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Cologne (dpa) - With the derby victory of the Düsseldorfer EG, the German Ice Hockey League has started its new normal after a nine-month break.
At the start of the 27th and at the same time most unusual DEL season, DEG won the 228th Derby at the Kölner Haien with 5: 4 (1: 1, 1: 1, 2: 2) after a penalty shootout.
In the empty arena with a capacity of 18,600 spectators, Charlie Jahnke shot the DEG to victory.
In regular time, Jahnke (33rd) had already met Alexander Karachun (10th), Alex Barta (41st) and Eugen Alanov (47th) for the guests.
Frederik Tiffels (4th), James Sheppard (38th) and Jon Matsumoto (58th / 60th) were successful for Cologne.
Ironically, in the otherwise emotionally charged Rhenish derby - the most prestigious and traditional DEL duel - the TV viewers got a foretaste of the new season, which the clubs planned completely without fans due to the corona pandemic.
On Thursday every command could be heard on the ice.
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Unlike usual, there was no heated atmosphere in the stands, the usual derby character was missing.
Only the obligatory Cologne carnival music boomed as loudly as usual from the arena boxes, but this time only sounded the teams.
On the ice, both opponents, who had been weakened as a replacement, owed a lot.
The Cologne-based company in particular can no longer react to failures in terms of personnel for financial reasons.
Given that the players waived 60 percent of their salary, the Haie team recently had to agree to Mike Zalewski's commitment.
The US striker is now playing for the minimum wage of 9.50 euros per hour.
Especially for Cologne with the normally highest average attendance in the league, the season is troubled by empty ranks.
The start of the season has been postponed twice so far.
With a few exceptions, the DEL is to be played every day until mid-March.
The 38 instead of the usual 52 main round match days are being cut up to accommodate TV partner MagentaSport.
The Eisbären Berlin will compete against Bremerhaven on Friday.
To minimize the risk of infection, the clubs play in a north and a south group.
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The first four teams in each group play the champions in shortened playoffs.
The previous season was canceled in March without a master's freestyle.
Since the teams only receive around 300,000 euros in TV money per season, they are particularly dependent on ticket revenues.
The season, which has now been shortened, was only made possible by the players' wages, additional sponsorship money and state aid.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201217-99-736302 / 3
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