Wednesday, 22. October 2025 |
Red Bull München: Patrick Hager ahead of his 1000th game in the PENNY DEL
In his 999 games to date, Hager has scored 577 points (225 goals, 352 assists), putting him in twelfth place on the DEL's all-time scoring list. He even tops the all-time playoff scoring list. With 92 points in the final round (41 goals, 51 assists in 150 games), he led Ingolstadt and our Red Bulls to a total of three championship titles.
Hager is the newest member of the DEL's 1000-game club, a feat that only twelve other players in the league's history have achieved. Incidentally, Hager currently ranks third among active DEL professionals. Only Moritz Müller (Kölner Haie, 1143 games) and Daniel Pietta (ERC Ingolstadt, 1075) are ahead of him.
“You don't just shake 1,000 games out of your sleeve; not many have managed that. It's all the more wonderful to now belong to this circle,” says the forward, looking ahead to tomorrow evening. “You have to be able to play at this level over a long period of time. You also have to stay healthy and keep proving yourself. So I'm really proud of that,” he admits. And rightly so!
1,000 DEL games: The big interview with Patrick Hager
// INTERVIEW
Two special DEL premieres
Hager can hardly remember his first appearance in Germany's top league. However, a glance at the database reveals that it was on September 7, 2007, when he played for the Krefeld Pinguine in a match against the Grizzlys Wolfsburg.
However, he still remembers another premiere that followed shortly afterwards on October 18. “I still remember where I scored my first goal. It was with the Füchse Duisburg,” says Hager. This marked the Stuttgart native's real arrival in the DEL.
Starting signal in Rosenheim
After his first attempts at skating in Kassel, where his father was playing professionally in the second division at the time, the forward worked his way up through the Rosenheim youth team and various U national teams to the Starbulls' first team in the Oberliga. His dream of becoming a professional ice hockey player was slowly taking shape. “There are many paths, and everyone has to follow their own. For me, that was the way to learn to fight for what I wanted,” he explains.
Even back then, he was known for his much-cited “hard work” on the ice. “I do believe that I had talent from an early age. But I also had to work very hard,” he recalls of his early days. And another important quality helped him on his way to professional sport: the right attitude.
“Even as a child, I had this ambition in sport and couldn't stand losing. I always pushed myself to my limits and sometimes even beyond. I think that's something that has distinguished me throughout my life in sport,” he emphasizes.
A meteoric rise
As a top performer in the Oberliga, Hager decided in 2007, after only one full season, to take the plunge into the shark tank that is the DEL. The Krefeld Pinguine were his first stop. After a difficult start, including homesickness and little ice time, the youngster really took off after Christmas.
A spot in the forward line alongside two Canadians became available, and that's exactly where Hager seized his opportunity. He played and fought his way in with good performances. “Then I was allowed to play with them until the end of the season and scored a decent number of goals in my first DEL year. That was the first step in,” he outlines. The rise continued and immediately after his first DEL season, Hager made his debut in the German national team under then national coach Uwe Krupp.
Krefeld Penguins (2007 to 2012)
The center forward was also set to become a permanent fixture in the DEB team. It's no coincidence that his résumé now includes nine World Cup appearances and two Winter Olympics. The sensational highlight: the silver medal at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang.
“Krefeld was great for my athletic development. It was a cool time because my wife also moved there and did her apprenticeship there. It was the first time we were on our own and we started our journey there,” says Hager, summarizing his time with the Penguins.
Key player in the “Ice Miracle of Ingolstadt”
After a total of five years in the silk city, the now father of three moved back to Bavaria in 2012. The next step was to be taken at ERC Ingolstadt. This move also came at exactly the right time and led to success. “At that time, a lot of things were already moving in the right direction there, which we confirmed in retrospect,” he says.
In the 2013/14 season, Hager was an integral part of one of the biggest sensations in DEL history. After a mediocre regular season, the Panthers went on a crazy playoff run and went from ninth place to the championship title. No other team has achieved this to date.
“It was obviously really special when you start from ninth place and then have to knock out all the top teams in the pre-playoffs and finals,” he emphasizes. Ingolstadt was on a roll and played with a frenzy. “Suddenly everything starts to work, you have that little bit of luck at the right moment, and then you ride that wave,” Hager describes.
