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The Eisbären Berlin have grabbed the ice hockey jubilee title and crowned them 100th German champions.
With the 2: 1 (1: 1, 1: 0, 0: 0) in the decisive third playoff final against the Grizzlys Wolfsburg, the former series champion made his eighth title perfect since 1995.
For coach Serge Aubin's team, Mark Olver (2nd minute) and Leo Pföderl (24th) met.
Wolfsburg was only successful through Mathis Olimb (3rd) and also missed out on the fourth final in the German Ice Hockey League. Coach Pat Cortina's team had only won the first playoff final last Sunday (3-2 after extra time). As in the quarter and semi-finals, the polar bears came back with two wins in the final and won their first championship title in eight years. Last year, the season at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic was canceled after the main round without a master's freestyle.
The Eisbären, who were slightly favored by two outsiders in the final, had already triumphed 4-1 in Wolfsburg on Wednesday.
The decisive match on Friday started intensely and was largely even.
Wolfsburg initially pressed, but Berlin scored.
Olver gave the Eisbären the lead with the first ever Berlin goal, but the Grizzlys equalized 25 seconds later.
Early deficit: The grizzlies Armin Wurm, Dustin Strahlmeier and Phillip Bruggisse (from left) cannot prevent the 0: 1
Source: dpa / Andreas Gora
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However, Olimb's first play-off goal shouldn't have counted.
Wolfsburg's Valentin Busch had previously lost his helmet, but still illegally played the puck.
The referee duo Andre Schrader and Marian Rohatsch did not recognize the rule violation and allowed the game to continue.
The game went on intensely and at eye level.
Shortly before the first third break, Wolfsburg was unlucky when ex-international Garrett Festerling injured himself and initially did not come back on the ice.
In addition, in the important duel between the two goalkeepers, Berlin's national goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger again made a slightly better impression.
In the middle section, the polar bears took the lead again through national striker Pföderl and then continued to play in a focused and disciplined manner.
Winning goal: Berlin's Marcel Noebels, Lukas Reichel, Leonhard Pföderl, Kai Wissmann and Frank Hördler cheer Pföderl's 2-1
Source: dpa / Andreas Gora
In the final third, the grizzlies tried everything again and tried to finish faster.
However, the strong Niederberger in the Berliner Tor ruined everything.
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With that, a completely unusual season came to an end under special circumstances.
The DEL had postponed the start of the season twice last year because the clubs were initially unable to cope with the waiver of spectator income.
Only when the players had waived a large part of their salaries did the game start a week before Christmas with a significantly reduced playing time with a different format.
Ice hockey was played in two groups (north and south) almost every day without spectators.
Preliminary round and play-offs were shortened: only two instead of four victories were necessary to win the title and advance in the decision-making round.
That too benefited Berlin and Wolfsburg.
Wolfsburg had eliminated top favorites Adler Mannheim with two wins in the semifinals.
The other DEL top team EHC Red Bull Munich had already been eliminated in the quarter-finals against Ingolstadt.
It is still unclear whether the season can start again under normal conditions in September as planned.