Adler Mannheim

The Adler Mannheim ('Mannheim Eagles', formerly Mannheimer ERC) are a professional ice hockey team of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest-level ice hockey league in Germany. The team is based in Mannheim, a city in the northern part of Baden-Württemberg. Currently, the team plays at SAP Arena, where they moved to at the beginning of the 2005–06 season after having played at Eisstadion am Friedrichspark for nearly seven decades from 1938 through 2005.[1] They have won the German Championship a total of eight times, seven of those coming after 1994 in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Die Adler Mannheim
CityMannheim, Germany
LeagueDeutsche Eishockey Liga
Founded1938 (1938)
Home arenaSAP Arena
(capacity: 13,600)
ColoursBlue, White, Red
     
Owner(s)Die Adler Mannheim Eishockey Spielbetriebs GmbH + Co. KG
General managerJan-Axel Alavaara
Head coachPavel Gross
CaptainBen Smith
Championships81 (1980, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2015, 2019) 1One Eishockey Bundesliga championship and seven DEL championships
Websiteadler-mannheim.de
Franchise history
1938–1994Mannheimer Eis- und Rollsport-Club (MERC)
1994–todayAdler Mannheim

History

German ice hockey changed a lot after the Deutsche Eishockey Liga was founded in 1994. Its growing influence also brought growing independence from the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund-organization (DEB) which dominated the ice hockey in Germany for decades.

Pre-DEL era

The first incarnation of the Adler Mannheim were The Mannheimer ice and roller skating club (MERC: Mannheimer Eis- und Rollsportclub), founded on 19 May 1938. On 19 February 1939, they had their introduction match in the brand new Friedrichspark Stadium. The match against the winner of the German Championship was lost 0–11, but the following seasons were more and more successful. However, due to the ongoing Second World War, it was difficult to play a regular season without some limitations. In 1942, after the Mannheim was qualified for the finals, the proclamation of the total war led to the cancellation of the finals, less than 24 hours before their scheduled beginning.

On 5 June 1943, the Eisstadion am Friedrichspark was destroyed by an air attack on Mannheim. After the end of the Second World War in 1945, it took another four years before the hockey club began playing once again. In the 1951/52 season, Mannheim again had a team to play in a regular team, but it was not very successful. The most successful game in this time was a 10–2 victory against a team of American soldiers based in the Mannheim-area.

Promotion to first division and first German championship

In 1978, the Adler Mannheim achieved the promotion to the first division of Eishockey Bundesliga. In order to be able to set up a team with the limited budget, the Adler and their coach Heinz Weisenbach went new ways. He traveled to North America to search specifically for players with German roots. With Harold Kreis, Manfred "Mannix" Wolf, Roy Roedger and Peter Ascherl, the first "German Canadians" were transferred into the Eishockey Bundesliga. Additionally, Mannheim acquired the national goalkeeper Erich Weishaupt from the Berliner Schlittschuhclub (Berliner SC). After a sixth place in the debut season, Mannheim strengthened their squad with Ron Andruff and Holger Meitinger and the national players Mannheimer Marcus Kuhl (Cologne) and Peter Obresa (Bad Nauheim). In a complicated tournament mode, from preliminary round, second round and championship round, the Adler finally could win the German championship for the first time. The title win was made perfect by a victory in Berlin, so that the Mannheim players warmed-up in tails and cylinders before the last, meaningless home game against Cologne EC.

Four DEL championships in 5 years

In 1994, the Mannheimer ERC was a founding member of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. While the organization of the MERC still existed, the professional hockey team changed its name to Adler Mannheim and was transformed into an independent legal entity called "Die Adler Mannheim Eishockey Spielbetriebs GmbH + Co. KG". The old organization MERC still performs in the amateur and junior sectors, including the successful junior team Jungadler Mannheim (young eagles Mannheim) (DNL).

The first two seasons in the DEL ended in playoff quarter finals, but the following season changed everything: the Mannheimer Adler swept through the playoffs. At the minimum number of nine games, they won the championship in 1997. After also winning the championships in 1998 and 1999, head coach Lance Nethery and several players left the team.

After a disastrous start to the regular 1999–2000 season, the Adler reached the playoffs again, but were beaten in the quarter finals again. After that season, head coach Chris Valentine had to go and was succeeded by Bill Stewart. In 2000/2001, they were back on the road to success with the fourth DEL championship in five years.

