG
0?		Nico Schnell		August 16, 1998	Kassel, Germany	2020	Hanover Scorpions
Attacking player
No.		Surname		Date of birth	place of birth	in the team since	Last team
9		Jörn Weikamp		August 14, 1994	Salzgitter , Germany	2019	EC Harzer Falken
17th		Justin Unger		June 26, 1999	Ankum , Germany	2019	Eisbären Juniors Berlin
19th		Jan-Niklas Linnenbrügger		July 8, 1991	Herford, Germany	2016	EHF Passau Black Hawks
21st		Nils Bohle		August 6, 1990	Bielefeld , Germany	2015	Hanover Indians
91		Florian Bohm		January 17, 1991	Kassel, Germany	2019	EC Diez-Limburg
0?		Sebastian Christmann		September 8, 1999		2020	Wolves Freiburg
0?		Matyas Kovács		February 18, 1997	Miercurea Ciuc , Romania	2020	Krefelder EV
0?		Christophe Lalonde		January 12, 1994	Mirabel , Quebec , Canada	2020	McGill University
0?		Ëmil Lessard-Adyn		June 1, 2000	Kulmbach , Germany	2020	Val-d'Or Foreurs

Coaching staff

activity	Nat.	Surname	Date of birth	In the team since	place of birth
Trainer		Jeffrey job	April 21, 1963	2016

Club-internal records

The three tables below list the top five goalscorers and assists and the five players with the most penalties. All seasons of the Herford EV since the first team was founded in 2005 are taken into account. The data is as of April 4, 2015. Active players are marked in bold .

Goal scorers space player Gates 1. Nils Bohle 100 2. Jan-Niklas Linnenbrügger 98 3. Patrick Prussia 87 4th Lucas Klein 79 5. Jeffrey Keller 62

Assistants space player Assists 1. Nils Bohle 114 2. Lucas Klein 112 3. Patrick Prussia 105 4th Jan-Niklas Linnenbrügger 99 5. Florian Kiel 97

Penalties space player Minutes 1. André Schäfer 450 2. Andreas Martens 444 3. Nils Bohle 432 4th Lucas Klein 336 5. Matthias Wolff 272

Blocked jersey numbers

So far, the shirt numbers of two players have been "blocked" due to their merits for the club, that is, they are no longer given to active players.

• Kai Frenzel (1990 to 2010, goalkeeper, # 1)
• Michael Reim (1991 to 2011, defender, # 3)

Significant former players

(Team membership and position in brackets)

Frank Burchot (1988-2007 with interruptions, Sturm)	Ron Chyzowski (1993-1994, Sturm)	Mariusz Cissewski (1991–1992, goalkeeper)	Antonio Fonso (2000-2001, storm)
Thomas Franta (2000–2002, goalkeeper)	Uwe Geiselmann (? –2008, storm)	Esbjörn Hofverberg (2000-2001, defense)	Thomas Imdahl (1991-1993, Sturm)
Derek Laxdal (1993-1994, Sturm)	Roland Peters (1990–1994, defense)	Dale Reinig (1992-93, defense)	Daniel Reiss (2011, defense)
Robert Simon (2000-2003, storm)

Stadion

→ Main article : Ice rink in the small field

Ice rink "Im Kleinen Felde"

The Herford EV plays its home games in the ice rink "Im Kleinen Felde". The hall was opened in 1980. Originally the stadium had a tent roof and was open on three sides. The stadium flourished in the late 1980s and 1990s when up to 4,000 spectators regularly watched the games. However, after some residents successfully complained about the noise in court, the stadium capacity was limited to just under 1,000 spectators. Due to the resulting loss of income, the club at that time got into financial problems and finally into bankruptcy. Since the last renovation in 1999, the hall has been closed on the sides and again has a capacity of approx. 2,000 seats. However, only 1,029 spectators are allowed. There are no seats. Since the beginning of the 2007/08 season there has been a strict smoking ban in the hall .

A big problem for the Herford ice sport was always the very short season duration of the hall, which only allowed games to be played from mid-October to mid-March. The teams of the Herford EV therefore had to regularly hire ice times away for season preparation. The club also cited the lack of availability of the ice rink as the main reason for withdrawing from the league in summer 2013. By a council resolution of the city of Herford, the club was guaranteed a significantly longer season from the beginning of September to the end of March, more dates for home games and improved training times for the youngsters from the beginning of the 2016/17 season.

