[In dieser Länge definitiv nur auf Englisch...]
*yawn* I was home around 11.30 pm last night. I didn't go to bed until 12.30 and couldn't fall asleep until after 1 am. And I had to get up a little after 6am because I had a doctors appointment at 8 am and the public transport sucks at the moment and takes ages. Thank god it's holiday time and there wasn't much to do at work, no deadlines or anything. Its the time of the year made for sorting and filing and all that stupid and simple and montonous stuff. I felt like the watchdog [is that really the right translation of "Stallwache"? The Stallwache in office-speak, not in a farm and stables speak * g*]. Anyway my main purpose this week is to make sure the office is manned during office hours just in case something happens which might require action on our part. So sorting and filing gave me some time to start a longer hockey talk entry. Which I finished at home this evening.
So for the (inter)national hockey crazy friends and anyone else interested here is a long version of my hockey history. Today I just felt like telling this story :-). You might want to get some snacks and drinks and make yourself comfortable, because it's a looooooong one. I'm a rambler, I know.
I'll try it in a rather chronological and some what sorted way...
My oldest brother (aka Bro #1) has been a hockey fan as long as I can remember Well almost, because he's not THAT much older ;-). He became a fan in the late 80s. It must have been after 1987 otherwise he would have mentioned witnessing Iserlohns last playoffs 21 years ago. Still I should ask him about the exact time some time. He was and still is a fan of
Iserlohn, which is the hockey team closest (about 35 km) to our hometown. He stayed a fan through all the ups and downs and there were more downs for almost 20 years now: Bancrupcy, relegation to the 3rd league, struggle in the 2nd league and some more.
Until the late 90s I was often mocking him for his addiction to the game and this team. He was one of these hardcore fans who take part in all these crazy events like going to a (far) away game on a special train with hundreds of other fans and partying the whole trip there and back.
In 1994 the premier league was transformed into a the
DEL, a league similar to the NHL. Don't ask for details but it was and still is a business decision. All teams are something like shareholder of the league (as a company). There still was sort of relegation/promotion (from the still existing 2nd league) for over 10 years, but there always were problems with this modus. Teams which had to relegate to the 2nd league complained, because they were shareholders after all and invested money and teams who would have been allowed to promote according to the standings of the 2nd league, still had to meet special financial and other requirements. Sometimes it was quite a mess. And the modus was changed every other year, which made it even worse.
A couple of years ago relegation was abolished, but there is still one spot available in the league for a 2nd league candidate meeting the requirements. After that there will be no change in the league's participating teams, unless one team goes bancrupt and a new (or 2nd league) team buys its licence.
In 1999 I went to see my first hockey game. In Cologne (about 70 km away), because my friend
Hai_di went to college in Cologne and went to some games of the
Cologne Sharks. I just tagged along once and we saw a 9:1 (or 9:0) victory. We had to jump up every few minutes to cheer and I thought
"Wow, this is fun!" :-) Even when Hai_di moved back home to start a job here, we continued to watch games in Cologne. I started to understand why Bro #3 was such a huge fan of this sport. But he is still way out of my league when it comes to understanding and "seeing" the game. He notices everything and shows a very good judgement of the game and the players and the refs.
The Sharks got into the final in that season 99/00, but lost the championship to Munich. (A team which a few years later was completly re-located to Hamburg. Relocations is one of the many peculiarities of premiere league hockey a sportsfan in a soccer dominated country hardly understands). Hai_di and I and a couple of other fans went to Cologne Airport to greet our team after the lost final game and we even went to the city hall were there was a small reception for the team. We just wanted to show our support outside city hall but as there were just a couple of fans, we were allowed to attend to reception as well, which was pretty cool. We could chat with some players and take pictures and get autographs. There usually are other opportunities for that as well, but usually there are a lot more fans present at these other opportunities. But all of this, chatting with players was the last thing needed to get my totally hooked.
In 00/01 Iserlohn was promoted to the premiere league, but Hai_di and I were already rooting for Cologne and there was no chance we would just switch teams. So we went to see hockey games regulary and I bought my first jersey (goalie Andrew Verner), but the Sharks lost their quarterfinal playoff series and the season was a short one. Iserlohn struggled a bit, but even when there still was relegation they stayed in the league and slowly became a team that always finished around 10 (of 15-16 teams).
