Saturday, 28. March 2026 |
EHC Red Bull München: The Rookie Bulls' U20 team has been promoted to the DNL2
After Coach Andreas Brockmann’s team—who, among other things, coached the Nuremberg Ice Tigers in the DEL for four years—won the first two games 3-0 and 3-1, they secured their third victory in the series for promotion to the DNL2 on Saturday night.
The Rookie Bulls prevailed 3-1 in Nuremberg. The goals for our young team were scored by Mathew Lichtenberger (22nd minute), Henri Tölg (30th minute), and Joseph Lichtenberger (60th minute). This marks an impressive run for Munich: Just last spring, the Rookie Bulls were promoted from the fourth division to the DNL3.
Brockmann: “That’s certainly extraordinary”
“The whole season went surprisingly well. We were promoted just last year and didn’t really know what to expect. We were actually in first place from the start and finished the league with a big lead. That’s certainly extraordinary,” said Coach Brockmann.
Out of 38 games in the DNL3 regular season, the Rookie Bulls won 29 and finished with 87 points. Their lead over second-place Mannheimer ERC stood at 30 points at the end of the season. They also posted an impressive goal differential of +100, making them the only team to finish the regular season with a positive goal differential.
Now, the Rookie Bulls have defeated Nuremberg in just three games, a team that had not had a bad season in the DNL2. Brockmann: “Promotion is the next big leap for us. Nuremberg finished fifth in the DNL2—we can’t forget that. It wasn’t a sure thing.”
Young talents must step up – nationwide travel lies ahead
The coach cites team cohesion as a major advantage for the past season and the more than positive final result. The team has remained largely the same compared to the promotion a year ago. This was made possible by the consistent strategy of relying on significantly younger players than the competition. For the new season in the DNL2, however, at least nine of our players will have to leave the team due to age limits, and players from the U17 team will step up.
In the second-highest junior league, Brockmann expects another significant increase in quality. Starting next season, the U20 team will play nationwide and no longer just in southern Germany. This also brings with it the added strain of unfamiliar travel for the young players. In the DNL3, the farthest trip was to Mannheim.
However, following the successful promotion, concerns about this have taken a back seat for now. Congratulations, guys!
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