Wolfsburg versus Krefeld (Thursday, 8.30 p.m.) – the winner should be clear on paper, but Wolfsburg coach Pat Cortina warns: “It will be a tough task.” Wolfsburg has eight wins in a row and has won the previous three duels with the Rhinelanders. But: Even in the phase when nothing was going at Krefeld, it was tight. And: In the meantime, the penguins have gotten better, scored recently, appear more stable and showed a move against Cologne that can be extremely dangerous. After a face-off win in his own zone, steep pass to the starting ex-grizzly Lucas Lessio. Wolfsburg still knows how the man with the number 6 can go off. In the 3: 1 against Cologne he had three such counterattacks, but only carried out one – to the preliminary 2: 0.
display
The grizzlies, meanwhile, recently proved to be tough on the ice, resisting front-runner Berlin twice in a row and also its physical effort. But Wolfsburg’s manager Charly Fliegauf warns of arrogance: “We are still in the middle of the battle for fourth place. We now have a good starting position, but we have to stick with it.” The serial offenders from Volkswagenstadt roll and roll to eight wins in a row, most recently five in a row in overtime. Keeping the winning streak, maybe getting a threesome again, that’s how the overtime series should like to end. And if there is the next success against Krefeld, the record is set that the Grizzlys set under Pavel Gross in 2015 – with nine wins in a row (with only one overtime win). During the entire season, the Grizzlys got 87 points, which was an average of 1.67 points. Almost exactly the point average of today (1.68). The series ended back then – in Krefeld.
The goal will be guarded by Chet Pickard, as they did last in the victories against Berlin, there could be changes in the field. There are some indications that Jordan Boucher will return to the attack. Cortina believes that Phil Bruggisser remains outside as a surplus foreigner, as he did before.
What he likes is that everyone pulls together. “You work as a team, everyone recognizes that tough, personal decisions that sometimes exist are decisions for the team.” The personnel situation has improved and leaves room for maneuver. The training on Wednesday “wasn’t that good,” said Cortina, indicating that the final decision about a change might not be made until the day of the match.
Wolfsburg couldn’t be beaten recently. Only the Süd-Erste Mannheim coached by Pavel Gross has fewer defeats (3) than Wolfsburg (7). Then why aren’t the grizzlies first in the north? Quite simply: only the bottom lights Nuremberg (4) and Krefeld (3) have less straight wins than the Cortina team (5).
–
Only Armin Wurm is still in advanced training. Fabio Pfohl is not coming back this season after his hand surgery last Friday. “It’s very sad, it hurts a lot,” said Cortina after talking to Pfohl on Tuesdaywhen the center forward returned to Wolfsburg from the clinic in Ludwigshafen. Cortina: “He is an important part of the team for us.”
–
Grizzly striker Toto Rech and his wife Amandine have had a second child. Hector was born on Tuesday. Rech had even played and scored the night before in Berlin – perfect timing. The family now has two boys. Baby there, jammed off? What is strange is: Rech was Wolfsburg’s top scorer with 20 goals and also the second best assists (24) in the preseason. This season he is again third on the internal scorer list, but so far has shone above all with assists. Three goals are rather few for his standards.
–
