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Philadelphia Flyers right wing DANNY BRIERE, the 35-year-old veteran who won a pair of gold medals skating with Canada at the annual IIHF World Championships in 2003 and 2004 (18 ga, 6 go, 17 pts) while still under contract to the Buffalo Sabres, was the top-scoring NHL Lock-Out Refugee to have skated in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga this 2012/13 season.
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Eleven National Hockey League players in all, including five Olympic veterans of the Germany national team, spent their idle time waiting for the labor situation in the North America to be resolved by competing in the 14-team Deutsche Eishockey Liga this season.

It is always interesting to see how the crack NHL stars perform against European competition, be it at an international tournament such as the Winter Olympic Games or, perhaps, in domestic league play. History will note that DANNY BRIERE, who had spent the entire 2004/05 campaign with SC Bern in Switzerland when the NHL was previously shut down by labor difficulties, finished his second European adventure as the highest scoring NHL Exile in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga this season while skating with defending champion Eisbaeren Berlin. Those who observed regularly can testify the commendable NHL veteran also did yeoman’s work in his own defensive zone (particularly on face-offs) during his appreciated time with Eisbaeren.

The contributions of Buffalo Sabres rearguard CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF, the three-time Germany Olympic defenseman with the $ 40.0 million dollar contract in the NHL, to the cause of re-energized Krefeld Pinguine in the D.E.L. this term were incredible and will also not soon be forgotten, either.

2012/13 D.E.L. Season – NHL Refugee Scoring Chart
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34 pts … 10 go … 24 as … 21 ga …… D. BRIERE, Eisbaeren Berlin
27 pts ….. 8 go … 19 as … 32 ga …… C. EHRHOFF, Krefeld Pinguine
20 pts ….. 6 go … 14 as … 15 ga …… B. WHEELER, EHC Red Bull Munich
20 pts ….. 7 go … 13 as … 19 ga …… J. BENN, Hamburg Freezers
20 pts ….. 2 go … 18 as … 26 ga …… D. SEIDENBERG, Adler Mannheim
19 pts ….. 4 go … 15 as ….. 9 ga …… C. GIROUX, Eisbaeren Berlin
19 pts ….. 4 go … 15 as … 18 ga …… M. GOC, Adler Mannheim
18 pts ….. 7 go … 11 as … 13 ga …… P. STASTNY, EHC Red Bull Munich
16 pts ….. 2 go … 14 as … 21 ga …… A. SULZER, ERC Ingolstadt
12 pts ….. 7 go ….. 5 as ….. 7 ga …… J. POMINVILLE, Adler Mannheim

3.47 avg …. 90.5% svpct …. 9 ga …… T. GREISS, Hannover Scorpions

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Goaltender THOMAS GREISS with the Hannover Scorpions
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The resolution of the so-called “Lock-Out” in the National Hockey League, of course, means that the national team of Germany will not be able to call upon its NHL-Stars for the upcoming Olympic Qualification tournament to be held in Bietigheim-Bissingen next month. The Germans, to review, will host a round robin tournament involving neighboring Austria, Italy and the Netherlands in early February with the winner earning the right to skate at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to be hosted by Sochi, Russia. Obviously, the rival Austrians will also have to soldier on without the likes of Buffalo Sabres left wing THOMAS VANEK, the NHL All-Star who has been stationed with EC Graz 99ers in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga this season …

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Boston Bruins rearguard DENNIS SEIDENBERG, the three-time Germany Olympic defenseman who was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the sixth round (# 172 overall) of the 2001 National Hockey League Draft and then celebrated the Calder Cup title with the Philadelphia Phantoms at the conclusion of the 2004/05 American Hockey League season, skated in a total of 30 games (3 go, 23 pts) in all competitions (Deutsche Eishockey Liga, European Trophy, Spengler Cup) for Adler Mannheim this term before the NHL “Lock-Out” was finally settled.

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For any loyal Buffalo Sabres fan who is attempting to follow the progress of three-time Germany Olympic defenseman CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF as the “Lockout” situation continues with no end in sight, there is little doubt that the audience at the average Eishockeyspiel in Deutschland is much, much different from their counterparts that patronize National Hockey League arenas all across North America.

If there are certain, noticeable things that the Germans like to do, as clearly demonstrated here by the Krefeld Pinguine supporters at the Koenigpalast on Westparkstrasse, it is wave colorful flags, hang large partisan banners and hold knitted team scarves high into the air.

