It was already 11:53 p.m. on Wednesday when the jubilarian grabbed his microphone again for the last words of this historic evening in the Straubing ice stadium at the Pulverturm: “Dear fans, we would like to thank you very much,” said The Voice, he also sounded a bit worn out. “Hello, take care.” The Voice, the voice, that’s what they call only one person in and around Straubing: Peter Schnettler, the stadium announcer for the Straubing Tigers from the German Ice Hockey League (DEL). For a stadium announcer, he has an almost gentle, reserved, but still engaging voice. Almost everyone who grew up in the Gäuboden has heard them playing ice hockey. His “two penalty minutes” or the “Tooooor” with exactly five “o” are still the same for the 700th time as on the first day.
Schnettler played his 700th game as stadium announcer for the Tigers on Wednesday, was honored on the video cube and with posters as the “voice of the region” – and was presented with his longest ice hockey game as stadium announcer. Never have two teams fought longer in Straubing than the Tigers and the Eisbären Berlin: The 4-3 winning goal for Berlin only came after exactly 110 minutes and 40 seconds, in the third extra time. Duel two in the semi-final series between the unequal clubs of the smallest and the largest league location was the third longest game in DEL history. The record from 2008, when Cologne and Mannheim had been on the ice for 168 minutes, was still a bit short of the record; second place (Iserlohn – Frankfurt) was only seven minutes away. The fact that the game didn’t end until Thursday was mainly due to the fact that the two teams avoided the penalty box in the additional periods of the game. “I think it will go into extra time – but that it will be such a tough game…” said a Straubing supporter.
The 5,635 spectators in the sold-out stadium were able to see almost two games in one for their admission fee. But for Schnettler and the majority of fans in the stadium, the wrong person won. Berlin winger Ty Ronning scored with a wrist shot at 11:50 p.m. to make it 4:3, four hours and 20 minutes after the first face-off. The guests from the capital are leading 2-0 in the best-of-seven series, two wins short of reaching the final. But well, Schnettler will say pragmatically, you just can’t choose your gifts. And how did the fans sing before the game in the club anthem by Straubing cabaret artist Hannes Ringlstetter: “… and if that’s the way it’s supposed to be, then you’ll lose too.” The Lower Bavarian takes the imponderables of life with humor; he is not a fan of success, but remains loyal to his Tigers year after year.
Like in a teenage film: the hearts of the cooler boy from the city of over a million people fly
The celebration by Ronning and his teammates in front of the small Eisbären fan colony was the end of a fierce battle of attrition that is probably only known in ice hockey in Germany. The focus was no longer on the high level of playing culture, but above all on strength, fight and the subconscious will to keep skating. And yes, both teams also threw in one or two more bad passes. In ice hockey, the game is extended until a winner is found – and a loser. “We’re already depressed because I think we were the better team,” said Tigers captain Sandro Schönberger. The numbers prove him right: They shot at Jake Hildebrand’s goal more than 60 times, the opponent had 45 attempts. Even after the Berliners were 3-1, they didn’t give up and four minutes before the end they made it 3-3 through Cole Fonstad.
Little Straubing, with a population of 50,000, struggled and rebelled, but no matter what the Tigers did, it looked like something out of a teenage movie: as if on the other side there was the bigger, cooler boy from the city of over a million people who did much less must and still win the hearts of others. In this case, Berlin always scored a goal when it needed it, quickly turned a 0-1 into a 3-1, showed impressive efficiency – and was also able to rely on its goalkeeper like the wingman in a teen film. The Tigers appeared one-on-one in front of Hildebrand four times, and the American remained the winner four times – most recently in the 110th minute against Mike Connolly. If the longest-serving Straubinger professional after Schönberger had scored, it would only have been the fourth-longest game in DEL history. But Hildebrand held on.
In their only semi-final so far in 2012, Straubing won the third game in Berlin
“We can’t really blame ourselves, we threw everything into it and really played a great game,” said Schönberger, who had to pass during extra time due to a battle of attrition. While the Berliners have always been part of the league establishment, reaching the semi-finals for Lower Bavaria is a repeat of the greatest success in the club’s history. Like in 2012, the opponent is Berlin – and like in 2012, they now lead 2-0. Back then, the capital city team prevailed and then became champions.
Game three in Berlin, however, was surprisingly won by Straubing – and Schönberger is counting on this repeat: “It’s the same spirit as in 2012 in the dressing room, everyone plays and fights for each other. Maybe they now think they have us in the bag. But I’m sure we’ll win on Friday.” His trainer Tom Pokel whispered as he passed by that it was only now starting. Lower Bavarians are “nice dogs” – and that is explicitly a compliment. The cool Berliners got an impression of this during this long night at the Powder Tower.