Munich, Germany - One new team (Freiburg), one brand-new arena (Ingolstadt), eight new head coaches and several new faces in the rink…

Although the off-season was relatively quiet in comparison to previous years, lots of changes have taken place in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga since Krefeld’s Gary Shuchuk hoisted the DEL championship trophy in mid-April. Before the league opens its tenth anniversary season September 4, prohockey.de will bring you up-to-date on all the major personnel changes and other on- and off-ice developments around the league. To start off our multi-part season preview, we take a closer look at the new skippers.

Schwenningen out, Freiburg in

For the first time in years, the DEL off-season was not overshadowed by month-long speculations about teams ceasing or relocating. After losing a league-record three teams (Munich Barons, Revier Löwen Oberhausen and Berlin Capitals) in 2002, the summer of 2003 was almost atypically quiet. The Frankfurt Lions caught a big break when the Schwenninger Wild Wings franchise was revoked by the league in early April. Frankfurt was supposed to be relegated to Division-2 when the dismal team was downed by Schwenningen in six games in the so-called “play-downs”, but got off the hook because the Wings had to file for bankruptcy. With Schwenningen gone, only nine of 18 charter members are left in the DEL: Augsburg, Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Kassel, Krefeld, Mannheim and Nürnberg.

Schwenningen’s place will be taken by expansion team Wölfe Freiburg, which is located just about 40 miles west. The team is coached by 51-year-old Thomas Dolak, who led the Wölfe to the Division-2 championship last year. The Czech native also happens to be the father of Hannover Scorpions forward Thomas Dolak.

Four coaches switch jobs within the league

Returned to Switzerland: Sean Simpson First DEL head coaching job: German Axel Kammerer

Eight of the 14 DEL teams have hired new coaching staffs. Besides Dolak, championship coach Butch Goring (Krefeld Pinguine), Hans Zach (Kölner Haie), Bill Stewart (Adler Mannheim), Michael Komma (Düsseldorfer EG Metro Stars) and Pierre Pagé (Eisbären Berlin) kept their jobs – all with teams that made the playoffs last season.

Four coaches switched jobs within the league. Swede Gunnar Leidborg did not get a contract extension in Kassel despite making the playoffs. After two coaching changes last year, the Hannover Scorpions hope that Leidborg can bring some continuity to the organisation. The 48-year-old has a lot of DEL experience. He also coached Schwenningen, the Berlin Capitals and Revier Löwen Oberhausen and had two tenures with the Augsburg Panthers. He will be re-united with director of player personnel Olle Öst, who head coached Ingolstadt in the second half of last season, hoping to revive the successful work the Swedish duo did for the Caps a couple of years ago.

Rookie head coach Axel Kammerer succeeds Leidborg in Kassel. The 39-year-old, who worked as an assistant for the Kölner Haie last season, is a very familiar in the Kassel Huskies organisation and knows many of the players very well. He spent two seasons in Kassel as an assistant coach on Hans Zach’s staff between 2000 and 2002.

After a dismal season, Lance Nethery stepped back from his head coaching position with the Frankfurt Lions. Now in a front office position, Nethery hired his old buddy and former assistant Rich Chernomaz as new head coach. Coming off a mediocre season with the Augsburger Panther, Frankfurt hopes that Chernomaz can spark the team the way he did when he turned Cologne’s season around in 2002, eventually leading the Haie to a surprise championship – after taking over from Nethery at mid-season. Chernomaz will try to do a complete overhaul in Frankfurt. Only five players from last season’s squad are still around.

After a so-and-so season under Mike Schmidt, who is now an assistant with the Hamburg Freezers, expectations are high in Nuremberg. The Nürnberg Ice Tigers availed themselves the services of Greg Poss. The 37-year-old American finally decided to leave the Iserlohn Roosters after a six-year tenure. Gradually turning a low-budget team into a playoff contender despite losing his top players to big-money teams year after year earned Poss the reputation of being one of the best coaches in the DEL.

King takes reins in Hamburg

Re-united with buddy Lance Nethery: Rich Chernomaz Gunnar Leidborg begins his 7th tenure as a DEL head coach

Probably the most prominent face among the coaches with no prior DEL experiences is 55-year-old Dave King, a former NHL head coach with Calgary and Columbus, who took reins at the Hamburg Freezers. Prior to joining the NHL, the Saskatchewan native spent almost a decade with the Canadian National Hockey Program, winning a gold medal at the 1982 World Junior Championships and silver medals at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in Albertville, France, and the 1989 and 1991 IIHF World Championships. King, whose son Scott is entering his second DEL season with the Iserlohn Roosters, replaces Sean Simpson. Simpson left the DEL after four successful seasons with the now defunct Munich Barons and the Freezers. His biggest success came in his inaugural season in the league, when he guided the newly-formed Barons to a surprise championship in their first year of existence in 1999-2000.

Augsburg and Iserlohn bring in championship coaches

The Augsburger Panther and Iserlohn Roosters also put their fates into the hands of Canadian coaches with no prior DEL experience. Both Augsburg’s Benoit Laporte and Iserlohn’s Dave Whistle have collected several championship rings abroad though. 43-year-old Montreal-native Laporte won the French title with Rouen as a player-coach in 1995 and added another ring with Asiago of the Italian league in 2001. Iserlohn hired Superleague coaching whiz Whistle, who is coming off a championship run with the Belfast Giants. In only five years of head coaching, the only 37-year-old Ontario-native has already won three championship rings in the British Superleague, two with Belfast and one with the Bracknell Bees.

Kennedy makes DEL comeback

Last but not least, second-year team ERC Ingolstadt signed Ron Kennedy, long-time head coach of the Austrian National Hockey Program. The 50-year-old, who also worked as an assistant for the New York Islanders, is not a DEL newcomer. During the late 90’s, the Saskatchewan-native worked as a head coach for EC Hannover (now defunct) and the Berlin Eisbären. Kennedy’s biggest successes on the club level came in Austria where he led Villacher SV to two championships. He will be assisted by Tom Pokel, who head coached the Schwenninger Wild Wings last season. To add another former head coach to the mix: Jim Boni, who led Ingolstadt to the DEL but got ousted midway through the inaugural season, makes a surprise comeback, joining Ingolstadt as director of player personnel. The team will open its new homestead, SaturnArena, October 3.