The sixth round of the German Bundesliga has been played.
“Another day in the office for our first Bundesliga teams. As the table starts to form around teams trying to position themselves in preparation for Play-Offs or Play-Downs, it certainly is getting interesting.
This last weekend it was another full round of games that offered as of yet no clear answers… well, other than Weißenfels being still unbeaten and Kaufering trying to hold tooth and nail.
Here are the results of the last weekend:
TV Schriesheim – Berlin Rockets 7:5
Schriesheim has certainly decided their last season in the 2nd Bundesliga was the last one. Having scored now 3 wins out of 6, they have certainly established themselves in the mid-table with a nice cushion towards the bottom 4. Berlin on the other hand also had a strong start but has slipped a little as of late. Having said that, one has to remember also that they’ve had a challenging schedule as well, having to meet the on-form Leipzig and Chemnitz recently.
The game between Schriesheim and Berlin itself was a tightly contested match where the teams traded goals all the way into the third period. This is where Schriesheim then took off and ran away with the points in front of a respectable crowd of 150+. Well done getting those butts on seats.
Red Devils Wernigerode – SSF Dragons Bonn 7:2
If the beginning of the season for Wernigerode was rocky, there seems to be a little light at the end of the tunnel. With wins over Holzbüttgen and now against Bonn, the team is starting to show off some signs of recovery. With almost a third of the season done, they still have their work cut out for them to reach the play-off berth.
Bonn, on the other hand, have started strong but have started slipping slowly down the table. This loss to Wernigerode is something that was important to both teams and it seems it was Wernigerode this time that was just better.
The game itself was never really in doubt as the guests from Wernigerode started with the scoring by taking the lead in the middle of the first period and simply just never gave it away. The consolation goals by Berens and Temel did little other than beautify the numbers in the end.
Floor Fighters Chemnitz – ETV Piranhhas Hamburg 9:3
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the season so far has been Chemnitz. As they were still battling against relegation last year, they armed themselves with some impressive legionnaires and the results speak for themselves. 6 games, 5 wins with the only drop of points coming against Leipzig.
Piranhhas out of Hamburg (no, that is not a typo: there really is two h in the Piranhhas. Undoubtedly reference to Hansastadt Hamburg, correct me if I am wrong) have had also a very strong start to their season with 3 victories and dropping points only against Weißenfels, Chemnitz and Berlin. The form of the day was however on the hosts side as Chemnitz was very much on the driving-seat for the entire game cashing in the points with a decisive 9-3 victory.
UHC Sparkasse Weißenfels – VfL Red Hocks Kaufering 8:6
The tale of two cities really. One reigning the tables with no points-losses whereas the other dwelling at the bottom with no points to its name. Some were perhaps expecting a whitewash but Kaufering was certainly not going to sell their hides for cheap.
The game was already in its last period when in the eighth minute Kaufering took the lead for the 3rd time in the game. It was not to be however as Weißenfels managed to find one more gear and the guests were unable to answer going home with the all too familiar 0 points
It’s like watching Eurovision Song Contest all over “Finland 0 points”… Well, with one notable exception (Hard Rock Halleluiah) 🙂
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This was the first real test for DJK after cruising to relatively easy victories in Cup-competition as well as in the league against Kaufering. The 170+ spectators were treated to a scoring-feast like no other.
Leipzig wanted to bolster their points-account in order to not let Weißenfels too far. As the reigning champions, they are currently on the third spot for the playoffs. Sure there is still plenty of floorball to play before the playoffs start, but it is only the first two that get a bye in the first round and I believe every team would rather be in top 2 than the 3rd facing 2-3 extra hard-fought games.
For DJK it was, on the other hand, a chance to show in front of the home crowd that they are better than perhaps the start of the season has shown. With only 2 victories (Bonn&Kaufering) from 5 games, it was perhaps not a start they had hoped for.
It was all coming roses for the home team as well as the aggressive fore-checking was paying off and by middle-point of the match, it was already 6:2 for the hosts. This was extended to 7:4 by end of the 2nd period until the very last minute. It was then when the hosts got 2 2-minute penalties only 10sec apart forcing to face nearly 2min of 5 on 3. This is something you just can not afford against a team at this level and Leipzig used this opportunity to score still one goal before the period was over.
The third period was barely underway as Erik Schuschwary found the net again on powerplay bringing Leipzig within touching distance. As Leipzig then scored again some 5 minutes later, the lead of 4 goals had disappeared.
The last 10 minutes were then nerve-wracking on both sides as both goalies were forced to do parades worthy of any highlight reel. In the 53rd minute, the unthinkable from the host-perspective happened as the reigning champions took the lead for the first time in the game.
The hosts however countered in less than 2 minutes. Add one minute to that and it was Leipzig again in front. Some 2,5 minutes before the end, with DJK furiously applying pressure Leipzig was given a 2min penalty. DJK responded by taking the goalie out and it was the man-of-the-match Torben Kleinhans (4+2) that scored the hugely important equalizer with some 54sec to go.
The teams were heading towards extra-time. The extra-period saw chances on both sides but in the end, neither team managed to achieve something to put in the books. So the points were divided between the two.
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What now?
So, an interesting weekend for sure with Weißenfels continuing their tour-of-force with Chemnitz in tow. Champions Leipzig putting up a valiant effort to keep up with the top. On the other end of the table, there surely must be some alarm bells ringing in Kaufering as they need to achieve something quick in order to avoid the relegation-battles.
The biggest winner however this weekend is surely the sport itself. Most of the games were more or less filled to capacity and with quick math, I get just over 1,000 butts on seats! I knew we could do it!
Wernigerode deserves an extra mention for reaching 300 spectators which is a mighty number in this sport in this country. Most of the games were actually around 200 give or take some. Knowing the halls they are played in, means pretty much full capacity. This makes the atmosphere in the games something else.
Just ask any player, or spectator for that matter, if they rather play/watch a game where the hall feels full or to a large arena where people are just here and there.
Sadly enough, nobody took me on the offer for a free drink. I guess there were no new spectators there… so I will keep my offer standing on the weekend of 23.-24.11.
Ranking
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The next games in the Bundesliga are actually as follows:
The next Cup-games are however before that…so make sure you get to those as well.
Here’s the schedule:
Let us keep the positive momentum going and hope for masses of old and new floorball-fans to the games. 12 games in the cup tournament, do I dare to hope for 1.000 spectators, with a stretch-goal at 1.500?! Prove me wrong, Germany.
As for the pairings in the cup, there are some old match-ups from Bundesliga perspective that should prove interesting. Kaufering-Bonn, for example, should be interesting as they are currently battling at the tail-end of the 1st league. Schenefeld – Wernigerode is also a known matchup from last year as they battled on the field in the 1st league. Dümptener Füchse meeting up with in-form Schriesheim is known matchup from last year in the 2nd league. So it should be a cool weekend coming up…well in two weeks.
In the meanwhile, take care and see you around!
Cheers,
Kimmo”
Kimmo Vallema blogs about his floorball experiences in Germany. Want to know more about him? Click here to read his introduction article.
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