After its anniversary year, the PENNY DEL in the starting blocks for their 31. Season14 teams will play for the German championship title starting Thursday, September 19, 2024. The Augsburger Panther open the season with their home game against ERC Ingolstadt. The reigning champion from Berlin is then the hunted one, but at the same time is of course also considered one of the big favorites this season.
19 World Cup participants will compete in the PENNY DEL
The Adler Mannheim and also the Kölner Haie at the top of the list when it comes to other championship candidates. The Mannheim team strengthened its squad in the summer with the two World Cup participants Tobias Fohrler and Marc Michaelis. Both are returning to Germany after successful years abroad. 19 players of the 2024 World Cup squad in the PENNY DEL in the coming season.
Tobias Rieder is another well-known international player who will play for the DEB-Team at Deutschland Cup in Landshut, back to the PENNY DEL. The striker has signed a contract with EHC Red Bull München With him, the Munich team wants to attack again after a rather mixed year as defending champions and, as recently, are among the narrow circle of favorites.
The new SAP Garden in Munich's Olympic Park, which will catapult ice hockey in the Bavarian capital into a new era. The opening will take place on Friday, September 27, 2024, with a game against NHL club Buffalo Sabres - with national player JJ Peterka in the line-up. The first regular league game in the SAP Garden will take place on Wednesday, October 2, 2024. Then Munich will face the Grizzlys Wolfsburg.
Marc Michaelis and Tobias Rieder are playing in the PENNY DEL this season. All photos: City-Press.
Cologne wants to fight for the title with new coach
The way food is Kölner Haie – with three World Cup riders in the squad – are one of the top favorites. The Sharks have hired an experienced head coach in Kari Jalonen, who has also worked for the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (DEB). At the 2019 World Cup, the Finn acted as a supervisor in the team of the then national coach Toni Söderholm and thus knows some DEL players, even though the league is new territory for him. DEB-Striker Parker Tuomie moved from Straubing to the Rhine and strengthens Cologne's offense.
Also on the list are runner-up Bremerhaven and Champions Hockey League participant Straubing. While the Pinguins rely on consistency on the ice and have made few changes to the squad, DEB-Assistant coach Alexander Sulzer promoted to the position of head coach. The Straubingers have played a strong role in the league for several years, which was rewarded with renewed qualification for the CHL.
Two major outdoor events
For the first time in the more than 30-year history of the DEL, a league game will be played on foreign soil On Friday, December 6, 2024, the Winter Hockey Games in the Czech capital Prague will see the Grizzlys Wolfsburg and EHC Red Bull München on each other.
In addition, all ice hockeyFans Another ice hockey highlight in the winter is coming up: THE WINTER GAME meet on 4 January 2025 the Löwen Frankfurt on the Adler Mannheim in the Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt – around 50.000 spectators are expected at one of the hottest derbies in German ice hockey.
Ice hockey is booming
The PENNY DEL looks back on a successful season. According to the number of spectators in the arenas, ice hockey is experiencing a boom. On average, 7.160 ice hockey fans the games of the German upper house – a record for the league, which became the new leader in Europe.
The ratings on MagentaSport with around 18,5 million viewers by the end of the main round underline the great popularity of the PENNY DEL. In the coming season, all games will be shown live again – just like the games of the Deutschland Cup in Landshut as well as the preparation and World Cup games of the men’s and women’s national teams.