Hockey's Future - The #1 Online Prospects Resource

The DEL (Deutsche Eishockey Liga) completed its tenth and probably most successful season of professional play in 2003-04. A league that once seemed somewhat doomed from the outset, the DEL has grown step by step and the 2003-2004 season was widely considered the most competitive yet, void of folding franchises and managerial scandals. There were 14 very competitive teams with several having fought for the last playoff spot all the way to the last two weekends of the season. Even more important from a German standpoint is the ever-continuing reduction of foreigners that dot the line-ups throughout the league as German talents have continued to show the ability to step in and play at the high level the DEL has become accustomed to.

Of course, for North American fans, the question is what the DEL resembles and what it can offer in respect to future NHL talents. As far as the level of play is concerned, the league itself could be favorably compared to what the IHL was before it was dissolved. Due to the large number of imported players coming mostly from North America or at least having had North American experience, the DEL has often been tabbed in the past as a bit of a graveyard league for veterans, "has-beens" or "never-weres" looking to pull in the odd buck or two while on their last legs – as was often the case in the IHL. However, this tendency has gone by the wayside as more and more North American prospects have found homes in the NHL after tenures in Europe. Now several young players such as Micki Dupont, Brandon Reid and Mike Green, who still have NHL aspirations, are coming to Germany to continue their development. In addition, renowned coaches the likes of Dave King, Pierre Pagé and American Greg Poss (recently donned the head coach of Team Germany) are heading benches around the DEL and offering continued professional development to North Americans and Germans alike.

With the reduction of one import player license per season the DEL has also taken steps in making it a goal to provide German talent with the opportunity to develop at a high level. In addition, more and more DEL franchises are coming to agreements with clubs in the 2^nd and 3^rd divisions much in the same manner as NHL franchises having AHL and ECHL farm team affiliates, which has proven especially beneficial for German players under the age of 23.

Below is a look at each team for 2004-05 and the NHL prospects who will be playing for them.

Eisbären (Polar Bears) Berlin

The Polar Bears are Germany's reigning regular season powerhouse, but last season lost in the finals. With Coach Pierre Pagé at the helm, Berlin has become the DEL's model team in philosophy and game culture. Pagé has successfully molded together well-known North American players with an abundance of German youth and his record cannot yet be argued, even if the Polar Bears have yet to take a title under his tutelage. However, as this season begins, Berlin will start with what is considered one of the strongest defenses ever in the DEL, including Micki Dupont and Derrick Walser in front of goalie Oliver Jonas, a German who attended and played at Harvard, who only just this season is getting the nod as the team's No. 1 in net. A risky move for sure, but the team still has several licenses for foreigners and will make a move during the season if necessary. Up front, the Polar Bears feature many well-known players as well as several very promising young Germans including 17-year-old forward Christoph Gawlik (currently out with a shoulder injury), who is widely considered the best German prospect since Jochen Hecht. As a sidenote, Dany Heatley has a German passport and published rumors have him finding his way to Berlin.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: The aforementioned Christoph Gawlik will be watched very closely although his birth date is 8/10/87. Young goalie Youri Ziffzer and winger Florian Busch (see Hockey's Future interview with Pierre Pagé from 6/22/04) were both available and skipped in last year's draft, but they were among Central Scouting's European player ranks and are on NHL maps, especially if they have a breakthrough season this year. The names of overagers Frank Hordler, Jens Baxmann, Tobias Draxinger, André Rankel, and Matthias Forster shouldn't be ignored either. Berlin management is also very high on 2005 draft eligible Niels Liesegang.

