HC Landsberg has landed a real transfer coup ahead of the new season of the Ice Hockey Bayernliga: Defenceman and last year's captain Christopher Kasten joins the Riverkings from Memmingen.
The 34-year-old has an impressive career to date. He brings with him the experience of 137 DEL2 games and 466 Oberliga games, in which he scored over 300 points.
HCL vice-president Michael Grundei is accordingly happy about the prominent new signing. 'With Christopher Kasten, we have been able to sign a real top defenceman. As captain in Memmingen, he has shown that he can not only play an important role on the ice, but also in the locker room.'
Kasten himself is also looking forward to the new task. 'Having worked in Landsberg for quite a time, the move was a natural choice. I had good discussions with the people in charge and the coach here, who I still know as a player.' He likes the idea 'and the concept of playing at the top of the Bayernliga with a young squad and fast, passionate ice hockey,' Kasten continued in his first statement.
HC Landsberg players and coaches were honoured with three awards in the sports magazine "Eishockeynews" - a great success for the young squad.
After the past Bayernliga season, the magazine regularly honours the best players of the past season and this time three Riverkings landed on the podium.
Lukas Hess was voted best rookie of the season. Landsberg's Frantisek Wagner came second in the vote for the overall best player (out of over 300 players). Martin Hoffmann also came second in the Coach of the Year voting.
"We are of course very proud that three players from our club did so well! It's a reward for their hard work during the season," said club president Frank Kurz. "We are even prouder that all three will continue to be active for us on and off the ice in the coming season."
After the season is before the season - and the HC Landsberg squad continues to take shape. The Bayernliga ice hockey team has now announced that Lars Grözinger, one of its key players, is staying on board.
The Riverkings have thus also signed their second-best scorer for another year. The 30-year-old native of Stuttgart scored a strong 46 points in 35 games last season. Sporting director Michael Grundei on the forward with extensive DEL2 and Oberliga experience: "Lars is an important player for us, and not just because of his point total. With his understanding of the game and his demeanour, he can lead a line very well. He is one of the main pillars of our young and hungry team."
"We're on the right track with our development, but we're nowhere near the end yet," says Grözinger himself. "We want to take another step forward in the coming season, and I want to play my part in that. With our sensational fans behind us, both home and away games are a lot of fun. We will work hard again in the summer to play at least as successful a season."
HC Landsberg has been eliminated from the play-off series of the ice hockey Bayernliga against TSV Peißenberg. However, the Riverkings again put up a tough fight in the fifth game against the second-placed team in the table and lost by the narrowest of margins.
4:5 (after overtime), 3:2, 4:5 and 2:4 - the first four games of the play-offs had already been tough. Once again, the more than 2100 spectators (including almost 500 fans travelling from Landsberg) in Peißenberg got to see a fast-paced derby with the best chances on both sides. Once again, there was no sign of any difference between the runners-up and the seventh-placed team in the preliminary round.
After seven minutes, Benz even gave Landsberg a deserved lead in the opposing arena. Both goalkeepers then made a number of great saves from the teams. At the start of the second period, however, Borst had no chance in the Landsberg goal when Andrä equalised at 1:1.
Ondörtoglu then took advantage of one of the few moments of inattention in the HCL backline in the 48th minute to make it 2:1 for Peißenberg, which remained the score until the final buzzer, even though the Riverkings had taken off their goalkeeper in favour of a sixth outfield player.
The team can now head into the summer break with their heads held high after a strong performance. "I'm very proud of my team," said coach Martin Hoffmann after the game. "Many young players have developed well over the course of the season, and we want to continue working on that in the future." In addition to the fans, he also thanked the sponsors. "Without them it wouldn't work, together we are HC Landsberg."
HC Landsberg put up a good fight on the first play-off weekend of the Ice Hockey Bayernliga, winning its home game against TSV Peißenberg 3:2. The score in the play-off series (best-of-seven) is now 1:1.
The young Landsberg team had already sold itself extremely expensively in the away game in Peißenberg. The Riverkings managed to keep the game on a knife-edge throughout the second-placed team in the table thanks to their unbridled commitment. Benz even gave Landsberg a brief 4:3 lead in the final period before Murphy equalised for the home side. Pastachak then scored in overtime to give the favourites the decisive 5:4.
350 fans had already supported the Riverkings in Peißenberg, and two days later over 1400 spectators turned up at the Landsberg ice rink. They once again saw an intense and exciting game with great chances on both sides. After Hegner had given Landsberg an early 1:0 lead, Peißenberg initially turned the game around with two goals. However, the HCL never gave up and managed to make it 2:2 through Stauder in double overtime and 3:2 through Neal shortly before the end. With a lot of fighting spirit and commitment, the hosts even survived a double deficit in the last one and a half minutes and brought the much-acclaimed victory to the finish.
Goals for Landsberg in game 1: Wagner (2), Heß, Benz
Goals for Landsberg in game 2: Hegner, Stauder, Neal