Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers

Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers

Full name	Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers Nürnberg
Founded	1980
Based In	Nuremberg
Arena	Arena Nürnberger Versicherung (Capacity: 8,400)
League	Deutsche Eishockey Liga
Team Colors
Owner(s)	Thomas Sabo
GM	Lenz Funk
Head Coach	Peter Draisaitl
Website	www.icetigers.de

The Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers Nürnberg are a professional ice hockey club located in Nuremberg, Germany. They play in the country's premier league, the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

History

EHC 80 Nürnberg
(1980–1995)

The roots of the team can be traced back to the "SG Nürnberg", a club that played since 1958/59 in 2nd Bundesliga, that folded in spring of 1980 after years of financial trouble. Today's team was founded in 1980 as EHC Nürnberg 1980 e.V., as a non-profit organization. Play started in 1980–81 in the Bavarian state ice-hockey league (German: Eishockey-Bayernliga). After a single season, the team moved up to the Southern Regional league (German: Regionalliga Süd), and was promoted again after just one season in 1983 to the 3rd tier German Ice Hockey league (German: Oberliga Süd).

Nürnberg Ice Tigers
(1995–2006)

By 1987, EHC Nürnberg 1980 moved up to the 2nd Bundesliga. In the early 90's, financial uncertainty around German professional ice-hockey lead to the foundation of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga – DEL. The DEL was modeled after the NHL, with hopes of providing financial stability through licensing and franchising of teams.

EHC Nürnberg 1980 was admitted to the DEL as a founding member on June 13, 1994, one of 6 teams from the 2nd Bundesliga. As the DEL replaced the 1st Bundesliga and now represents the highest level of German professional ice-hockey, this in effect resulted in a promotion. In the first DEL season, the EHC 80 Nürnberg finished the regular season on the 12th place, only to be eliminated in the first playoff round.

For the next season, the professional team was broken out of the non-profit organization and incorporated as the Nürnberg Ice Tigers, with the youth and amateurs keeping the old name.^[1] The 1998–99 DEL season has brought the greatest success so for the for the Tigers; 1st place in the regular season, only to lose in the playoff finals to the Adler Mannheim, who dominated German Ice Hockey in the late 1990s.

Sinupret Ice Tigers
(2006–2009)

In 2006, the Ice Tigers and Bionorica AG, signed a three year agreement giving Bionorica the naming rights to the team. Starting with the 2006–07 DEL season, the team was renamed to Sinupret Ice Tigers, after a Bionorica product.

During the 2008–09 season it became obvious that the Ice Tigers were in a dire financial situation. On November 25, 2008, preliminary insolvency was filed and on December 30, 2008, declared. This led to the corporate sponsor Bionorica pulling their support in March 2009. An investor group led by local jeweler Thomas Sabo intervened on April 3, 2009, pre-empting bankruptcy proceedings and ensuring participation in the 2009–10 season. The team is now known as the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers.

Current roster

view · talk · edit

Updated November 14, 2011.^[2]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
18	Germany !	Aab, VitalijVitalij Aab	7.0 !RW	R	32	2010	Karaganda, Kazakh SSR
33	Germany !	Barta, BjörnBjörn Barta (A)	4.0 !C	L	31	2007	Berlin, Germany
11	Canada !	Bayda, RyanRyan Bayda	6.0 !LW	L	30	2010	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
24	Germany !	Benda, JanJan Benda	4.1 !C/D	L	39	2011	Reet, Belgium
52	Germany !	Butenschön, SvenSven Butenschön	2.0 !D	L	35	2011	Itzehoe, Germany
16	Canada !	Chouinard, EricEric Chouinard	4.0 !C	L	31	2009	Atlanta, Georgia, USA
17	United States !	Collins, ChrisChris Collins	6.0 !LW	L	27	2011	Fairport, New York, USA
25	Germany !	Ehelechner, PatrickPatrick Ehelechner	1.0 !G	L	27	2007	Rosenheim, Germany
90	Germany !	Fischhaber, SimonSimon Fischhaber	7.0 !RW	R	21	2009	Greiling, Germany
81	Germany !	Frosch, DusanDusan Frosch	7.0 !RW	L	30	2010	Hradec Králové, Czechoslovakia
83	Germany !	Grygiel, AdrianAdrian Grygiel	6.0 !LW	R	28	2006	Katowice, Poland
29	Germany !	Jenike, AndreasAndreas Jenike	1.0 !G	L	23	2010	Hamburg, Germany
41	Canada !	Joseph, ShaneShane Joseph	7.0 !RW	R	30	2011	Brooks, Alberta, Canada
21	Canada !	Kemp, T.J.T.J. Kemp	2.0 !D	L	30	2010	Pickering, Ontario, Canada
5	Germany !	Leask, RobRob Leask (C)	2.0 !D	L	40	2009	North York, Ontario, Canada
38	Canada !	Leeb, BradBrad Leeb	7.0 !RW	R	32	2008	Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
19	Canada !	Leeb, GregGreg Leeb (A)	4.0 !C	L	34	2003	Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
31	Canada !	Moss, TylerTyler Moss	1.0 !G	R	36	2011	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
14	Germany !	Oblinger, AlexanderAlexander Oblinger	7.0 !RW	R	22	2010	Augsburg, Germany
8	Canada !	Pollock, JameJame Pollock	2.0 !D	R	32	2011	Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
27	Germany !	Schüle, TimTim Schüle	2.0 !D	L	21	2010	Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany
22	United States !	Stastny, YanYan Stastny	4.0 !C	L	29	2011	Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
77	Canada !	Traynor, PaulPaul Traynor	2.0 !D	L	34	2011	Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
6	Germany !	Walter, MartinMartin Walter	2.0 !D	R	28	2010	Ostrava, Czechoslovakia

Former coaches

• 1994–95 coach Jozef Golonka
• 1995–97 coach Jan Eysselt
• 1997–98 coach Vladimir Vasiliev
• 1998–00 coach Peter Ihnačák
• 2000–02 coach Bob Murdoch
• 2002–03 coach Mike Schmidt
• 2003–05 coach Greg Poss
• 2005–08 coach Benoît Laporte
• 2008–09 coach Andreas Brockmann

All-time records

• The most DEL games for the club: 492 Martin Jiranek
• The most DEL goals for the club: 173 Martin Jiranek
• The most DEL penalty minutes for the club: 576 John Craighead

References

1. ^ Auf den Spuren des EHC Nürnberg 1980 e.V., ehc80.eu
2. ^ "Spieler der Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers 2011/2012" (in German). www.icetigers.de. http://www.icetigers.de/ICETIGERS/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=839&Itemid=67. Retrieved 2011-11-14. 

External links

• Official team website