The game of the currently unfit Iserlohn Roosters on Friday against Adler Mannheim in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) has been canceled. An alternative date is not fixed yet. The Roosters announced on Wednesday. On Tuesday they made another corona outbreak public, according to which 25 cases were diagnosed in the area around the Sauerland.
The game of EHC Red Bull Munich on Friday against Straubing will probably be postponed, an official decision is still pending. Several players are currently infected again at Munich. The DEL hopes that the currently applicable quarantine times for contact persons of infected people will be reduced. If this does not happen, catch-up games could also become an issue during the actually planned Olympic break in February. At the moment there are still enough alternative dates, it was said on Wednesday on request.
The repeated corona outbreaks are also increasingly preoccupying national coach Toni Söderholm.
The final squad list for the Winter Games in Beijing must be given to the German Olympic Sports Confederation by January 21st.
Since the DEL has more and more catch-up games to play by the end of January, isolation of the Olympic participants for several days before their departure to Beijing on February 2nd is almost utopian.
Söderholm should wait until shortly before the deadline to name the Olympic squad and also to inform the players.
A refusal by the DEL clubs to release players for the Olympics - as happened by the North American professional league NHL - is not an issue and would not be possible because of the cooperation agreement with the German Ice Hockey Federation.