In their final season at Friedrichspark, Mannheim native Jochen Hecht (Buffalo Sabres), Cristobal Huet (Montreal Canadiens), Yannick Tremblay (Atlanta Thrashers) and Sven Butenschön (New York Islanders) joined the Adler during the 2004–05 NHL lockout. The team made it to the finals, but were defeated by the Eisbären Berlin.

Move to SAP Arena and 5th DEL championship

The following season was disastrous. In their new home, the SAP Arena, the team was at position 10 at the end of the regular season. It was the first time in 26 years that the Adler Mannheim did not qualify for the playoffs.

Making several changes in the team roster, the team celebrated its resurrection in the following 2006–07 season. After winning the German Cup, they finished in first place in the regular season and then won their fifth DEL Championship.

Adler Mannheim and the NHL

On 6th Juli 2010, Adler Mannheim competed against the San Jose Sharks at the 2011 NHL Premiere Challenge 2010. German national player Manuel Klinge scored for Mannheim in the 5th minute, San Jose equalized with a goal by Jamie McGinn (54th minute). After Devin Setoguchi scored for San Jose, Mannheim's Jame Pollock scored the equalizer at minute 57. In the shoot-out, it was Dan Boyle who scored with the decisive penalty shot for the Sharks.

In July 2011, Mannheim entered a developmental partnership with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL.[2]

The Adler participated in the 2011 NHL Premiere series, losing to the Buffalo Sabres 8–3. The Sabres (who count among its players Mannheim native Jochen Hecht) were very well received in Mannheim, and later that season, a contingent of Adler fans traveled to Buffalo and Toronto to witness games hosted by the Sabres and Maple Leafs.[3][4]

During the 2012 NHL lockout, the Adler Mannheim became a popular team for the lockout-players again. The former Mannheim-players Dennis Seidenberg (Boston Bruins) and Marcel Goc (Florida Panthers) joined the team once more. They were followed by Jason Pominville, captain of the Buffalo Sabres and again Jochen Hecht who was a free agent since his injury in early 2012. Hecht signed a contract (with a NHL-Out paragraph) until 2014, but after the lockout came to an end, he was offered a new, one-year contract by the Buffalo Sabres. After the Sabres contract expired, Hecht announced his intention to return to Mannheim to finish his professional career.

6th DEL championship and turbulent times

On 19 June 2014, Mannheim hired Boston Bruins assistant coach Geoff Ward as their new head coach. After winning the regular season with nine points ahead of the second-placed EHC Red Bull München, the Adler won the quarter-final series against the Nürnberg Ice Tigers with 4–1. In the semi-finals, the Adler swept Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg with 4–0 victories – even after being down 0–3 goals in three of the games. In the final, Mannheim finally met ERC Ingolstadt. After a devastating 1–6 loss in the third game with Ingolstadt taking the 2–1 lead in the final series, the Eagles could turn the series and won all remaining finals. With 4–2 victories, the Adler Mannheim were able to win their sixth DEL championship.

After the 2014–15 season, Ward returned to the NHL[5] and was replaced by Greg Ireland. Ireland was sacked in February 2016,[6] Craig Woodcroft, who had joined the Adler coaching staff in 2014,[7] was promoted to head coach.[8] Woodcroft failed to guide the Adler squad to the playoffs and left after the 2015–16 season. In May 2016, Sean Simpson was named new head coach.[9]

Successful transition and 7th DEL championship

On 4 December 2017, GM Teal Fowler, head coach Simpson and assistant coach Colin Muller were sacked due to unsatisfactory results. Bill Stewart, who had guided the club to the 2001 DEL title, took over the head coaching job.[10] During the 2017–2018 season, the Adler Mannheim announced Jan-Axel Alavaara as the new GM and Pavel Gross as their new head coach[11] assisted by Mike Pellegrims and Pertti Hasanen.

