When on Friday evening (7.30 p.m. at Magentasport) the Düsseldorfer EG takes on the Frankfurt lions in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) in the ice rink on Ratsweg, it will become clear how the lions have developed.

At the preparatory tournament at the end of August, Frankfurt lost 5-2.

With the aggressive attacking Düsseldorfers, who played their way in front of the goal with precise passes, the back team of the lions was overwhelmed.

But the circumstances were different: the team had not really found each other and had only played together for a few weeks.

Trust pays off

The fact that the team is now more attuned became clear on the first DEL game weekends.

The 22-year-old Dominik Bokk was particularly strong.

The striker has already scored seven times for the lions, he prepared three more goals - and that in just seven games.

At his employer last season, the DEL champions Eisbären Berlin, he wasn't that convincing.

At the end of last season, Bokk had scored just five goals in 26 games for Berlin.

The trust that sporting director Franz-David Fritzmeier placed in the young talent is paying off.

"I said to him when he made the commitment: You have to help us and we'll help you," says the sporting director.

In Frankfurt, Bokk plays in the first offensive row, thus promoting the Frankfurt offensive game and is also the focus of the entire league.

No player has scored more goals than him.

The Carolina Hurricanes from the National Hockey League (NHL), who loaned Bokk to Frankfurt, will also follow the development closely after his conscious regression to a DEL promotion.

Week after week, Bokk has been able to prove that his undisputed qualities on the ice would also suit an NHL club in the long term.

But not only Bokk convinces, his colleagues in the offensive line Carter Rowney and Brendan Ranford are among the best scorers and assists in the league.

With twelve goals, this series alone has scored almost half of all 26 Frankfurt league goals.

"During preparation, I was still concerned about how many goals we could score.

Now we have shown that things are going well,” said Fritzmeier.

In the seven friendlies, the lions only scored 14 goals.

All are encouraged

The nominal fourth row also plays a part in the fact that things are going well on the offensive.

Brett Breitkreuz, Rylan Schwartz and Nathan Burns have scored important goals on several occasions.

It is still unclear whether Frankfurt's second-best goalscorer Breitkreuz will be back on the ice this weekend.

In the 3:4 defeat in Straubing he was injured.

Even in the second division, not only the established players were promoted in Frankfurt.

The intensive work of the coaching team around Gerry Fleming with the young players is already paying off.

At other clubs, the talented players are pushed to the fourth row and rarely used.

In Frankfurt, all four rows are used, which is a trump card for Frankfurt in terms of strength.

In addition to the power within a game, this also harbors further potential.

With regular match practice, young players like defender Daniel Wirt can continue to develop and mature into seasoned DEL players.

While the lions' offensive works very well and provides goals, things are not going well on the defensive.

The lions have already conceded 23 goals in seven games.

Only the bottom of the table from Iserlohn and the Nuremberg Ice Tigers conceded more goals.

In addition to preventing goals being conceded, work is also being done to improve the majority situation in training, reports the sporting director.

Fritzmeier makes it clear to the players: "If we are good as a team and each player works hard individually, then that is an advantage for both sides." With a good team performance as a basis and the qualitative advantages of the individual players, the weak preparatory game against the Düsseldorfer EG be compensated.