AMD1

I decided to research my favorite sport, ice hockey, and how it is played and viewed in Germany.

I discovered that Germany has a major professional hockey league, the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, or DEL (www.DEL.org). Although I had some trouble researching the DEL (the website does not offer English coverage of the league), I still managed to find a good deal of information.

14 teams play in the league with teams in cities all across Germany, from Augsberg (where the Panthers play) to Wolfsburg (where the Grizzly Adams play). This makes the league somewhat small, as compared to the American/Canadian league, the NHL (30 teams) and the Russian league, the KHL (24 teams). As of today, the leading team is Eisbaren Berlin (the Berlin Polar Bears!), with the hapless Hanover Scorpions in last place.

The DEL regular season begins in September, and ends in March (somewhat different from the NHL's schedule, which begins in October and goes until April).

One immediately noticeable difference between German professional hockey and North American professional hockey is the jerseys. DEL Jerseys are covered in Sponsor advertisements:

http://www.faceoff.com/5924700.bin?size=620x400

Whereas NHL jerseys are not: http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/569/802/107597173_display_image.jpg?1292473132.

Like any other hockey-loving country, Germany plays at the international level as well. Two of the biggest international hockey competitions are the Winter Olympics, and the World Junior Championship (Officially called the IIHF Under 20 World Championship). The World Juniors is an annual hockey tournament that features the best international youth players, and it is often an opportunity for a young player to show that he belongs in a professional league.

In the World Juniors, there are 4 divisions: The top division, Division I (not the top division, despite the name!), Division II, and Division III. Although each Division holds its own tournament, the one that is most watched is the top division tournament, which determines the overall winner. The last place teams in the top division must play in the relegation round, where they face the best teams from Division 1. The winners of the relegation round get to play in the top division the next year, the losers will play in Division 1. This past year, the Division 1 tournament was played in Garmish-Partenkirschen, Germany. The German Under 20 team played well enough to move up into the top division, where they will compete next year. The 2013 World Juniors Top Division tournament, held in Ufa, Russia, will be an opportunity for the German team to capture their first World Juniors medal.

The Germans have found less success in the Olympics. Their last medal (a bronze) was in 1976. This was technically won by West Germany. (http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=511654)

In the last winter Olympics, Germany finished 11th out of 12 teams.

Overall, I found this information about German Ice Hockey culture to be fascinating. Although Germany is not an international powerhouse in the sport like Canada or Russia, there seems to be a great deal of enthusiasm for the game.

Fun Fact: In the video game NHL 2012, one can play as DEL teams, even matching them up against NHL teams if they wish. I'll be trying this out next time I'm at home!