When things got tough, Daniel Schmölz once again did Daniel Schmölz things. With his back to the opposing goal, the ERC Ingolstadt striker successfully deflected the target on Thursday shortly before the end of the game. He has been reliably delivering goals of this type in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) for years. He followed up the late goal to make it 4-4 in the away game at the Schwenninger Wild Wings with the decisive one to make it 5-4 after extra time; it was his third of the evening.
The comeback success in the Black Forest was the seventh win in a row for the Ingolstadt team, who defended their lead in the DEL table. They had got it back a week earlier, thanks to an impressive 4-0 away win against the then premier and current champions, the Eisbären Berlin. “We are currently playing with self-confidence,” said Schmölz on Thursday. “We are in top shape and always get it done somehow in the final third.” That, the striker emphasized, is what makes a top team.
The reasons for the ERC run are varied, but what is most important at the moment is the ease with which Upper Bavaria creates a goal threat. They scored 31 goals in the last six games alone, even against strong competitors such as Berlin, Cologne and Straubing. Schwenningen’s coach Steve Walker described the league’s best offense as follows: The ERC is an “elite running team that creates a lot of offense.”
Losing colleagues recently saw it similarly. After his team’s 7-1 defeat in Ingolstadt last Sunday, DEG coach Steven Reinprecht emphasized that the ERC was excellent at switching from defense to offense. The transition game, he emphasized, was the best in the league. “And they have the players to finalize it.” The decisive factor here is “the players”, because that would bring about the diversity in Ingolstadt’s offensive offering. Five ERC players already have 19 scorer points or more, i.e. an average of almost or exactly one point per game: defender Alex Breton (22 scorer points), Austen Keating and Myles Powell (21 each), Schmölz (20) and Wayne Simpson (19). There are also the nine goals from 23-year-old Philipp Krauß and the 13 assists from defender Leon Hüttl. Simpson says: “We have so many guys who can do the job for us. It can be a different series every night.”
“Everyone is having fun. Then you get into such a flow,” says Johannes Krauß
That’s how it was on Thursday in Schwenningen, with the exception of three-goal man Schmölz, only Simpson of the players mentioned collected an assist. This time Sam Ruopp or Noah Dunham did the rest (two scorer points each). Johannes, the younger of the Krauß brothers, recently described the ERC mood at Magentasport as follows: “Everyone is having fun. Then you get into a flow like that.”
The man who promotes this fast and offensive ice hockey is coach Mark French. The Canadian knows how to form successful teams; last season he led the club to second place in the main round and then into the playoff final against EHC Red Bull Munich, in which the Munich team prevailed. The trained psychologist is once again calm and analytical this season. As a coach, he keeps an eye on the whole thing, and he should particularly like the fact that the defense has also been very reliable recently. The switching movement also works in the other direction, no DEL team allows as few opposing shots as the ERC. And whatever makes a coach happy: Despite the successful run, the Ingolstadt team is not lacking in game situations in which there is still a lot of room for improvement. Especially in the outnumbered game, which was overcome twice in Schwenningen and which is statistically one of the worst in the league.
The last unrewarded appearance was almost a month and a half ago, when the ERC had to cope with a 5-1 defeat in Munich. It was the last game so far in which the Ingolstadt team remained without points. On Sunday they will be guests again in the new Munich Arena (4.30 p.m.). But unlike the end of October, when Munich were only two points behind the ERC in the table, Ingolstadt’s lead over the 2023 champions is now double-digit.
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