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Oliver Jonas, Levente Szuper (pending), Shawn Heins, Rob Leask, Ricard Persson, Derrick Walser, Micki Dupont, Stefan Ustorf, Rob Shearer, Mark Beaufait, Denis Pederson, Kelly Fairchild, Steve Walker

Current NHL Prospects: none

Düsseldorf Metro Stars

The Metro Stars took a step backwards last season and barely slipped into the playoffs with the eighth seed, just to be easily ousted by Berlin. Although the team was solid defensively, goaltender Andrei Trefilov just didn't provide the dependable service he had in previous seasons and the team suffered through an incredible lack of offense despite several forwards having career years. This season the team watched roughly 35 fringe goals leave the team while two established AHLers and established league icon Andrew Schneider bolster the offense. Without a doubt, successful German coach Michael Komma has lots of pressure on his shoulders as not a soul in the German hockey scene seems to foresee the Metro Stars going anywhere but up this season. Questionable though is whether team leader and top German DELer Daniel Kreutzer can come close to repeating his wonderful production (54 26-28-54) from last season?

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Andrei Trefilov, Jeff Tory, Eric Dandenault, Clayton Young, Matt Herr, Matt Davidson, Andrew Schneider

Current NHL Prospects: (D) Alexander Sulzer (NAS) had an up and down season last year after having been mugged in an alley during the second week of league action. He ended up participating in 50 of 56 contests and put up less than thrilling numbers (5 points, 64 PIM), but showed the ability to improve and the willingness to get his nose dirty. Considering Dusseldorf lost none of its top 6 defensemen and then added one more to the top 4, Sulzer isn't necessary looking at increased playing time this season and coach Michael Komma is known to take it slow with youngsters. They must first prove themselves defensively first, whether forward or defenseman. Sulzer turned 20 this past May.

Frankfurt Lions

Coach Rich Chernomaz did what few expected him to do last season and that is – he led the Frankfurt Lions from the DEL's final spot in the previous season to its champion spot in 2004. It was a fairy tale season indeed as a number of factors fell into place at the right time. The Lions were able to ride the euphoria of Ian Gordon's timely playoff goaltending feats to American defenseman Peter Ratchuk's league leading 22 goals from a pointman to Canadian forward Pat Lebeau's league leading 83 points all the way to the championship. After finishing off Cologne fairly convincingly, the Lions looked doomed after 3 games against the Hamburg Freezers, but shocked expected champion Berlin in the championship series. Now the team has remained pretty much intact although center Jesse Belanger has left for Switzerland. Nonetheless, the Lions have added NHLer Stephane Robidas and on paper, have appeared to only become stronger. They should continue to be a force in the 2004-05 season.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: Michael Hackert had a breakthrough season last year and several DEL commentators are of the opinion that the 23-year-old has all Jochen Hecht's tools but hasn't yet found the toolbox.

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Ian Gordon, Peter Ratchuk, Stephane Robidas, Francois Bouchard, Patrick Lebeau, Dwayne Norris, Jason Young, Marc Beaucage, Sean Pronger, Joe Murphy

Current NHL Prospects: None

Hamburg Freezers

The relocated Freezers have managed to make the playoffs two years running. Things went so well last season, it appeared they'd meet their DEL brothers from Berlin (both are linked to the Anschutz group rooted in Los Angeles) in the final, before Frankfurt surprisingly knocked the Freezers out. As this is being written, it isn't quite certain what the team will look like this season. The goaltending and defense is set and is expected to be coach Dave King's bread and butter for the season, but the offense looks a bit weak and didn't get any stronger when it let right wing Mark Greig walk last week. Rumors abound however that the team looks to add some punch up front, most likely with one or two locked out players from overseas.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: He may be going on 21, but big defenseman Martin Walter developed in leaps and bounds last season and appears to be a future National Team player before long. The team is placing a great deal of trust in him and he could eventually prove to be every bit as good as others from his class like Christian Erhoff and Dennis Seidenberg.