The emotional highlight, how could it be otherwise, was the dramatic best-of-seven final series against the Kölner Haie. “We were down 0-2 and pulled the series back with an incredible display of energy. Then we lost game six at home, where we could have sealed the deal, 0-1 in overtime – and then won game seven away in Cologne. The whole championship run was just crazy. Those were moments that will stay with us forever, of course.”
ERC Ingolstadt (2012 to 2015)
A great experience with a difficult ending“
Hager himself remained on the Danube until 2015, when he set up camp in North Rhine-Westphalia for the second time. The Cologne Sharks lured him to the cathedral city. ”For me as a player, this was another step forward. The environment surrounding ice hockey is naturally polarizing in Cologne," said Hager about the media hype. “The club itself is simply special, but also very unique because of that.” His mission on the Rhine? To score and set up goals.
The pressure on him increased, but Hager once again rolled up his sleeves and lived up to expectations. The proof: in Cologne, he played the two best regular seasons of his DEL career, scoring 44 and 42 points. In March 2017, however, he also got to know the dark side of the business. During the playoffs, the Haie suspended their top striker and removed him from the team.
That period was not easy, understandably. “It makes you mature and realize that the business can also be different.” And yet: “It was a great experience with a difficult ending,” is how Hager sums up his time in Cologne.
Kölner Haie (2015-2017)
The success story with the Red Bulls begins
This meant that in May 2017 – a year earlier than originally planned – he was finally able to begin his success story in the Bavarian capital. At that time, we were enjoying our most successful period in sporting terms to date, with two consecutive championship titles. And our number 52 was to become an important piece of the puzzle on the way to the 2018 title hat trick in a team that had only been strengthened in certain areas. “It was a special team that worked well together. You felt like you came into the locker room and after a week you felt like you'd been there for two years. We played the whole year with that self-image,” he says.
Hager quickly found his place alongside key players in attack such as Dominik Kahun, Keith Aucoin, Jason Jaffray, and Michael Wolf. “That's why it was, of course, another learning process for me to assert myself in a team that had won the championship twice in a row,” he explains. The almost logical consequence: in 2019, Hager took over the captaincy from Wolf after the latter ended his career. “There was a certain point in my career when I took on responsibility. That's why it was a step I felt confident taking.” And he still wears the “C” on his chest today.
On April 23, 2023, he was able to lift the DEL Cup for the first time as captain at the Olympic Ice Stadium. That moment will also remain in his memory forever. That's because those special seconds were the sweet reward after some previously bitter and painful moments. “That was just our team. We had suffered a few defeats beforehand. We lost a CHL final and a DEL final. And then we just had this redemption. Getting the cup first was also special for me that year,” he notes.
EHC Red Bull München (since 2017)
Family man Hager: “Without support, it's not possible”
And this is mainly due to the fact that his entire family was there in the stands at the time. Because Hager knows only too well that without the support of his wife and three children, he would not be where he is today. And this is where the otherwise tough ice hockey pro shows his emotional side.
“Without support, it's not possible to play for so long and be so successful. We were lucky to meet early on and have been on this journey together. From Krefeld to where we are now. All I can say is ‘thank you,’ because it means a lot of sacrifice when you embark on this journey with a professional athlete. I am incredibly grateful for the support,” Hager said to his wife Stephanie.
“And, of course, from the children. Anyone who has children knows that they are the most wonderful thing in the world. And I am incredibly proud of the path they are taking and how much support they give me. It's not easy for the kids either when you're away every weekend because you want to make your dream come true,” he says. “These are challenges that families in professional sports have to overcome, which may not be visible from the outside. Many people take it for granted, but I don't see it that way,” he emphasizes.
The question about the future
Finally, the question remains whether Hager's 19th DEL season will also be his last as an active player. To anticipate the answer: the future is still written in the stars.
However, it is already clear that Hager will not turn his back on our beautiful sport after his active career. “I will definitely remain loyal to ice hockey; I enjoy it far too much for that. What role I will take on or what doors will open remains to be seen.”
But first, let's make tomorrow evening before the game against the Eisbären Berlin a very special one.
We say: Congratulations on 1,000 DEL games, dear Hagi!
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