Everything that has happened so far no longer counts.

When the play-off period begins, as Jason Young, the Frankfurt Lions champion, put it bluntly, "a different life" begins.

Marc Heinrich

sports editor.

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Never in the course of the month-long season in the German Ice Hockey League (2021) is there a greater chance of making a lasting impression in a short time than in the few weeks around Easter, when the fight for the title with the knockout -Duels enters its decisive phase.

The Adler Mannheim also aimed precisely at this change of perspective with their most recent personnel decision.

Don't be a laughing stock again

Young once also played for the traditional club from the Kurpfalz and was also celebrated with him as a champion.

Shortly after the Canadian left the team for Cologne in the late 1990s, his compatriot Bill Stewart hired the Adler as a coach.

The contact between the two sides never broke off after the first joint DEL triumph in 2001.

At the beginning of last week, the man from Toronto, whose piercing gaze and harsh choice of words many players will soon have to get used to, once again took over responsibility for the Mannheim gang.

He should initiate a trend reversal at the last minute and ensure that the Eagles, who, thanks to a pool of sponsors, have the financial means for which they are the envy of the competition, do not make themselves the laughing stock of the fans again.

False start against the penguins

Stewart stepped in as interim coach for the second time.

And for now, not everything went according to plan.

In the main round final against the Krefeld Pinguine, who had been relegated, there was a 2:3 defeat after extra time.

On Sunday, when the DEL drew its interim conclusion before the start of the hot phase, the Adler found themselves in fifth place in the table.

Now they have to deal with the Straubing Tigers in the fight for the big picture, which Stewart also looked after in 2017.

Since then he has worked in many capacities for the Adler, most recently as a scout.

Daniel Hopp called the step of intervening in the sporting management of the team "difficult, but inevitable".

Developments in the past few weeks have been "worrying to dramatic," said Adler's managing director.

Pavel Gross was held accountable for this.

Hopp repeatedly had disagreements with the Czech-born, mainly because Gross was critical of Corona policy.

It was an open secret in the scene that the pedantic ice hockey nerd had long since lost all support from his players.

"It's late, but we have decided to react," Hopp explained the separation.

And he added: "When one door closes somewhere, another one opens."

"The Boys Are Burning"

And through this, Stewart stepped into the Adler cabin on Monday.

“The atmosphere was electrifying.

Everyone sat excitedly in the front centimeters of their place,” the returnee described his impression of the reunion.

“Of course you have to be careful in this situation what you say and how you say it.

But the boys are all on fire, they're in good shape." The team is "physically absolutely fit, it's more about the psyche," said the 64-year-old coach, whom his supporters and critics alternately like to call "Kill Bill" or "Psycho Bill " to name.

Stewart's scandal file is at least as thick as the folder in which his successes are listed: 20 years ago, for example, he and Gross, when he was still employed in Wolfsburg, got into a fight over differences of opinion, in which both suffered facial injuries.

Shortly thereafter, in the deciding match, Stewart feigned fainting so Adler attacker Jan Alston could grind his new runners;

the acting paid off – with the support of the striker, the Mannheimers prevailed.

Also, while working for the Barrie Colts in his native Ontario, Stewart tried to smuggle an undocumented Ukrainian player in the trunk of his car to America: he was caught and banned from entering the United States for six years.

Stewart knows his reputation has suffered from previous antics, but he pleaded for leniency in the judgment.

He said when he started his managerial job in Straubing that he wanted "to be evaluated according to who and how I currently am".

"Bill is 100 percent energy"

His relationship of trust with the Mannheim bosses has grown over the years.

"I can understand that the decisions made invite discussions," said Hopp.

But despite all the "justified criticism" he was convinced that the "necessary quality" was present on the ice to "carry the eagle far".

Manager Jan-Axel Alavaara sounded similar: "Bill is 100 percent energy." Whether it will lead to an explosion in performance or a short circuit in the Mannheim ice hockey system is one of the most exciting questions to be answered in the play-offs from April 10th will give answers.