Ice hockey in Leipzig

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Ice hockey has been played in Leipzig since the beginning of the 20th century . Nationally, however, the club teams were not very successful. At the beginning of the 21st century, attempts were made to establish a professional ice hockey team in Leipzig under the name Blue Lions Leipzig , but the sponsoring companies went bankrupt three times in a row . Since the 2012/2013 season, a team from the Leipzig Ice Sports Club has been playing in the third-class Oberliga Nord under the name Icefighters Leipzig .

history

Early years

Bandy game LSC against the Berlin ice skating club on the Albertpark pond in Leipzig on January 31, 1909

The tradition of ice hockey teams in Leipzig goes back to 1901, when the Leipziger Sportclub was founded on April 30th. The initiators were the businessman Arthur Schomburgk, who brought the sport to Leipzig from a trip to North America, and his brother Wilhelm Schomburgk . First, ice hockey was played with the ball , which is similar to today's bandy and quickly enjoyed great popularity. Until the beginning of the First World War , other clubs in addition to Leipziger SC included ice hockey in their sports program and the first duels against international teams took place. In 1908 and 1912 the Austro-Hungarian ice hockey championship was won in the bandy and the LSC was the dominant team in Germany at that time. The venue was, among other things, the frozen pond on Hauptallee in Albertpark . Due to the great popularity of the bandy sport, numerous other teams were founded in Leipzig and held the first city championship in 1912. Because of their high performance, the LSC was excluded from this tournament and was only allowed to send a second team into the competition, which won the cup. On February 27, 1911, the Leipziger SC played an unusual game for the team at the Berlin Ice Skating Club with the disc according to the Canadian ice hockey rules in the Berlin Ice Palace , which was won 5: 1 by the Leipziger SC.

In 1912, the club received approval to participate in the first German ice hockey championship , but waived despite the role of favorites assigned by the German Ice Skating Association. After the First World War, it was not until 1926 that Leipziger SC took part in a German ice hockey championship for the first time. In its debut season, the team reached sixth and last place. In the 1934/35 season, the LSC first made it to the finals for the Central German Championship and ended up in third place. By phasing the Nazi government the means German Cup was abolished and the championships from 1936 districts replaced axes and center, where the Leipzig until the end of the war under different names repeatedly achieved third place.

The successor to the LSC after World War II

The pioneer of ice hockey in Saxony, Horst Kutter, as a bronze sculpture in front of the entrance to the artificial ice stadium in the Sahnpark in Crimmitschau .

Ice hockey was already being played again in Leipzig in the winter of 1946/47. The successor to the Leipzig sports club was BSG Aufbau Südwest Leipzig , which in 1953 was promoted to the second highest GDR league. In the following year, the team merged at the behest of the later sports scientist and national team coach Hugo Döbler to form the Leipzig ice sports community , which was one of the best teams in the GDR. Since the ice hockey sport was under the government and this displeased the development, the ESG was dissolved again after only one season. Parts of the team joined the league competitor HSG Karl-Marx-Universität or went to DHfK Leipzig .

In September 1970 the government of the GDR decided to dissolve all ice hockey clubs except for the teams from Weißwasser and Berlin . All teams previously participating in regular operations were demoted to hobby teams and were not allowed to participate in league operations. In addition, all financial contributions were canceled. It was officially announced that ice hockey is too expensive and expensive in terms of foreign currency and that the existing infrastructure is not sufficient for future top performances. After the decision of the GDR sports leadership, which had serious consequences for several sports, to only support medal-rich sports,  the GDR league was reduced to two teams and professional ice hockey came to Leipzig - at the endeavors of the Minister for State Security and ice hockey fan Erich Mielke to a standstill.

EHC Leipzig Ice Lions

season league Preliminary round Finals
2000/01 LL 12th place ––
2001/02 LL 11th place ↑ ––
2002/03 SL 2nd place ––
2003/04 RL 2nd place 7th place ↑
2004/05 OIL 3rd place Semifinals
2005/06 RL 1st place 2nd place
2006/07 RL 1st place 1st place ↑
2007/08 OIL 2nd place Quarter finals
2008/09 OIL 2nd place retreat
2009/10 RL 1st place 1st place

