Ice hockey in the football stadium, 40,163 spectators in the Cologne arena, swing music, flamethrowers and after the game fireworks in the darkened interior – but after all the spectacle, one thing was of particular importance to the ice hockey coach Uwe Krupp: the 4:2 Victory for his Kölner Haie against defending champion Adler Mannheim and the three points on the way up the table. The Haie were temporarily sixth on Sunday night.
“We coped well with the circus around it,” said the former national trainer and Haie coach with a smile, knowing full well that the 5th Winter Game was a lighthouse project for the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) and a gigantic advertising event for German ice hockey . “For me, the three points are the most important thing,” said Krupp, and he was allowed to do that as a coach.
In contrast to the Mannheimers, the Cologne team was inspired by the atmosphere, which was indicated early on by goals from Maximilian Kammerer (1-0 after 60 seconds) and Louis-Marc Aubry (2-0 in the 12th minute). Ryan MacInnis reduced the lead to 2-1 for the Adler in the 29th minute, but the visitors couldn’t equalize. Nicholas Bailen (3:1, 32nd) and David McIntyre (4:1, 33rd) made everything clear before Borna Rendulic (4:2, 46th) scored for Mannheim.
Runs for the Haie: Maximilian Kammerer (centre) throws his arms up after his goal to make it 2-0.
(Photo: Thomas Haesler/Eibner/Imago)
The Haie were happy about the victory, but complained that their player Landon Ferraro was knocked out, who unfortunately collided with Mannheim’s David Wolf, although some in the Cologne camp assumed a check to the head. Ferraro vomited in the dressing room and had to be taken to the hospital.
What will be remembered above all is the atmosphere in the stadium, the football-ready backdrop and “the great energy” that Haie manager Philipp Walter was happy about, without wanting to go into detail about how high the energy costs actually turn out for an ice surface that will remain in the stadium until January 8th. The sharks will play on it twice more, and school classes and ice skaters can skate on it before it is defrosted again in five weeks.
“Such an event is a risky business for a club,” says DEL boss Tripcke
The move to the stadium was risk and redemption at the same time. “It’s difficult to sell so many tickets in these times,” said Walter and was happy about the large backdrop. It cannot be ruled out that the people of Cologne will also apply for the next Winter Game in the 2024/25 season, and DEL boss Gernot Tripcke cannot absolutely rule out that the open-air event will then go to Cologne again. “Such an event is a risky business for a club,” says Tripcke. But he does wish that after the Winter Games in Nuremberg, Düsseldorf, Sinsheim and twice in Cologne, the next place to go is somewhere else.
And so in the end almost everyone was satisfied: the Haie with the mood, the coach Krupp with the win and the league boss Tripcke with the event – only the injured Ferraro from Cologne and the Adler with the defeat will not be the 5th Winter Game without restrictions keep memory. After all: Your Winter Game record victory from 2017 in Sinsheim, a 7: 3 against Schwenningen, survived.