The Adler finished their regular season 2018–2019 in 1st position with a new point average record of 2,23 points per game and won the DEL title 2018–19 defeating EHC Red Bull München 4 to 1 in the playoff finals. During the summer break, the Mannheimer Adler released their long-time team captain Marcus Kink – his successor is 699 times NHL veteran and German national player Marcel Goc.[12] Also during the summer-break 2019, Adler Mannheim's rookie defenseman Moritz Seider was drafted in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft, sixth overall, by the Detroit Red Wings.[13] Seider was the first German defenseman to be selected in the first round of an NHL Entry Draft, and the fourth-highest German-born player to be selected. On 14 July 2019, he was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Detroit Red Wings.[14]

Honours

Players

Current roster

Updated 7 February, 2021.[15]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
7 Sinan Akdag D L 31 2014 Rosenheim, Germany
16 Jason Bast C L 31 2020 Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
90 Felix Brückmann G L 30 2020 Breisach, Germany
50 Louis Brune F R 20 2018 München, Germany
84 Andrew Desjardins C L 34 2017 Lively, Ontario, Canada
16 Markus Eisenschmid RW R 26 2018 Marktoberdorf, Germany
44 Dennis Endras G L 35 2012 Immenstadt, Germany
61 Tommi Huhtala (A) LW L 33 2018 Tampere, Finland
95 Mark Katic D L 31 2018 Timmins, Ontario, Canada
40 Valentino Klos F L 21 2019 Kaiserslautern, Germany
14 Davis Koch C L 22 2020 Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
21 Nico Krämmer W L 28 2018 Landshut, Germany
5 Björn Krupp D L 29 2019 Buffalo, New York, United States
32 Cody Lampl D R 34 2018 Ketchum, Idaho, United States
37 Thomas Larkin D R 30 2017 London, England, Great Britain
6 Joonas Lehtivuori D L 32 2018 Pirkkala, Finland
23 Taylor Leier LW L 26 2021 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
13 Stefan Loibl RW R 24 2020 Straubing, Germany
22 Matthias Plachta LW L 29 2016 Freiburg, Germany
29 Denis Reul (A) D R 31 2009 Marktredwitz, Germany
64 Craig Schira D R 32 2020 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
11 Felix Schütz C L 33 2020 Erding, Germany
24 Brendan Shinnimin C L 30 2020 East St. Paul, Manitoba, Canada
18 Ben Smith (C) RW R 32 2018 Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States
26 Yannik Valenti RW R 32 2018 Bad Tölz, Germany
70 Moritz Wirth D L 21 2019 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
89 David Wolf W L 31 2016 Düsseldorf, Germany

Honorable players

Points leaders
Player Seasons Games Goals Assists Points
Christoph Ullmann2003–2008, 2011–2018561135145280
Jochen Hecht1994–1998, 2004–2005, 2012–2016356105161266
Pavel Gross1994–199922081180261
Dave Tomlinson1996–2002291101159260
Ronny Arendt2005–2017609103154257
Goals
Player Seasons Games Goals
Christoph Ullmann2003–2008, 2011–2018561135
René Corbet2001–2009314130
Jochen Hecht1994–1998, 2004–2005, 2012–2016356105
Ronny Arendt2005–2017609103
Dave Tomlinson1996–2002291101
Assists
Player Seasons Games Assists
Pavel Gross1994–1999220180
Jochen Hecht1994–1998, 2004–2005, 2012–2016356161
Dave Tomlinson1996–2002291159
Marcus Kink2004–2019700159
Ronny Arendt2005–2017609154
Most Points in a Single Season
Player Season Games Goals Assists Points
Jan Alston1999–0050314374
Pavel Gross1995–9649294372
Robert Cimetta1995–9650224163
Pavel Gross1994–9542214162
Robert Cimetta1994–9539293160
Most Penalty Minutes
Player Seasons Games PIM
Marcus Kink2004–2019700876
Mike Stevens1998–2002204772
Tomas Martinec2003–2012285696
René Corbet2001–2009314622
Jochen Hecht1994–1998, 2004–2005, 2012–2016356589
Play-off scoring leaders
Player Seasons Games Goals Assists Points
Jochen Hecht1994–1998, 2004–2005, 2012–201675253156
Stéphane Richer1995–200264104656
Christoph Ullmann2003–2008, 2011–201886272855
Devin Edgerton2000–200650242953
Dave Tomlinson1996–200260202949

Retired numbers

Adler Mannheim retired numbers
No. Player Position Career No. retirement
2Werner LorenzD1956–196423 November 2012
3Harold KreisD1978–19977 February 1998
10Kurt SeppF1956–196723 November 2012
12Bruno GuttowskiD1955–196423 November 2012
15Marcus KuhlF1979–1982
20René CorbetL2001–20094 October 2011
25Stéphane RicherD1995–20022. September 2005
55Jochen HechtF1994–1998, 2004–2005, 2012–2013, 2013–201623 February 2018
57Ronny ArendtF2005–201723 February 2018
80Robert Müller1G2000–2002, 2006–200722 May 2009
  • 1After his death, the Adler Mannheim, the Kölner Haie and the EHC Klostersee retired his #80. At the beginning of the season 2008–09, his number was retired league-wide by the DEL.