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Boris Rousson, Darren Van Impe, Paul Manning, Alan Letang, Shane Peacock, Dave Tomlinson, Wayne Hynes, Brad Purdie, Nils Antons, Craig Johnson, Bobby House, Robert Francz, Brandon Reid

Current NHL Prospects: (F) Brandon Reid of Vancouver

Ingolstadt Panthers

In their second year of DEL existence, Ron Kennedy's Panthers survived a miserable start to get into the playoffs and come back from a 0-2 deficit to beat the heavily favored Nuremberg Ice Tigers in the playoffs. It was a very successful season and the team's tight defensive system overcame a rather weak offense and some disappointments in the defensive ranks. Now, however, the team enters its second season in the new Saturn Arena and appears ready to take flight. With the additions of NHLers Andy MacDonald and German icon Marco Sturm, the team will continue to build on last year's success and is expected to fight for home-ice advantage in this year's playoff race. That attempt will be backed by former NHL back-up Jimmy Waite in goal, who is currently considered the DEL's top goaltender.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: Defenseman Peter Baumgartner comes from the same program that produced Marco Sturm and is held in high esteem. There's no telling if the draft-eligible (G) Sebastian Vogl or (F) Felix Schutz will work themselves into the spotlight.

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Jimmy Waite, Ken Sutton, Justin Harney, Phil von Stefenelli, Brad Burym, Chris Armstrong, Jakub Ficenec, Craig Ferguson, Cameron Mann, Martin Jiranek, Doug Ast, Marco Sturm, Drew Omicioli, Glen Goodall, Andy MacDonald

Current NHL Prospects: None

Iserlohn Roosters

The team that just refuses to be demoted, the Roosters will once again walk on a financial tightrope hoping to remain in the league this season. Iserlohn will once again feature the lowest payroll in the DEL living almost purely on local sponsorship. One coup this summer was using US winger Bryan Adams’ Michigan State connections to pluck Mike York from the expected lockout heap. The Roosters have a solid and respectable team but are entering this season with the most questionable goaltending, the newest and most unknown faces on defense and a forward corp rooted deeply in unknown German quantities. Promise does abound though and Dutch-Canadian coach Doug Mason has been known to get a lot out of a little. Remaining in the league is the team's goal, but Iserlohn management knows that if all the hunches on their new players prove fruitful and Mike York can have the expected offensive impact, the Roosters will also have a word or two to say about the last few playoff spots.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: None

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Kevin Mitchell, Mike Martin, Brian White, Erich Goldmann, Ralph Intranuovo, Mike York, Matt Higgins, Bryan Adams, Rhett Gordon, Brett Lysak.

Kölner Haie (Cologne Sharks)

When it comes to the DEL, Cologne plays probably the biggest role in marketing the league nationwide and internationally. Playing in the Kölnarena with the largest amount of seats under a roof in Europe, the Sharks regularly draw an average of 14,000+ per game. Despite that, Cologne rarely draws the big stars of the league and professes a "the team is the star" philosophy. Former National coach Hans Zach has the full respect of the coaching community and his players, and has put together another team that has playoffs written all over it. However, there are some holes in the team which Zach and co. are hoping will be filled up by the incoming German talent. Nonetheless, Cologne will be able to throw out four strong lines with a mission every night and has players at all positions that rank among the DEL's elite. In addition, oldie but goodie Dave McLlwain continues to be one of the most effective and respected leaders in Germany. The Sharks most certainly have their sights set on the title. NHL draftees Ed Lewandowski and Kai Hospelt will look to continue to play themselves into their respective team's plans upon the end of a lockout.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: Very young forwards Moritz Mueller and Philip Gogulla have grabbed some attention in Germany after fantastic seasons in the German Junior league, DNL. Both will now be coached and tutored by former National Team coach Hans Zach who is noted for his player development. It is unclear as to what their role will be this season, but both will get ice time with an affiliate. Both should be eligible for next summer's draft.

