Hamburg Freezers

Hamburg Freezers
City	Hamburg, Germany
League	Deutsche Eishockey Liga
Founded	1999 as Munich Barons
Home arena	Barclaycard Arena Hamburg
Colors	Light Blue, Navy, White, Gray
General manager	Stéphane Richer
Head coach	Serge Aubin
Captain	Christoph Schubert
Website	hamburg-freezers.de
Franchise history
1999–2002	Munich Barons
2002–present	Hamburg Freezers

The Hamburg Freezers are a member of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) that play their games in Hamburg, Germany. Originally known as the Munich Barons from 1999 until 2002, team owner Philip Anschutz, who also owns Eisbären Berlin, relocated the franchise to Hamburg for financial reasons on 3 June 2002, and renamed the team Hamburg Freezers. Their German nickname is Eisschränke (iceboxes).

The team's official colours are crystal blue and white and they play their home games in the O₂ World Hamburg, which has a capacity of 12,947. The Hamburg Freezers have yet to win a league title, but they did reach the play-off semifinals in 2004; their greatest success to date.

Goaltender Jean-Sébastien Giguère suited up for the Freezers during the 2004–05 NHL lockout season. Giguère played six games for Hamburg and posted a .925 save percentage, with a goals against average of 2.39.

During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn lined up for the Freezers in 19 games, amassing 7 goals and 13 assists, earning him a player of the month award for November.

History

The Hamburg Freezers were founded in 2002, when the Munich Barons franchise was moved to Hamburg in northern Germany. The reason for the move was due to low turnouts and financial issues; Munich Barons had an average turnout of under 3,000 spectators, even though the team were crowned league champions in 2000. Despite being the second biggest city in Germany, Hamburg had no representation in the country's top league and was chosen as the next destination for the franchise. The decision seemed to pay off; in their first season, the attendance average was over 5,000, and the team finished in 8th place, making it through to the play-off quarter finals.

In the next 10 years, attendance figures have grown and the average attendance in 2011/12 was over 9,200. Only twice in the team's history have the Freezers failed to make the play-offs, although they have yet to secure a league title.

Rivals

Most of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga teams are based in the south and south west of the country, meaning there are very few local rivals for Hamburg. Being the northernmost franchise in the league, the team have adopted the motto 'Der Norden Sind Wir' (We are the North). However, the Freezers do enjoy 'northern derbies' against two other franchises; Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg and Hannover Scorpions.

The team's main rivals are, unsurprisingly, the team from Germany's biggest city; Eisbaren Berlin. These games often have an extra edge to them, as fans are eager for their side to claim bragging rights.

Mascot

Hamburg Freezer's mascot is Stanley the Lion, 'cousin' of Bailey the Lion of the LA Kings. Freezers' owners, Anschutz Entertainment Group, are also owners of the Kings and made the decision to replace the old yeti mascots with a lion; just like their Stanley Cup winning team's mascot.

Season records

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tie	OTL	SOL	Points	Goals for	Goals against	Rank	Playoffs
2002–03	52	27	19	6	0	-	77	154	152	8	Lost in Quarterfinals
2003–04	52	32	17	0	3	-	95	151	115	3	Lost in Semifinals
2004–05	52	26	24	0	2	-	76	133	148	8	Lost in Quarterfinals
2005–06	52	29	17	-	0	6	85	144	145	6	Lost in Quarterfinals
2006–07	52	32	19	-	1	2	83	169	153	7	Lost in Quarterfinals
2007–08	56	28	20	-	1	7	87	194	171	7	Lost in Quarterfinals
2008–09	52	27	19	-	2	4	82	158	147	8	Lost in Quarterfinals
2009–10	56	20	31	-	4	1	61	162	200	14	No Playoffs
2010–11	52	23	21	-	3	5	69	135	161	11	No Playoffs
2011–12	52	28	24	-	3	2	83	149	149	5	Lost in Quarterfinals
2012–13	52	24	18	-	3	4	85	158	130	5	Lost in Quarterfinals
2013–14	52	30	13	-	5	1	102	162	116	1	Lost in Semifinals
2014–15	52	28	17	-	3	4	90	161	154	4	Lost in Quarterfinals
2015–16	52	18	22	-	3	3	72	142	166	11	No Playoffs

Current Roster

Updated September 16, 2015.^[1]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
35		Caron, SébastienSébastien Caron	G	L	35	2013	Amqui, Quebec, Canada
10		Davies, MichaelMichael Davies	RW	R	29	2015	Chesterfield, Missouri, USA
19		Dupuis, PhilippePhilippe Dupuis	C	R	31	2013	Laval, Quebec, Canada
2		Festerling, BrettBrett Festerling	D	L	30	2014	Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada
14		Festerling, GarrettGarrett Festerling	C	R	30	2010	Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada
90		Flaake, JeromeJerome Flaake	RW	L	26	2010	Guben, Germany
70		Hafenrichter, JaroslavJaroslav Hafenrichter	LW	L	26	2015	Chomutov, Czechoslovakia
33		Jakobsen, JulianJulian Jakobsen	C	L	29	2012	Aalborg, Denmark
3		Klassen, SamSam Klassen	D	L	27	2014	Watrous, Saskatchewan, Canada
30		Kotschnew, DimitrijDimitrij Kotschnew	G	L	34	2012	Karaganda, Kazakh SSR
21		Krämmer, NicoNico Krämmer	LW	L	23	2012	Landshut, Germany
46		Liwing, JonasJonas Liwing	D	R	33	2015	Stockholm, Sweden
9		Madsen, MortenMorten Madsen	LW	L	29	2013	Rødovre, Denmark
47		Mitchell, AdamAdam Mitchell	RW	R	33	2013	Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada
40		Müller, MarcelMarcel Müller	LW	L	27	2015	Berlin, Germany
17		Oppenheimer, ThomasThomas Oppenheimer (A)	C	R	27	2010	Peissenberg, Germany
36		Roy, MathieuMathieu Roy (A)	D	R	32	2012	Saint-Georges, Quebec, Canada
32		Schmidt, KevinKevin Schmidt	D	L	30	2011	North York, Ontario, Canada
13		Schubert, ChristophChristoph Schubert (C)	D	L	34	2010	Munich, Germany
26		Sertich, MartyMarty Sertich	C	L	33	2014	Roseville, Minnesota, USA
37		Sullivan, SeanSean Sullivan	D	L	32	2015	Boston, Massachusetts, USA
89		Wolf, DavidDavid Wolf	W	L	26	2015	Düsseldorf, Germany

References

1. "Hamburg Freezers roster" (in German). Hamburg Freezers. Retrieved 2014-12-02.

External links

• Official website