DEL playoff moments: EHC Red Bull München v Kölner Haie 2015/16

Monday, 11. March 2024 | DEL playoff moments: EHC Red Bull München v Kölner Haie 2015/16

Playoff moments, part one: Eleven seconds for eternitySöderholm looks back on legendary semi-final against Cologne// PLAYOFF-MOMENTSPlayoffs, baby! On 16 March, EHC Red Bull München kicks off the "hottest time" of the year again. To get you in the right mood, we're taking a look back at some very special playoff series from the past. We start in 2016.

Match puck for the Red Bulls! With a 3:1 series lead behind them, our team went into the home game against the Kölner Haie on April 8, now eight years ago. So another win would mean a first-time appearance in the final.

And it was precisely this fifth semi-final duel against the cathedral city team that was to become one of the craziest games in our club's history. One of the main protagonists at the time: our current coach.

Assist Toni Söderholm, goal Frank Mauer

Everything went according to plan in the Olympic Ice Stadium until the 49th minute. Munich led 4:2 and had one foot in the final series. But then Cologne's Andreas Falk scored ten minutes before the end to tie the game. The prelude to a highly dramatic final phase.

Toni Söderholm took a penalty in the 58th minute and the Sharks put all their eggs in one basket. Goalie Gustav Wesslau went off the ice, 6:4 overtime, crunch time! And indeed: Dragan Umicevic actually managed to equalize at 59:26 minutes, Cologne was back. It smelled like overtime. Or did it?

No! Because the next eleven seconds were historic. Munich gained possession immediately after the face-off and played quickly forward. Dominik Kahun passed to our then defender Söderholm, who found Frank Mauer. Pass, reception, goal - time stood still at 59:37 minutes! Oberwiesenfeld shook, the clock ticked down. FINALE!

"You just keep playing"

Our Head Coach still has the crazy final sequence in mind today. "One step led to another. I saw that Cologne were getting a penalty. And then I skated forward with them and Dominik passed me the disk. I saw that Franky was open. And he then used my pass," said Söderholm, describing the scene.

Servus Eisstadion | Die Red Bulls verabschieden sich vom Olympia-Eisstadion

// HIGHLIGHTS

At first, it was not a question of taking the lead again immediately. After all, time was running out and the late equalizer had to be digested. "I didn't go onto the ice for the last change and think: 'Right, now we'll score the goal to make it 5:4'. You just keep playing," the now 45-year-old looks back. Until events took their course...

First flight with obstacles

So the series against the Sharks was over, Munich didn't have to go to the cathedral city again. Fortunately. Because the journey to game four was problematic. Söderholm remembers: "The outward flight! I don't remember exactly whether we landed head first or how we landed. But it was certainly a very stormy flight."

The desire to make the trip to the Rhine again was limited. "That's when I said: 'No, flying to Cologne is enough now. Now we have to move on,'" said our former number 26, and that's exactly what happened.

Hockey HALLEluja gave the starting signal

The last-second win against Cologne was another key event on the way to our first championship title on April 22, 2016 at the Grizzlys Wolfsburg. For Söderholm and the Red Bulls, the journey began months earlier. "After the first Hockey HALLEluja games, we grew together and became stronger and stronger. Everyone sensed that the chance to win the championship was there."

We remember: at the end of December 2015, Munich won 6:3 in the derby against the Augsburg Panthers and 3:0 against the Eisbären Berlin for the ice hockey festivities in the Olympic Hall. Obviously two cornerstones for the later success.

Together to success

Let's go back to the late winning goal in the legendary semi-final game five. Because the goal described the mindset of the Munich team at the time, which was unstoppable from then on at the latest and marched on to win the title. "Everyone contributed. And that gave us the feeling that we were unstoppable," said Söderholm.

Above all, the many different characters in the team were the deciding factor. Söderholm names one player as an example: "Jason Jaffray came in as a new player that year. A brutal character player! You could always rely on him." The Canadian moved from the St. John's IceCaps to the Bavarian capital in 2015 and scored once in each of his first eight DEL games. Jaffray thus set a league record that still stands today.

You could go through every single name. "That was a team that found each other and fit together. I associate many wonderful experiences with that time," concludes our head coach.

And now it's time to write a new chapter!