↑ ↓ in the promotion / relegation round

For a long time after the political change , there were no ambitions to set up another ice hockey team in Leipzig. From the Leipzig area, only the Trebsener EC took part in the state league in 1997 and the SV Bad Düben in the Saxony league in 1998 in regular games. On December 7, 1998, the EHC Leipziger Eislöwen was finally founded, which initially competed in the state league in the 2000/01 season. Since there has always been no artificial ice rink in Leipzig, the ice lions first moved to the southern “ Kohlrabizirkus ” wholesale market hall , the so-called “Ice Dome in Zwickauer Strasse”. The "Ice Dome" did not meet the requirements of a venue and it had to be played away in Grimma. In the summer of 2002, exhibition hall 6 was converted into an ice rink and on December 28 the EHC's first game in the Sachsenliga took place. This season he was promoted to the Regionalliga Ost . In the summer the team was renamed "Blue Lions". In the 2003/04 season, the team took part in the fourth-class Regionalliga Ost and finished the main round in second place. In the subsequent joint championship round of the Regionalliga North and East, the Leipzig team reached seventh place in the table. The following season, the 1st team was included in the Oberliga Nord-Ost and gave themselves the nickname Blue Lions , as there were already the Dresden Ice Lions in the league . During the season, the team managed to reach the semi-final playoffs for the league championship against EHC Munich . Which - at that time but was for the administrator of the Association Marketing Event catering Sports Management GmbH (MECS) GmbH - a bankruptcy petition asked that led to the insolvency proceedings. Since the team did not reach the final of the league championship, the opening of bankruptcy proceedings meant relegation from the league.

Blue Lions

Blue Lions Leipzig
Greatest successes
  • Regional league champions 2009/10
  • Regional league champions 2006/07
  • Saxony Cup 2006/07
Club information
history EHC Eislöwen Leipzig (1998–2003)
Blue Lions Leipzig (2003–2010)
Parent club EHC Leipziger Eislöwen eV (1998-2005)
SV Fortuna Leipzig (2005-2010)
Club colors blue yellow
Venue Old fair ice arena
capacity 2,200 seats

The financial out of the operating company also meant the end of the parent club EHC Leipziger Eislöwen eV The newly founded operating company Sport & Art Marketing GmbH received its playing rights from the newly founded ice hockey department of SV Fortuna 02 Leipzig , which primarily devoted itself to youth work.

In the 2005/06 season, the Blue Lions started a class lower with a new operating company and a new parent club in the Regionalliga Nord / Ost . After reaching fourth place in the main round, the team achieved first place in the championship round. In the final playoffs for promotion to the league, the Leipzigers failed only in the final on the main round first Rostock piranhas . Rostock decided not to go up, which gave the Blue Lions the chance to go up. However, the club refused for financial reasons. The following season the Saxons played again for promotion in the Regionalliga Nord / Ost, which was achieved after first place. In addition, they won the Saxony Cup against SG Tornado Niesky during the season . With a new management team, the Blue Lions went into the 2007/08 league , where the season's goal - reaching the playoffs - was met with a second place after the main round and the quarter-finals. In 2008, the first team wanted to establish itself in the league, while under the umbrella of the Saxon Ice Hockey Association, in addition to the youngsters, another senior team under the name EHC Fortuna Leipzig took part in the fifth-class Sachsenliga. At the end of the main round there was a second place for the Blue Lions and athletic qualification for the subsequent playoff round. However, on January 15, 2009, the Leipzig tax office filed an application to open preliminary insolvency proceedings , which opened on March 1. The newly founded rescue company was granted the right by the responsible body within the ESBG to apply for a league license in 2009/10 as well, but in return had to forego play-off participation. Since the upper league could not be played in the form of a northern and southern league in the 2009/10 season due to a lack of participants, the decision of the ESBG on the expiry of the exemption was accepted by the newly founded rescue company and the continuation of the game operations in the Regionalliga Ost was announced .

After more and more reports of financial problems at the Blue Lions came up from December 2009, in January 2010 the managing director Franke filed for the opening of insolvency proceedings and as the provisional insolvency administrator - as with Sport- und Kunst Marketing GmbH - lawyer Hans-Jürgen Paul used. The team was largely held together by accommodating existing sponsors and acquiring new ones. The regional league season could be ended except for the last game scheduled away. After the insolvency proceedings were officially opened on April 1st, the creditors' meeting was scheduled for May 11th, 2010.

Icefighters

The parent club of the Blue Lions, SV Fortuna Leipzig, played with an amateur team in the Saxony League in the 2009/10 season . With the help of some players from the Blue Lions professional team , this team was able to achieve the championship in the Saxon League and thus the right to promotion. After the bankruptcy of the Blue Lions, SV Fortuna saw the rise. Since at the same time the former Regionalliga Ost became Oberliga Ost through a league reform , Leipzig had a league team again. It started in the 2010/11 season for the first time under the new name Icefighters Leipzig .

