Coach Larry Suarez – © Sportfoto-Sale (RH)
Bayreuth. (PM Tigers) A good three months of intensive work at all levels of a sports club lie behind the Bayreuth Southern Oberliga team, which will cross sticks with an opponent for the first time tomorrow Sunday.
They will face the Blue Devils Weiden in the Hans-Schröpf-Arena. The Upper Palatinate team, who had been among the favorites in the Oberliga Süd for several years, were able to achieve their self-imposed goal of promotion to the DEL2 practically on their third attempt. In a close series, they defeated the Scorpions from Hanover, who were also aiming for higher spheres.
Some former Bayreuth stars, who chased the puck in the Tiger Cage in previous years, made a decisive contribution to the success. For example, defender Kurt Davis with a whopping 84 points and Luca Gläser, who appeared on the scoreboard 92 times, were important factors in the success. Dennis Thielsch, Vladislav Filin, Tom Schwarz and Marco Wölfel were also part of the promoted team, whose face has naturally changed. Although many players were kept, a number of new players were brought to the Upper Palatinate for the DEL2. With defender Dominik Bohac and striker Lukas Vantuch, two seasoned and experienced professionals were signed. After Kurt Davis left, two of the four possible quota places in defense were filled: Mads Larsen (Denmark) and Tommy Muck (USA) are expected to bring important stability and also boost the offensive game. With Elias Pul, a great talent was brought into the squad, and other young players were added, including Constantin Vogt, Niklas Länger and Finn Serikow. The important goal position was filled by Daniel Allavena, who comes on loan from Munich, and Marco Wölfl is still in the Blue Devils squad.
With two narrow victories in Kaufbeuren and Bad Nauheim as well as a penalty loss against the University of Ottawa, the hosts’ games so far, for whom the first DEL2 season begins on September 13th, are certainly impressive.
There is great anticipation in the Tigers camp for the first test. Coach Larry Suarez is very pleased with the impressions from the training sessions so far, in which all the boys are fully involved. In numerous sessions on and off the ice – including a session of beach volleyball on a slightly different surface during the week – work is carried out in all important areas in summer temperatures. It is also about forming a unit out of the completely new group that will face the competition from the Oberliga Süd in the season that begins in a few weeks.
In Weiden, they will have to do without Maurice Becker and Tatu Vihavainen, both of whom are still injured and cannot play. Coach Suarez has not yet commented on the possible line-up.
About the onesto Tigers Bayreuth:
The founding of the EHC Bayreuth “die Tigers” eV dates back to 2006. After six years in the regional association – the women played one year in the district league, two years in the state league and three years in the Bavarian league – they were promoted to the DEL2 in the 2016/2017 season after several seasons in the Oberliga. In 2017, the professional division’s game operations were outsourced to a GmbH. The Bayreuth Tigers took part in the DEL2 game operations for seven years before starting in the Oberliga Süd for the 2023/2024 season. For the coming season, participation in the Oberliga Süd under the umbrella of the German Ice Hockey Association is also planned – now as onesto Tigers Bayreuth.
