WWhat the sparkler used to be is now the cell phone lamp. But that doesn’t make the spectacle that the Kölner Haie fans put on before their home games any less spectacular. When the club anthem “Mer halde zesamme” plays and there are pictures from great days on the video cube, from Erich Kühnhackl or Mirko Lüdemann, then the cell phone lights turn on in the stands, then thousands of fans sing “Heaven or hell, I’m sharks “I’m a Kölle.”
This was experienced again on Sunday, shortly before the 240th edition of Germany’s biggest ice hockey game, the Rhenish derby between the Kölner Haien and the Düsseldorfer EG. 18,600 fans came to the sold-out arena. And they were ready to celebrate. Just like they did on the first three match days of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL).
Düsseldorf hits back late
Before the derby, the Haie fans met at the cathedral, sang, jumped and waved flags on the steps in front of it, before marching together across the Rhine to the arena. And there the party just seemed to continue, at the beginning of the last third the Haie scored two goals in the majority and led against their old rivals 3-1.
The people of Cologne were close to heaven, but half an hour later they found themselves in hell. It was a “rollercoaster ride,” said striker Louis-Marc Aubry afterwards, because Düsseldorf, who had been unlucky to date, equalized in the last seven minutes and won 4-3 after a penalty shootout. The first victory for DEG and the first defeat for Cologne.
However, coach Uwe Krupp couldn’t be shaken by this in the long term; he was rather happy about the advertising for his sport: “That’s what people are longing for, that’s what people want to see, exciting, thrilling, both teams played with their sights open.” So the spectators saw it too.
If there was a need for final proof that something was happening between the Sharks and their fans, then it was the scenes after the game: that a team was sent off to the dressing room with applause, even though they had just scored two goals against their arch-rivals -Give away the lead, and as the league leaders against the bottom team, that doesn’t happen often. But times are special in Cologne.
“We owe the title to Cologne as a city”
There is more enthusiasm around sharks than there has been in years. More than 54,000 spectators attended the first three home games of the new season. European record. 21 years after their last championship, they believe in themselves again on the Rhine. They also speak openly about it.
“We owe the title to Cologne as a city. We have a huge fan base and a long tradition here. We’re still missing a piece of the puzzle, namely the championship. To win this title for Cologne, I get up in the morning and go to work,” said Krupp in the days before the start.
That doesn’t mean that it necessarily has to work this season, the competition from Mannheim, Munich and Berlin is at least equal, if not deeper. But the Cologne team caught up a lot in the summer, signing top strikers like Gregor MacLeod, Alexandre Grenier and Frederik Storm as well as younger Germans like Justin Schütz and Tim Wohlgemuth, and the NHL-experienced Andrej Sustr came in for the defense.
The sharks have become faster and technically stronger. They already had the best forward line in the DEL last season: Andreas Thuresson, Louis-Marc Aubry and Max Kammerer scored 68 goals together. Not to forget Nick Bailen, who was named “Defender of the Year” with 20 goals. Nevertheless, it was over in the quarterfinals.
It should continue this season. The start was promising: 5:1 against Nuremberg, 4:1 against championship runners-up Ingolstadt, and on Friday a 5:2 at champions Munich. Now there was the first small setback against the unloved neighbors from Düsseldorf, but there were “too many good things to be dissatisfied after a game,” said coach Krupp, “we are on the right track.” It continues on Thursday in Iserlohn, after which the first of the newly introduced Saturday evening games takes place at home against Mannheim. The arena will be full again.
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