Short excursion to financial matters: Iserlohn still is the underdog of the league, with the smallest buget, smallest and oldest hockey arena. Unlike other teams Iserlohn has got a very good managment who is working very reasonable. They might not make the most profits, but unlike other teams they don't have to struggle financially or are indebted or anything. They know their limits. Cologne on the other hand has the biggest arena, one of the biggest budget, a good working management, the best players (or at least those who get the most money) and are obligated to at least make it to the playoffs. And every time they lose in the first round they fall short of everyones expectations.
Tickets to hockey games are affordable and usually always available in Germany. This country is just not a hockey-country, soccer is dominating everything. The cheapest tickets in Cologne cost 18,50 EUR (=30$) and of course there are other expenses, but all in all it's ok. To get tickets to playoff games (especially semi-final or final) can be difficult sometimes, but it's no problem to watch a regular game. Jersey's costs about 60 - 80 EUR (= 90-120$), which isn't that cheap, but I guess nothing compared to NHL jerseys.
01/02 didn't look like the best season, the Sharkes finished at 6th. And as they hadn't survived the quarterfinal the year before we scaled down our expecations. Hai_di booked a vacation which started a day before the last possible (fifth) game of the final series. Thinking, that even if the Sharks would make it to the final, there was a huge chance that they will be defeated in 3 or 4 games. But they weren't! They made it to the final and there was a fifth game. It took place in Mannheim and the Sharks won! The championship. It was broadcasted live in the Cologne hockey arena and after the game hell broke lose :-). A lot of fans went into downtown and celebrated and obstructed the traffic and all that crazy stuff. And Hai_di was stuck on some mediterrian island. But I celebrated for both of us. :-)
In 02/03 we got into the final again, but this time we lost the fifth game. At home, which felt terrible. And we lost to a team which won the championship for the first time since the 50s or so. It was almost impossible to get ticket for the final series so I decided to get a season ticket for 03/04, because the playoff tickets were included. And I bought a new jersey -
Sebastian Furchner, a forward. He's going to leave the Sharks after this season, which saddens me, but I can understand that he's looking for a new challenge. I really hope to see him as member of Team Germany in Halifax.
In 03/04 the Sharks didn't made it through the quarterfinal of the playoffs either, so a season ticket didn't really pay off. :-) I didn't go to that many games during the season that it would have payed off without the playoff games, so I didn't get a season ticket for 04/05. In which they failed at quarterfinal once again. So these weren't the most successful hockey seasons for a team with higher expectations. I think it was around that time, that I started to also watch a few more games of Iserlohn. Because it's closer and Bro #1 has really nice group of friends there. He is also part of the voluntary crew and get's one additional frew ticket for every game, which makes going to the game a rather low-cost experience.
The Sharks reached the semi-final in 05/06 and 06/07, but never the final again. I hope that's going to change this year! In 2004 the Sharks got a new defense player,
Paul Traynor #7 and Hai_di and I very soon liked him a lot. She more than I, I guess :-) But he was pretty cool. And became one of the fans favorite quickly, which was insane at some of these fans meet the team occasions. It saddened us, when his contract wasn't renewed after two years, because he could have transfered to anywhere, Sweden, Austria or whereever. But.... he transfered to Iserlohn! Wooohooo! We had him even closer and all the more reason to go watch games in Iserlohn.
I even bought a
Iserlohn Traynor Jersey. Friends of Bro #1 are not giving up trying to make me switch my favorite team, but that will never happen. Never ever :-)! But it's not too bad to have two hockey teams to root for. Except when they play against each other, which might happen again in the semi-final. :-( This season was also the most successful for Iserlohn, they finished as 5th and are leading 3:2 in their quarterfinal series of the playoffs. It's been the first time since 1987 that they've reached the playoffs and the fans, the city and the whole region is in a crazy hockey fever.
With Bro #1 and his friends we went to see the World Championship 2005 in Vienna and it's this same group of hockey friends with which we're going to Halifax in about four weeks. I'm really really looking forward to that, because it's Canada and it's hockey and this is a group of totally crazy hockey people. We're going to have sooooooo much fun.
So is anyone still with me? Or fallen asleep in front of the screen? Geez, that wasn't supposed to get THIS long, but a lot of hockey stuff happened during these years (and I've probably forgotten to mention some of it).
