Bears take the lead – Eishockey.net

EHC Neuwied is the leader of the Central European Hockey League (CEHL) after the first weekend of the season. The Bears are in first place as the only team without a loss of points. “I congratulate my team on this start to the season,” said coach Leos Sulak after the 6:4 win on Saturday evening against the defending Liège Bulldogs and the 10:3 victory less than 24 hours later in front of 906 spectators in the Icehouse at home against the Mechelen Golden Sharks . “The results really couldn’t have gone better,” emphasized Sulak. Mechelen’s coach Gil Paelinck had to realize that his team had no chance in the dike city: “It’s difficult to say anything positive.” We were completely dominated by Neuwied.”

This dominance was already reflected in the result in the first minute. After Mechelen was unable to capitalize on its first offensive action, the Bears countered and took the lead through returner Michael Jamieson. It was the start of a brilliant first third for EHC. With the advantage, Jeff Smith increased the lead to 2-0 (7th) after a remarkable combination and the front row continued seamlessly. After a stronger capture of the puck, Jeff Smith served his neighbor Juuso Rajala – 3-0 (9th). And Smith even made it 4-0 before the first break (20th). Jamieson’s dream pass set the captain in the spotlight, who went around goalkeeper Ignace van Noten and gave him the disadvantage again. Not only the clear interim result, but also the way in which last season’s runner-up presented themselves was convincing and made it clear that manager Carsten Billigmann seems to have put together a powerful team.

The middle section was just 35 seconds old when Jamieson and Smith had their fourth scorer point and Rajala had already scored his fifth. The latter two contributed the assists, Jamieson completed. But the Sulak team is more than just its front row this season. Goal number six was scored by new signing Tjalf Deichmann (29th), before it was Smith’s turn again (34th).

The Belgian guests scored six times against the Leuven Chiefs on Friday evening and mainly scored with their Canadian newcomer Levi Glasman. Mechelen’s offense was much less effective against the Bears. The guests still managed to score three goals before the three-and-a-half-hour bus journey home.

Leos Sulak used the time from the second third onwards to vary the ranks and try things out. Lukas Schulte also replaced Jan Guryca in goal after 40 minutes. Even in the new constellations, the EHC game was still impressive. Maksim Anton increased the score to 8:1 in front of the goal (43′), Artjom Alexandrov was the second newcomer after Deichmann to get on the top scorer’s list (50′) and local hero Kirill Litvinov increased the score to double figures (55′).

On Saturday, the Deichstädters took revenge in Liège for their final defeat in the spring. The guests were behind 0:1, 1:3 and 3:4, but turned things around in the final phase. “It was a close game until the end in which we weren’t very confident defensively,” noted coach Sulak. But a victory in Liège will still be achieved first. The new goals were scored by Finn Walkowiak (24th), Michael Jamieson (37th), Jeff Smith (40th), Nolan Renke (56th), Artur Tegkaev (58th) and Artjom Alexandrov (60th).

The EHC will only be required once this coming weekend. On Friday evening they play at Ultim Air Hijs Hokij in The Hague from 8.15 p.m. It will be the first game of the season for the Dutch.