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Chris Rogles, Thomas Greiss, Dan Bjornlie, Stéphane Julien, Brad Schlegel, Dennis Seidenberg (if permitted by the Philadelphia Flyers), Paul Traynor, Jeremy Adduono, Colin Beardsmore, Alex Hicks, Jean-Yves Roy, Yannic Seidenberg, Dave McLlwain

Current NHLer: (D) Dennis Seidenberg

Current NHL Prospects: (G) Thomas Greiss of San Jose was the only German drafted in the summer of 2004, and not surprisingly by San Jose who has drafted Germans Marco Sturm, Christian Erhoff, Marcel Goc, Dmitri Patzold, Pat Ehelechner and Kai Hospelt before him. However, this will be Greiss' first season of DEL action and it is planned that he'll be the backup behind stalwart Chris Rogles who is expected to start 95 percent of the games. Greiss will most likely also see playing time in the 'pocal' round and in exhibition games. For the Junior Sharks last season, Greiss played 24 games and had a GAA of 2.61 and save percentage of .910. (F) Kai Hospelt of San Jose was drafted two summers ago and just turned 19 in August. His first full DEL season was nothing to write home about. Coach Hans Zach continually force-fed him power play minutes, but he just wasn't yet up to the challenge and finished the year with four points in 52 games. Several weeks ago he tore his ACL in practice and he'll be out until at least February. In addition, Cologne has a very deep team, so it shouldn't be expected that he finds a spot as a regular any time soon. (F) Eduard Lewandowski of Phoenix has been a stalwart in the German league for several years now. In addition, he has made his way to being one of the National Team's go-to guys. He just recently turned 24 and was discovered after having been invited to summer camps by the Los Angeles Kings. He impressed some scouts and then got drafted by Phoenix in 2003, but there is no sign of him making the jump overseas anytime soon. However, he put up 17-19-36 and 101 PMs in 57 games last season and does get PK and PP duty.

Krefeld Penguins

What a difference a year can make. After finishing sixth and then taking the championship under head coach and Islander legend Butch Goring in 2002-03, the Krefeld Penguins had probably their most disappointing season in the DEL in 2003-04, having barely escaped the relegation round. Goring was one of three coaches (including former Islander coach Bill Stewart) who played part in the ineffectiveness of a club that, on paper, should have been capable of much more. This season looks much different. Although the Caps Robert Mueller remains the No. 1 in net and the defense has only changed slightly, the forward ranks have been revamped and the team is heading into the season as an unexpected quantity. Mueller has been Germany's top goalie aside from Olaf Kolzig for some time now. He is no longer considered a prospect at Hockey's Future but is worth noting because he shared goaltending duties with Olaf Kolzig in the recent World Cup of Hockey and Washington's organization has raved about him. It shouldn't be a surprise if one more solid DEL season lands him in North America by the time the lockout has been completed. He is Krefeld's No. 1 goalie, although out with an injury at the moment.

The success of the team will be made and broken with the results up front. Interestingly enough, the Penguins have reunited center Vadim Slivchenko and winger Alex Selivanov (both of whom have many years of North American experience), who managed to be quite a dynamic duo together in Frankfurt several seasons ago when Selivanov was a top scorer with 61 points in 58 games. As another oddity, the team has also signed German-Korean Martin Hyun who played high school hockey in the US before attending St. Michael's college. Last season, Hyun played for Leuven in Belgium.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: None

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Paul Dyck, Justin Kurtz, Guy Lehoux, Shayne Wright, Scott King, Chris Herperger, Steve Brule, Robert Guillet, Alexander Selivanov, Vadim Slivchenko

Current NHL Prospects: none

Mannheim Adler (Eagles)

