Established in 1964, ERC Ingolstadt started at the bottom and rose all the way to the top, winning the German championship a half-century later. 

by Dirk Meusch

It's been just over half a century that organized ice hockey has been played in Ingolstadt, but in that time it's grown to become wildly popular. It began with teenagers, who waited every winter for the Winklerweiher pond to freeze over so that they could put on their ice skates and play hockey on it. In 1964, they formed a club. As the club needed financial support from the town, it was named the Eishockey und Rollschuhclub Ingolstadt (Ingolstadt Ice Hockey and Roller Skating Club). 

Climbing to the top

In the beginning improvisation was very important because it took another 10 years until they got an own arena on Jahnstrasse street, in 1974. In just their second season of competition, 1975–76, the club started its ascent up the ladder of German hockey, advancing from the Landesliga to Bayernliga – from the second tier to top tier of hockey in Bavaria, and fourth tier to the third tier ovearall in the country. Twenty years later, in 1995–96, they finally made it to the national level, reaching the newly-created 2nd Budesliga (now DEL2). By this time, ice hockey was the most popular sport in Ingolstadt – even moreso than football – with several thousand passionate fans attending all of their games and travelling with the team on the road. In the early 2000s they qualified for the league finals three years in a row, winning the league title in 2001 and the following year, in 2002, finally making the DEL, where they have played ever since. 

ERC Ingolstadt celebrated their first and so far only national title in 2013–14, the year the club celebrated its 50th anniversary season and the DEL celebrated its 20th anniversary. But the way the season began, it didn't seem like it would be one for celebration. It started poorly on and off the ice, with infighting among the management, culminating in a string of defeats around Christmas time and the sudden leaving of the sports director Jim Boni in January. Inexperienced head coach Niklas Sundblad tood under huge pressure together with his team of advisers. They had to fulfil the high expectations of the club and the fans. Unfortunately this pressure influenced the on-ice performance. One defeat after the other annoyed the fans. 

Things reached a head during a game against their archrivals in Augsburg on 19 January 2014. The fans left the arena during the game and from that time on started to protest in many different ways. The team had to realize their situation and pull themselves together. Claus Gröbner (Director) and Jiri Ehrenberger (Sports Director) had the big task of calming the heated minds in the club. 

Fortunately, the team started to win games again and qualified for the play-in round as 9th-place finishers. One of the most important moments of that round was a victory against Eisbären Berlin in overtime. This victory seemed to motivate the team so much that nobody could stop them from that point forward. Next, Ingolstadt beat the Krefeld Pinguine in the quarter-finals and the Hamburg Freezers in the semis. With the team on such a roll, not even the talent-laden Kölner Haie squad were able to stop Sundblad's rejuvinated squad. Game 7 was played in Cologne, but Timo Pielmeier stopped all 27 shots he faced for a 2–0 win, bringing the DEL championship to Ingolstadt!

Since the title

The Panthers returned to the DEL Finals in 2015, where they fell to Adler Mannheim in six games. The team's exciting up-tempo style of play is popular in Germany and all of Europe got a glimpse of it in the 2015–16 Champions Hockey League, when they were second in goals scored through the group stage with John Laliberte and Petr Taticek the top two scorers. In the Round of 32, they played an exciting series against eventual champions Frölunda Gothenburg, overcoming an early two-goal deficit to win by two on home ice, but losing the aggregate lead in the last minute of the return game in Sweden and ultimately falling in overtime. 

Despite inevitable changes, the roster still includes Pielmeier and Taticek from the championship roster, as well as defenceman Benedikt Schopper and forward Thomas Greilinger. They move forward with new coach Tommy Samuelsson trying to return to the top ranks of the DEL as well as prove themselves internationally.  

Team facts

Past CHL seasons

2015-16: 2nd in Group O, Round of 32
2014-15: 4th in Group H

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