Munich, Germany - Expansion team Freiburger Wölfe received a rough welcome from the Berlin Eisbären as the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) started its 10th anniversary season Friday night. Behind five power play goals, Pierre Pagé’s team turned Freiburg’s DEL debut into a rout. Fellow title contender Mannheim and defending champion Krefeld started the new campaign with victories while Cologne and Hamburg stumbled.

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Obviously not distracted by a troubled pre-season, the Berlin Eisbären routed league newcomers Freiburger Wölfe 8-2 (6-0, 1-1, 1-1) at home. Freiburg could not keep up with the high pace and fell apart early on. The Eisbären lit up the scoreboard in the opening twenty minutes, jumping out to a 6-0 lead at the first intermission. Rob Leask notched a pair of goals, Micki DuPont, Andre Rankel, Matthias Forster, Kelly Fairchild and defensemen Keith Aldridge and Darryl Shannon contributed as well. Vadim Slivchenko and Simon Danner scored for Freiburg. Only downside for the Eisbären: Forwards Dave Roberts (knee) and Marc Beaufait (groin strain) left the game with injuries. In the meantime, Brad Bergen and Yvon Corriveau, who got arrested as rape suspects during Berlin’s pre-season trip to Sweden, remain in custody as the investigation continues.

Augsburg: No respect for Hamburg's new King

In Hamburg, the Augsburger Panther spoiled the DEL debut of former NHL and Team Canada coach Dave King. Rick Girard scored with 3:41 to go and Francois Fortier added an empty-netter as Augsburg stunned the Hamburg Freezers on the road, 4-2 (2-0, 0-0, 2-2), giving their new coach Bernie Lapointe a win. Goals from Xavier Delisle and Bob Wren gave the Panther a 2-0 lead at the first intermission, but Hamburg put on a rally early in the third, evening the score at two apiece on tallies from Rene Röthke and Brad Purdie.

Successful debut for Nuremberg’s new coach Greg Poss

New season, old problems: Cologne’s shootout jinx continued as the Kölner Haie were downed by the Nürnberg Ice Tigers 3-2 (0-1, 1-0, 1-1,.1-0) after penalty shootout. Only two minutes in, Eduard Lewandowski skated into the Tigers zone and snapped a wrister past Nuremberg’s netminder Frederic Chabot for the 1-0 lead. Nuremberg turned the momentum, making it 2-1 on a point blast from Lasse Kopitz and a one-timer on the powerplay by Guy Lehoux before Lewandowski sent the game into the extra session, knocking home his own rebound after a bad line change by the Tigers with under six minutes to go. The shootout was over after just three rounds. While Martin Jiranek, Thomas Greilinger and Petr Fical converted the three first shots for Nuremberg, Cologne’s Jeremy Adduono, Kai Hospelt and Steve Palmer were all denied.

Individual mistake spoils Kassel’s good game in Mannheim

Thomas Martinec’s goal with 7:48 left in the third gave the Mannheim Adler a lucky 2-1 (1-0, 0-1, 1-0) home victory over the Kassel Huskies. Mannheim took the lead only 2:14 into the contest when Chris Joseph hammered a slapshot past Huskies goalie Joaquin Gage on an early 5-on-3 power play. Kassel evened the score at 1-1 3:10 into the middle frame when Adler defender Nico Pyka deflected Matthias Trattnig’s shot from the left face-off circle into his own net. Obviously irritated by Mannheim’s aggressive fore-checking, Huskies defender Nick Naumenko, a former Adler, sent an ill-fated pass behind his own net. Adler forward Robert Hock dug out the puck and got it out in front where Martinec knocked home the game-winner.

Home losses for Iserlohn and Hannover

New coach Rich Chernomaz and the Frankfurt Lions opened the new campaign with a convincing 3-1 (0-0, 1-1, 2-0) road win over the Iserlohn Roosters. Jason Cipolla put Iserlohn ahead early in the middle frame, but Frankfurt bounced back with three unanswered scores from Robert Reichel, Pat LeBeau and Dwayne Norris.

Hannover did not have reason to celebrate the return to their old home Wedemark Icehouse. Olle Oest, the new man behind the bench, and his Scorpions where defeated 2-1 (1-1, 0-0, 1-0) by ERC Ingolstadt, the team Oest had saved from relegation last season. Hannover’s Matthias Lööf had opened the scoring only 48 seconds into the contest. Christoph Melischko and Thomas Schinko scored for Ingolstadt.

Defending champs Krefeld get win in Düsseldorf

Defending champions Krefeld Pinguine also started the new campaign with a road victory, downing the Düsseldorfer EG Metro Stars on the road, 2-1 (1-0, 0-1, 0-0, 1-0) after penalty shootout Thursday night. Former DEG forward Marc Beaucage and Rob Guillet scored for Krefeld, while Düsseldorf failed to beat Pinguine netminder Robert Müller in the extra session. A breakaway goal from Pascal Appel had given Krefeld a 1-0 lead midway through the first. But the Metro Stars responded immediately. On the powerplay, they moved the puck quickly around the horn and Jeff Tory got the equalizer on a mighty one-timer from the left point. The DEG dominated the final two periods, but failed to score again. Trond Magnussen blew the biggest chance four minutes into the third when his shot rang off crossbar.