Championship teams

Head coaches

The following list shows all head coaches of Adler Mannheim during the DEL era.

DEL Season records

Adler Mannheim DEL season records
Season Games Won Tie Lost OTW OTL Points Goals
for
Goals
against
Rank Playoffs
1994–954429-960641641083Quarter-final loss
1995–965029-1272671951637Quarter-final loss
1996–975035-1051762121231Champion
1997–984826-1633581701454Champion
1998–995224-1657892081823Champion
1999-005627-1964971991815Quarter-final loss
2000–016031-16941152051441Champion
2001–026034-14661201861352Final loss
2002–035225-1683941521294Semi-final loss
2003–045226-1646921511246Quarter-final loss
2004–055223-2135801511506Final loss
2005–065219-26436814815510Did not make playoffs
2006–075229-9681071841471Champion
2007–085624-2084921801746Quarter-final loss
2008–095222-1875851441314Semi-final loss
2009–105623-2247841771779Playoffs Qualifier loss
2010–115220-2075791311377Quarter-final loss
2011–125223-1577901711484Final loss
2012–135230-1633991641251Quarter-final loss
2013–145226-1844901481234Quarter-final loss
2014–155233-14321071731231Champion
2015–165220-2453731381464Playoffs Qualifier loss
2016–175230-12641061831352Quarter-final loss
2017–185221-2263781511495Semi-final loss
2018–195235-8271161941171Champion
2019–205228-12661801321022Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]

Affiliated teams

Jungadler Mannheim

The youth performance center of the Adler Mannheim is called "Jungadler Mannheim" (youth eagles). Their under 20 junior team is 16-times national youth champion and record holder. Famous former Jungadler players are e.g. Dominik Kahun (Chicago Blackhawks), Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers) and Moritz Seider (Detroit Red Wings).

ERC Mannheimer WildCats

The female contingent of the Mannheimer ERC carries the name "Wild Cats." The most successful period in the WildCats' career was between 1988 and 1994 during which they won three German championships and vice-championships. The Wildcats did not play during the 2005–06 season after four players terminated their contracts. Therefore, they were forced to temporarily withdraw from the league.

References

  1. Galvin, Tom (3 December 2004). "Mannheim-Major Industrial City on the Neckar" (in German). Tomgalvin.com. Retrieved 11 March 2006.
  2. Maple Leafs form partnership with German team to improve development – Winnipeg Free Press
  3. Kulyk, Andrew (9 February. 2012). The Mannheim fans land in Buffalo Archived 23 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Artvoice. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  4. Pignataro, T. J. (11 February 2012). Across-the-pond hockey Archived 14 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. The Buffalo News. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  5. "Fluto Shinzawa | Sunday Hockey Notes: After a year in Germany, Geoff Ward makes his return to NHL coaching ranks – The Boston Globe". Boston Globe. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  6. ONLINE, RP. "DEL: Meister Mannheim trennt sich von Trainer Ireland". RP ONLINE. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  7. Stefan, Diepold. "Craig Woodcroft". eishockey-online.com. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  8. "ADLER Mannheim". adler-mannheim.de. Archived from the original on February 23, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  9. "Sean Simpson is the new coach of the Adler Mannheim | Archy De". Archy De. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  10. "Adler trennen sich von Teal Fowler, Sean Simpson und Colin Müller". adler-mannheim.de (in German). Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  11. https://www.del.org/news/pavel-gross-verlaesst-die-grizzlys-wolfsburg-und-wechselt-nach-mannheim/8072
  12. https://www.adler-mannheim.de/aktuelles/marcel-goc-ist-neuer-kapitaen/
  13. https://www.nhl.com/redwings/news/defenseman-moritz-seider-selected-with-sixth-overall-pick/c-307967484
  14. https://www.nhl.com/news/red-wings-seider-signs-entry-level-contract/c-308256400
  15. "Adler Mannheim Mannschaft". Adler Mannheim (in German). 7 February 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  16. "Deutsche Eishockey Liga beendet Saison vorzeitig". del.org (in German). Retrieved 10 March 2020.
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