In the spring of 2011 it became known that a Russian-German businessman was planning to install a KHL team in Leipzig . The previous team of the Icefighters Leipzig should continue to exist as a farm team. However, neither the KHL nor the German Ice Hockey Federation support the project.

After participating in the Oberliga 2011/12 , in which the team was organized by the Icefighters Projekt Leipzig UG , an attempt was made from spring 2012 to bundle the ice hockey activities at the Leipzig Ice Sports Club (LEC) , which was founded in 2010, and to give up the Oberliga license from SV Fortuna transmit the LEC. The association law requirements for the transfer could not initially be met and after a cooperation with SV Fortuna was no longer continued, the team was initially denied participation in the 2012/13 season .

It was only shortly before the end of the licensing phase that the majority of the SV Fortuna ice hockey players transferred to the LEC, so that the association requirements were met and the Icefighters were promised the right to start the next league season.

In March 2017, the Leipzig IT company eXa-online GmbH acquired the naming rights until at least the end of the 2017/2018 season, as a result of which the top division team was renamed Exa Icefighters Leipzig .

Since September 2018 the Icefighters Leipzig have been playing in Leipzig again; the move from Taucha led to the northern part of the Kohlrabi circus . In addition, a new logo was presented for the 2018/19 season.

Important (former) players

(Team membership and position in brackets)

  • GermanyGermanyDaniel Just
    (2002-2006, Sturm)
  • GermanyGermanyHendrik Bärschneider
    (2003-2008, Sturm)
  • GermanyGermanyDaniel Bartell
    (2005-2010, Sturm)
  • GermanyGermanyAndreas Bierzahn
    (2003-2005, goal)

Participation of players in the ESBG All-Star Game

The ESBG All-Star Game has been held annually since 2006 and brings together the best players from the 2nd national and upper leagues.

Participation in the All-Star-Game while being part of the team
Surname position participation team
Sweden Esbjörn Hofverberg striker 2008 Team United Nations

Venues

Exhibition hall 6 - former venue of the Ice Fighters Leipzig (2010)
Kohlrabizirkus - home ground from the 2018/2019 season

On the old exhibition grounds , exhibition hall 6 was used by the Ice Fighters as an ice stadium until the 2011/2012 season. It had a capacity of 2,500 spectators. Until the ice rink was set up on the old exhibition grounds in Leipzig, the Leipzig teams played on natural ice rinks or in the " Ice Dome " and in the ice rinks in Grimma and Halle .

From the 2012/2013 season onwards, the Icefighters played in the EisArena in the Leipzig suburb of Taucha . This was a tent construction that was erected almost exclusively by volunteer fans within just three weeks. The tent was intended as a temporary solution for a maximum of 2 seasons, while the construction of a new ice rink in Leipzig was continued in parallel with the game.

The official name of the EisArena has changed over time: originally Dicolor Eisarena , from 2015 Fexcom Eisarena , from 2016 kW-RENT EisArena . In the summer of 2016, the operator of the EisArena was facing financial failure. He raised € 150,000 through crowdfunding to pay the next installment for renting the tent.

In spring 2017 it was announced that a move to the Kohlrabi circus was planned. Preparations began for the establishment of an arena operating company, Eisarena Leipzig GmbH.

In May 2017, the responsible building supervisory authority extended the license to use the tent construction in Taucha, subject to certain conditions, for the last time until April 30, 2018, thereby securing the game operation for the 2017/2018 season.