With four championship titles on the shelf, the Mannheim Eagles have been the DEL's most successful franchise. This year they look to be as offensively dominant as any DEL team ever has been. No less than 15 players have NHL experience, with three being current NHLers and a total of eight having been regulars at some point. In addition, the team has several of Germany's top players lining up. In Frenchman Cristobal Huet, the Eagles are taking a chance in goal that the lockout will be their key to top goaltending this season. The defense could also use some shoring up, especially after having lost Andy Roach to the St. Louis Blues. No less, the team looks unrivaled on paper and will surely have a big say in who is named champion at the end of this season.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: Goalie Danny Aus den Birken is considered one of Germany's top prospects and was overlooked in the last draft. He'll be the No. 2 this season. Forward Marcus Kink was overlooked as well last summer although he compares very comparably to the already drafted Kai Hospelt (SJ) of Cologne. Center Christoph Ullmann is already 21 but improved in leaps and bounds last season and has become part of the National Team. He could be a late bloomer.

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Cristobal Huet, Andy Delmore, Sven Butenschon, Sascha Goc, Chris Joseph, Francois Groleau, Jason Podollan, Eric Healey, Steve Kelly, Devin Edgerton, René Corbet, John Tripp, Jochen Hecht, Derek Plante

Current NHL Prospects: None

Nuremberg Ice Tigers

American coach Greg Poss has become quite a figure in the German hockey scene. After starting as an unknown in the lower leagues, he's worked his way up to not only a DEL position, but to the National Team as well. After German coach Hans Zach took a surprising step down from the heralded position, German officials ultimately narrowed the search down to the ambitious American who is fairly fluent in German. For good reason, because Greg Poss' teams have always been ready to play and often to overachieve. Nuremberg came in third last season and had a disappointing playoffs. It didn't take long to root out the problems and on paper, Nuremberg appears as ready as anyone to contend for the title. With a proper balance of experience, youth, toughness, offense and defense, the Ice Tigers look to be among the most balanced teams in hockey. The one kink could lie in Czech goalie Adam Svoboda who is yet an unknown commodity in the German league after several solid regular seasons in Pardubice.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: Goalie Lucas Lang is German, but his father is Czech and was a goaltending idol for many years in Germany. Now the 18-year-old is the designated backup goalie and considered a huge talent with the 'right' genes. Also, defeseman Robert Dietrich has played on assorted German select teams and is considered a decent draft possibility next June. Up front, the 6'1" Florian Ondruschka could put himself on the scouting map with a decent introduction in the DEL this season. As overagers, scouts may still wish to keep last season's rookie of the year Felix Petermann in mind, who is expected to take on a great deal more responsibility this year. Petr Fical, Bjorn Bombis, Tomas Martinec may also be on the expanded lists of several NHL scouts.

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Pascal Trepanier, Drew Bannister, Lubomir Sekeras, Mike Green, Sean Tallaire, Brad Tapper, Greg Leeb, Yan Stastny.

Current NHL Prospects: (D) Stefan Schauer of Ottawa spent the 2003-04 season seeing limited ice time for the Cologne Sharks. He registered 1-1-2 and 45 PMs in 50 games. He was however mostly used as the seventh defenseman and there were stretches of games where he saw no ice time at all. This year he's being taken under the wing of National Coach Greg Poss and it appears time will certainly be invested in him, as was the case with last season's Rookie of the Year Felix Petermann. Still, at 6'’1 and 185 lbs., he's still got some filling in to do and Ottawa will take their time with him. His path to North America could be very similar to Ottawa's other pick of a German defenseman, Christoph Schubert, who is starting his third AHL season this year. For this season though, it appears he'll be given the chance to make a huge jump forward in his development.

Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams

The Grizzly Adams are entering their first year of DEL existence. Coming from a town that was little more than a small dot on the map before the Volkswagen car production factories were established, the Grizzly Adams are sponsored by the Czech affiliate of Volkswagen, Skoda, and have a very Slavic touch to them, featuring Slovak coach Stefan Mikes and 6 players from the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Goal number one is to remain in the league, and judging from the line-up, they should have a much better chance than the previously promoted team, the Freiburg Wolves (who were demoted in the same season). There's youth and almost every German on the team already has DEL experience. In addition, many of the players have been playing together for several years in Wolfsburg. With Petr Smrek and Ivan Ciernik, the team has signed two guys who were on the cusp of the NHL for several seasons.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: 5'11, 180-pound youngster Herbert Geisberger will be given a good opportunity to prove he's the hidden talent many in Southern Germany hold him to be. Also, 6'1 190-pound defenseman Sebastian Osterloh is considered a late bloomer at 20.

