Last weekend it was Cup weekend across Germany again.

“As of this weekend, we’re down to 12 teams battling for the three positions in the Final4 weekend in Berlin.

I know, it is a bit strange that the hosting team gets a free pass to the finals. The same thing in Football… teams playing for a place in the 24team final tournament… however 12 positions (12!!!?) have already been given away to the hosts!

Personally I think the clubs across Germany should apply for hosting the tournament without any guarantees of participation. The hosts will get a lot of publicity. Perhaps people in the halls and thus raise the profile of the sport in their community and get to see top-class floorball without anyone being able to complain whether all the teams deserve to be there.

Berlin

This year the final4 will be held in Berlin, thus allowing the Berlin Rockets a free-ticket to the finals. Just as the system is (in my opinion) unfair, it is also unfair to the Berlin-team as no matter how well the team does, there will always be people to question it because of the system.

Anywhoo…..back to the action from last weekend. Here are the results:

I am not about to start analyzing all of the results, but it looks like there are not many teams that are able to stop the march of MFBC Leipzig. With another convincing win (32-1) they seem to be the ones to beat in the Cup-competition this year. We could perhaps discuss the pros and cons of a system that brings a top-class -team against teams that in the end get demolished on the floor. With Leipzig, 2 games down and goal-difference of about +50 makes one wonder.

Füchse – Holzbüttgen

The match I was witnessing was slightly more contested as DJK Holzbüttgen traveled to the east to meet TSG Füchse. The hosts might be playing Regional-leagues but sporting no less than 6 Bundesliga -players themselves are a force to be reckoned with. As a matter of fact, due to injuries on the DJK-side, a chance was given to a number of players still playing Juniors themselves. There was actually more Bundesliga-experience on the hosts’ side on the floor than on the guests’ side.

The game itself was a tightly contested match where two teams were competing very much on the same level, where Füchse were quite content on sitting back and letting DJK come and then quickly bouncing on any opportunities to counter. This tactic worked fine for them fine for about half of the game until DJK was able to edge away and build up a 2 goal cushion going into the third.

The end-result of 7-3 for DJK was only so large in the end due to 2 empty netters the guests were able to score. The key, from my perspective, was really that DJK was able to tighten up their game for the last period and reduce the counters to a minimum. As the DJK Goalie Jan Saurbier had also a stellar game, it was the 1. Bundesliga team that in the end went through.

Bundesliga teams struggle

No round of Cup-competition is complete without some drama though. This time it was Kaufering, currently struggling in the first Bundesliga, that was facing the 1st league newcomers Bonn. As both teams have been struggling of late in the league, both teams were keen to right their ship. In the end, it was Kaufering, who are still to record a win in the league, that was able to upset Bonn. It took them good 64 minutes to achieve as they took the overtime victory and place in the last 12.

10-9 in overtime

Another struggling 1st league team is Wernigerode. They were facing 2nd League-leading Schenefeld in their hall. Schenefeld with their eyes keen on the 1st league position, started strong and before the second period was even 2 minutes old, they were already up by 5. Wernigerode did not give up however and managed to claw their way back to the game and even force an overtime. It was not to be however as the hosts sent Wernigerode packing only good minute into the overtime, thus deepening the troubles for Wernigerode.

Final 12

So the final12 are now known and we’re still going to manage one more round before Christmas and here are the upcoming games.

Lumberjacks Rohrdorf – Baltic Storms

TV Eiche Horn Bremen – ETV Piranhhas Hamburg

VfL Red Hocks Kaufering – Blau-Weiß 96 Schenefeld

DJK Holzbüttgen – SC DHfK Leipzig

TV Schriesheim – Floor Fighters Chemnitz

MFBC Leipzig – UHC Sparkasse Weißenfels

This round there is one game that truly stands out. MFBC Leipzig will meet Weißenfels. The current champion against the currently undefeated team in the first league. This should be an absolute cracker of a game!

Thousand butts challenge

Oh…I did challenge the German floorball-scene to get to a thousand butts on seats in this competition….did we.. let me check….counting…just over 1,400…so well done! Now keep it up please, or improve!

The grand price of fame and fortune goes in this round to Kaufering with the high of 257 people watching!

Next round (competition)

Next round of the BuLi is just around the corner as well so looking forwards to the next games already this coming weekend.

23.11.2019 (Hometeam always first; games start at 18.00)

ETV Piranhhas Hamburg – SSF Dragons Bonn

VfL Red Hocks Kaufering – Red Devils Wernigerode

Floor Fighters Chemnitz – TV Schriesheim

24.11.2019 (Hometeam always first; games start at 16.00)

MFBC Leipzig – UHC Sparkasse Weißenfels

Berlin Rockets – DJK Holzbüttgen

Cheers,

Kimmo”

Kimmo Vallema blogs about his floorball experiences in Germany. Want to know more about him? Click here to read his introduction article.