Then, of course, there is the loud singing and chanting …

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“EINER VON UNS IST WIE 10 VON EUCH” — The visiting Eisbaeren Berlin supporters from the capital city of Germany playfully hang a sign at the Koenigpalast on Westparkstrasse to inform their counterparts of the Krefeld Pinguine in North Rhine-Westphalia that “one of us is like ten of you”.
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Even though the individual seats on the other side of the security fence remain empty, the traveling Eisbaeren Berlin supporters occupy a standing-room-only section at the Koenigpalast in the photo displayed above.

The railings one finds in the standing-room-only areas provide outstanding places for passionate German Eishockey-Fans to rest the drums they like to bring to the arena and bang on rhythmically throughout any given Deutsche Eishockey Liga contest.

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Krefeld Pinguine defenseman CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF, the pricey three-time Germany Olympic blueliner recently arrived from the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, endures a collision with visiting Hamburg Freezers’ Canadian legionnaire DRUVIE WESTCOTT (15), the 34-year-old veteran of 215 NHL games for the Columbus Blue Jackets who transferred to the Hanseatic club only just this summer from Swiss elite league outfit EHC Kloten, during the Deutsche Eishockey Liga contest at the modest Koenigpalast in North Rhine-Westphalia.
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Three unanswered goals allowed in the last two periods prevented the home team from celebrating victory, however, the return of NHL multi-millionaire and Germany national team star defenseman CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF can still be considered a bona fide success not only for the Krefeld Pinquine but the entire Deutsche Eishockey Liga, as well.

A respectable crowd reported at 6,007 spectators turned out at the KOENIGPALAST on Westparkstrasse in the North-Rhine Westphalian city of Krefeld to watch the hometown Pinguine skate against the visiting Hamburg Freezers. The Buffalo Sabres defenseman’s return match, which also coincided with the first home game of the season for the KREFELD PINQUINE, drew roughly fifteen hundred ticket-buying people more than have normally visited the Koenigpalast for a D.E.L. contest in the past couple of seasons. Increased attendance at the gate, this will mean every bit as much to the Krefeld Pinguine organization as will every goal or assist that Ehrhoff contributes to Canadian trainer RICK ADDUONO’s team on the ice.

Surpassing a total of 5,259 at the box office is a significant achhievement because that number represents the number of Sitzplaetze (fixed seats) — like many ice hockey arenas in Europe, the Koenigpalast in Krefeld has a considerable standing-room-only section along with individualized seating.

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CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF, Krefeld Pinguine # 55
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Krefeld Pinguine, who have finished 12th out of 14 teams in two of the last three seasons in the D.E.L. including last season, received a bit of an emotional lift, perhaps, from the arrival of Ehrhoff and struck for an early goal from 30-year-old veteran assistant captain ROLAND VERWEY against the Hamburg Freezers just a minute and thirty-nine seconds into the 2012/13 season opener at the Koenigpalast.

The drumming and the singing by the passionate Pinguine supporters continued throughout the contest, but Krefeld would not be able to sustain control on the ice. The Hamburg Freezers, who are trained by Montreal native son BENOIT LAPORTE, would go on to outshoot their hosts by a wide 21-9 margin over the first two periods. Only the goaltending of SCOTT LANGKOW and wayward shooting from Hamburg kept Krefeld out in front.

But not forever, this, in large part, due the efforts of emerging Hamburg Freezers winger JEROME FLAAKE, the fifth round pick (# 130 overall) of the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2008 NHL Draft.

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Germany national team goaltender DMITRIJ KOTSCHNEW of Hamburg Freezers, the 31-year-old just returning to Deutschland, himself, after spending the past four seasons playing for Russian clubs in the Kontinental Hockey League, stretches to deny NHL-Crack CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF of Krefeld Pinquine, the 30-year-old recent addition from the Buffalo Sabres, at the side of the net during the noteworthy Deutsche Eishockey Liga contest at the Koenig Palast in North Rhineland-Westphalia.
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Flaake took a classic drop pass — this long being a hallmark tactic of German ice hockey — on the left from rushing defenseman CHRISTOPH SCHUBERT, the national team rearguard who previously skated 315 games in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators and Atlanta Thrashers, and patiently snapped a fierce shot over the glove of Langkow into the upper right corner of the net to tie the contest at 11:51 of the second period; a second goal of this new D.E.L. campaign already for the 22-year-old who broke out to score 16 goals in the German top flight last season after only netting four times for Hamburg Freezers the year before.