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Dale Clarke, Petr Smrek, Ivan Ciernik, Todd Simon, Xavier Delisle

Current NHL Prospects: None

Augsburg Panthers

The Panthers just missed the playoffs last season, with the blame going mostly to the goaltending of Swede Magnus Eriksson, whose highly inconsistent performances that plagued the team all season long. Now the new savior between the pipes is former Blue Jackets prospect J-F Labbé. Manager Charlie Fliegauf has one of the DEL's lowest budgets and much of the team's success this season will lie on the shoulders of Labbé. However, Augsburg tends to find diamonds in the rough year after year and this season may be no different. New to the attack are Francois Methot (Portland), Marc Brown (Worcester) and Brian Felsner (Sweden and Switzerland), among others. Still, there's no doubt that Augsburg's success will rest not only on the shoulders of goalie Labbé, but on the continued development and hopeful impact of German talents Manuel Kofler (6'3, 202 lbs.), Bjorn Barta, Pascal Appel and Ronny Arendt.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: None

Players recognizable to fans from North America: J-F Labbé, John Miner, Steve Bancroft, Mike Pudlick, Duanne Moeser, Francois Fortier, Marc Brown, Shawn Carter, Rick Girard, Francois Methot, Brian Felsner

Current NHL Prospects: None

Kassel Huskies

Disappointing in Husky country is of course the fact that US defenseman John-Michael Liles will not be available this season although the team had come to terms with him in August. However, the Huskies, probably the DEL's most successful small-market team over the course of time, are entering this season rather positively. Coach McParland came at the end of last season and now has an idea what to expect in the DEL. Together with manager Joe Gibbs, he has put together a Husky team that has decent goaltending, a multi-dimensional defense and offense, and that possesses promise, experience, size, leadership and speed. Depending on how the new players integrate with each other and in Germany in general, this team really could land anywhere from first to worst, but shouldn't have any problem staying in the playoff race the whole season long. They'll need to in order to retain the following of the diehard yet critical fan groups that have become somewhat spoiled with Kassel's against-all-odds overachievement thus far in the DEL.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: None

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Joaquin Gage, Kirk Furey, Dean Melanson, Christian Laflamme, David Gosselin, Daniel Corso, Ted Drury, Brian Swanson, Daniel Bousquet, Mark Greig

Current NHL Prospects: None

Hannover Scorpions

After having been a fairly successful family undertaking, the Scorpions have gotten new ownership, new management, a new modern arena and a new direction. Long having been known as a team that ignored German talent and rolled the dice season after season with 3 strong lines and little depth thereafter, the Scorpions pretty much hit rock bottom last season. Off-ice problems and interpersonal fiascoes led to a sharp demise and now the Scorpions seem to be starting anew. Management has scoffed at the goal of reaching the playoffs and hopes simply to build a fundamentally strong team that provides its fans with entertaining hockey. However, many think Hannover just might surprise. The team has also come full circle in its philosophy concerning Germans and young talent, having an affiliate and over 16 players 23 or younger in the organization. In addition, the team looks not only deep but solid at every position and ready to compensate any injury from within. Many in the German hockey scene will be watching the Scorpions and their success very closely this season – they may be becoming a model for DEL organizations.

NHL Scouts should keep an eye on: None

Players recognizable to fans from North America: Steve Wilson, Dan Lambert, Todd Hlushko, Jason Cipolla, Marian Cisar, Len Soccio, Patrik Augusta, Mikhail Nemirovsky

Current NHL Prospects: None