Club culture

Like its predecessors HEG and HEC, the Herford EV has an above-average following compared to the rest of NRW ice hockey. Even after the voluntary relegation to the fifth class NRW league, an average of around 400–500 spectators have watched the home games in the 2013/14 season. This means that there is no noticeable decline compared to the previous seasons in the major league. Even at away games, the HEV fans who have traveled with them sometimes make up the majority of the spectators. The hard core of HEV fans gathers at home games in the rear left area of ​​the ice rink as seen from the entrance. The HEV has several fan clubs, the Herford Devils , HockeyHeads Herford , Goalgetters Herford , Sups and The Curve . The Herford Devils have a hobby ice hockey team that regularly plays friendly games in North Rhine-Westphalia.

A rivalry has existed for a long time between the Herford fans and those of Lippe-Hockey-Hamm, which can be attributed to the geographical proximity of the two cities. For many years, Lippe-Hockey-Hamm or its predecessor clubs were the closest opponents for the Herford ice hockey teams.

Fan friendships are not practiced. The goal anthem of the Herford EV has been the song Song 2 by Blur since the 2019/20 season . The song A Warrior's Call by Volbeat is traditionally played immediately before the game starts . For several years now, the HEV has also had its own anthem. The song Drachenherzen by Björn Diewald and JP Fair is played a few minutes before the game starts.

Youth work

For the 2016/17 season, for the first time in the club's history, the Herford EV is providing its own junior teams in all six age groups from U8 (Bambini special league) to U19 ( youth ).

The greatest success of the youth work was the promotion of the junior team (U21) to the Bundesliga North in 2009. Although the team started there with the aim of staying up, the team surprisingly secured second place and reached the final round of the German championship. However, participation in this final round had to be canceled under controversial circumstances. Stadtwerke Herford could not offer a suitable game date for the HEV game against EC Peiting , as otherwise they would have had to shorten the regular public ice skating time of the day. The appointment offered instead was in the late evening. Since the EC Peiting had its next competitive game early the next morning and therefore rejected it, no agreement was reached. The HEV junior team was nevertheless voted Team of the Year 2009 in Herford. In the 2010/11 season, the club withdrew its junior team from the Bundesliga and has since competed in the NRW League.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ League affiliation. Herford Ice Hockey Museum, accessed December 10, 2015 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} "Flying high, crashing, starting over: The ice hockey boom!". In: Herford courier from 1989, exact date unknown
3. ↑ Allemagne 1986/87. Hockey Archives, accessed December 10, 2015 (French). 
4. ↑ Regionalliga 1990/91. Blue Devils Fanpage, accessed December 10, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Allemagne 1993/94. Hockey Archives, accessed December 10, 2015 (French). 
6. ↑ Final table Regionalliga NRW 1999/00. Eissport Verband NRW, accessed on December 10, 2015 . 
7. ↑ Final table of the LEV finals Regionalliga 1999/00. Eissport Verband NRW, accessed on December 10, 2015 . 
8. ↑ 2000/2001 season. Icehockeypage, accessed April 15, 2018 . 
9. ^ Season 2006–2007 senior leagues. Eissport Verband NRW, accessed on December 10, 2015 . 
10. ↑ The EHC Neuwied crowns its season. Ice hockey in Neuwied, accessed on December 11, 2015 . 
11. ^ Season 2009/10 - All scorers. Eissport Verband NRW, accessed on December 10, 2015 . 
12. ↑ Spontaneous celebration after the 6: 5 success. Neue Westfälische , accessed on December 11, 2015 . 
13. ↑ Withdrawal from the big leagues ! Herford EV, accessed December 11, 2015 . 
14. ^ Celebrate Herford in Troisdorf. Neue Westfälische, accessed on October 11, 2016 . 
15. ↑ Herford EV makes the championship perfect. Neue Westfälische, accessed on December 11, 2015 . 
16. ↑ Ice hockey legend Jeff Job returns. Neue Westfälische, accessed on October 11, 2016 . 
17. ↑ Dirk Kröger: Herford EV is a master. Neue Westfälische, accessed March 30, 2018 . 
18. ↑ Retired Numbers. Herford EV, accessed December 11, 2015 . 
19. ↑ Hanseatic City of Herford, The Mayor. Decision of the Council meeting on Thursday 12 May 2016. [1]

Web links

Coordinates: 52 ° 6 ′ 51.9 ″  N , 8 ° 39 ′ 18.6 ″  E

• Official homepage of the association
• Official homepage of the ice rink