Dresdner Eislöwen

A look at history

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Academic Sports Club Dresden 1909 participated in Berlin with its ice hockey team for the first time and won the international tournament. In the following years, the ASC repeatedly achieved the Saxon runner-up title. In 1934, Blau-Weiß Dresden won the first Saxon championship. After World War II, the BSG KWU Dresden won the first Saxon championship in the newly re-established ice hockey league. In 1960, the artificial ice rink on Pieschener Allee was opened.

From the 1970s onward, the DDR-Oberliga with two locations dominated ice hockey. In 1990, the ESC Dresden was founded, and in 1999, it was promoted to the Oberliga. The club faced financial problems, but in 2005, it succeeded in being promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga. The Ice Lions celebrated reaching the DEL2 semifinals and extraordinary open-air games like the Winter Derby in 2016 and Hockey Open Air in 2020. The 2020 season had to be canceled due to the coronavirus. Despite financial challenges, the club has established itself in the region and in the league and can look back on numerous successes. Moreover, the goal of the Ice Lions is: Promotion to the DEL.

Review of the previous season

The 2023/24 season of the Dresden Ice Lions was marked by a period of change. After securing their survival in the DEL2 playdowns at the end of March, the club made initial personnel decisions for the upcoming season. Ten players will leave the club, including long-time player Tom Knobloch, who, after six years in Dresden, is looking for a new challenge. Justin Florek, Adam Kiedewicz, and other players will also depart from the Ice Lions.

Despite the personnel changes, 15 players will remain in the squad, including key players such as Niklas Postel, who extended his contract and took on a key role in the team as assistant captain. Coach Niklas Sundblad praised Postel for his development and commitment. Sports director Matthias Roos also announced plans to strengthen the squad further and increase the budget for players by 20 to 25 percent in order to compete for the championship in the future. The club is focusing on experienced players to play a physically intense brand of hockey and to be more successful in the upcoming season.