The Löwen Frankfurt are about to be promoted to the German Ice Hockey League (DEL).
In the DEL2 final on Friday, the Hessians achieved the decisive fourth win in the "best-of-seven series" with a 2:1 (0:0, 1:1, 1:0) at the Ravensburg Towerstars.
Thus, the lions are about to jump into the first division as sporting champions.
If the Frankfurters get the DEL license, they will replace the Krefeld penguins in the top German division.
The two-time champion was relegated as the bottom of the DEL main round.
The Krefelders have been the first team to be relegated since 2006, when the Kassel Huskies were hit.
In the coming season, 15 clubs will start in the top division, two will be relegated at the end of the season.
The lions, who submitted their DEL license application in February, advanced in the quarter- and semi-finals with 4-0 series wins against the Freiburg wolves and the Heilbronner Falken and thus ended the DEL2 play-offs undefeated.
A novelty, because no team in the history of the DEL2 has managed such a series.
The decision in Ravensburg was made on Friday by defender Reid McNeill (55th), who was re-signed during the season.
It is currently still uncertain whether the club will also exercise the right of promotion.
After the start of the Russian war of aggression, the lions parted ways with major sponsor VTB Bank Europe, a European bank with ties to Russia.
This separation from the sponsor left a gap in the sponsorship budget.
Frankfurt last played with the previous club Lions Frankfurt from 1994 to 2010 in the DEL.
In 2004, the Lions became German ice hockey champions.