Since the beginning of the 2018/19 season, the "Ice Dome in the Kohlrabi Circus" has been the club's new home ground. For this purpose, a corresponding ice rink and grandstands for an initially 2,500 spectators were prepared in the north hall of the complex. The lease was terminated in July 2019.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Fritz Rudolph in sportmuseum-leipzig.de: On the history of ice hockey in the Leipzig region ( Memento of the original from October 21, 2012 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. , accessed July 9, 2009 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sportmuseum-leipzig.de
  2. ↑ ÖNB-ANNO "Historical Newspapers and Magazines": Allgemeine Sport-Zeitung issue 241 of March 5, 1911
  3. ↑ blue-lions-leipzig.de: History of ice hockey in Leipzig ( Memento from June 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on September 5, 2012
  4. ↑ hockeyweb.de, GDR: The smallest league in the world ( Memento from May 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ); Christoph Farkas: Ice hockey in the GDR: the smallest league in the world. In: zeit.de . December 29, 2015, accessed July 7, 2017 .
  5. ↑ LVZ online: Application for insolvency against Blue Lions - gaming operations continue for the time being ( memento of the original from January 18, 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. , accessed July 9, 2009 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / blue-lions.lvz-online.de
  6. ↑ LVZ online: Clear-cutting among the Lions ( memento of March 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on September 5, 2012
  7. ↑ leipzig-veranstaltung.de: ESBG partner conference in Garmisch-Partenkirchen , accessed on September 5, 2012
  8. ↑ Antje Henselin-Rudolph in LVZ online: No playoffs, but possible remaining in the top league ( memento of the original from July 12, 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. , accessed July 9, 2009 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / blue-lions.lvz-online.de
  9. ↑ LVZ online: Blue Lions in the future in the regional league ( Memento of the original from July 12, 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. , accessed July 9, 2009 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / blue-lions.lvz-online.de
  10. ↑ LVZ online: fears confirmed: Lions operators file for insolvency  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 8, 2010@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / blue-lions.lvz-online.de  
  11. ↑ LVZ online: Temporary insolvency administrator is called Hans-Jürgen Paul  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 8, 2010@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / blue-lions.lvz-online.de  
  12. ↑ LVZ online: Insolvency proceedings against Lions-Betriebs-GmbH opened  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , April 6, 2010, accessed May 4, 2010@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / blue-lions.lvz-online.de  
  13. ↑ ahr: Surprise in Leipzig ice hockey: Club reports for the major league. July 1, 2010, accessed July 27, 2012 .
  14. ↑ https://www.merkur.de/sport/eishockey/mehr-eishockey/leipzig-will-russische-eishockey-liga-1211802.html
  15. ↑ Steffen Enigk, Matthias Roth: KHL President gives Torpedo Leipzig a rejection - "A wish alone is not enough". In: LVZ Online. May 9, 2011, accessed January 2, 2017 .
  16. ^ Icefighters-Arena.de: "Statement of the Management" accessed July 1, 2012
  17. ↑ Antje Henselin-Rudolph: Hardened fronts: Icefighters Leipzig currently without the right to start in the top division. LVZ online, June 11, 2012, accessed July 1, 2012 .
  18. ↑ Dr. Matthias Hampe: Leipziger Eissport-Club and the IceFighter Leipzig Projekt UG conclude a cooperation agreement , at www.leipziger-eissport-club.de, July 7, 2012, accessed on July 27, 2012
  19. ↑ a b Uwe Köster: Icefighters with a new name and big plans. A new name and an upcoming move: The Leipzig Icefighters are currently regulating important points for a successful future. In: LVZ.de. March 14, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017 .
  20. ↑ Fans collect 100,000 euros for the Icefighters tent - 50,000 are still missing. Retrieved July 11, 2017 .
  21. ↑ Uwe Köster: Leipzig Icefighters have to dismantle and rebuild their tent. The next season for the Exa Icefighters Leipzig is saved. The permission to use the tent in Taucha was extended for one year, but with conditions. The ice hockey league team has to dismantle and rebuild his tent. A move to Leipzig remains the goal. In: LVZ.de. May 17, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017 .
  22. ^ Jens Rometsch: Kohlrabizirkus becomes a sports and leisure center. The first home game in the new ice dome for Exa-Icefighters is planned for September 30th. A bouldering hall and a trampoline park are also planned. In: LVZ.de. August 4, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2018 .
  23. ↑ Leipziger Internet Zeitung: From ice fairy tale to nightmare: Icefighters and Leipziger Eissport-Club have no ice rink - L-IZ.de. August 4, 2020, accessed August 5, 2020 .

Web links

Clubs of the ice hockey league 2020/21


Oberliga Nord
Logo of OL Nord

Black Dragons Erfurt • Saale Bulls Halle • Crocodiles Hamburg • Hammer Eisbären • Hanover Indians • Hanover Scorpions • Herford EV • Herner EV • Krefeld EV • Icefighters Leipzig • EG Diez-Limburg • Rostock Piranhas • Tilburg Trappers

Oberliga Süd
Logo of the OL Süd

Deggendorfer SC • EV Füssen • Höchstadter EC • HC Landsberg • EV Lindau • ECDC Memmingen • EHF Passau • EC Peiting • EV Regensburg • SC Riessersee • Starbulls Rosenheim • VER Selb • 1. EV Weiden