Just four minutes and one second later, Flaake was stopped at close range to the right of Langkow but the rebound fell very kindly to the left of the Krefeld Pinguine netminder in favor of Hamburg Freezers left wing DAVID WOLF, the 23-year-old who scored the first goal for the visitors earlier this week in Vienna as Germany defeated neighboring Austria 4-3 in an international friendly match marking the 100th Anniversary of der Oesterreichische Eishockeyverband (OEHV, the Austrian ice hockey federation).

Krefeld Pinquine launched a furious counterattack in the final frame but to no avail. The because Hamburg Freezers goaltender DMITRIJ KOTSCHNEW, the off-season signing from Kontinental Hockey League club Atlant Mytishchi Moscow in Russia, turned aside all sixteen shots that came his way. Flaake then finished Krefeld Pinguine off after breaking away with a pass from Canadian legionnaire defenseman DUVIE WESTCOTT, the well-traveled veteran who has appeared with clubs in Belarus, Latvia, Switzerland and now Germany since leaving the NHL after the 2007/08 season, and unselfishly squaring the puck for Wolf in an empty net situation.

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Hamburg Freezers center MIKE PETTINGER (22), the 31-year-old Canadian legionnaire who scored 20 goals for the Washington Captials during the 2005/06 National Hockey League campaign and 28 goals for the Koelner Haie the past two seasons in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, absorbs the punishing stick to the shins from Krefeld Pinguine new arrival CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF (55), the three-time Germany Olympic defenseman who is currently locked out by the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, during the exciting D.E.L. contest at the Koenigpalast in the central western German city of Krefeld.

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It’s a great day for Eishockey not only in Krefeld but all the rest of Deutschland, as well. National team star CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF, the talented Buffalo Sabres defenseman with the $ 40.0 million dollar contract, will be lacing his skates in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga henceforth as the National Hockey League labor dispute on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean advances into the “Lockout” phase. Back to the beginning for the priciest German ice hockey player who ever lived, then.

Although just 17 years old at the time, Ehrhoff graduated from third division EV Duisburg to the Krefeld Pinguine and the German top flight at the tail end of the 1999/2000 season. The Germany U-20 international quickly established himself as a regular with Krefeld the very next term and was tabbed in the fourth round of the 2001 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks. Still just 19 years of age, the offensive-minded Ehrhoff represented the Pinguine well by making his senior international debut for Germany at no less of an occasion than the 2002 Winter Olympic Games hosted by Salt Lake City in the United States.

In his fourth season with the Krefeld Pinquine, the talented Ehrhoff netted a career-high 13 goals in 62 games as the North Rhine-Westphalian club who were originally founded in 1936 captured the German national championship for only the second time ever. That summer, the young defenseman promptly flew off to the United States and inked his first NHL deal with San Jose. And now, after nine years in the high-profile National Hockey League as well as one appearance in the playoff finals for the right to hoist the coveted Stanley Cup, the local boy done good is going home to Deutschland.

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Buffalo Sabres defenseman CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF (10), wearing the captain’s “C” on his sweater to mark the historic occasion, gets tangled up in front of the net with Adler Mannheim’s imported American defenseman JAMIE SIFERS (26), University of Vermont product who skated 37 NHL games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Minnesota Wild before signing on to play in Germany, during the intercontinental exhibition contest last year at the SAP Arena.
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One noticeable thing that has changed about the Krefeld Pinguine since Ehrhoff first departed almost a decade ago is the team’s home ice rink. The old Rhinelandhalle, a smaller, mostly standing-room-only arena which had served the club since the very beginning, was retired and a more modern facility was constructed. The would-be three-time Germany Olympic defenseman was putting in time with the Cleveland Barons in the American Hockey League when the KOENIGPALAST (Royal Palace) with the capacity for 8,109 spectators originally opened back in December of 2004.

The arrival of the Buffalo Sabres blueliner should provide a box office bonanza for Krefeld Pinguine, who averaged only 4,486 spectators per Deutsche Eishockey Liga contest last season. This figure, which ranked 69th among all professional ice hockey clubs in Europe, marks a slight decrease in average attendance from the previous year by exactly fourteen people. Surely, the Koenigpalast can expect a few more visitors than normal for a D.E.L. match — perhaps more than a few who are not even regular supporters of the Krefeld Pinguine but are willing to buy tickets in order to see a world-class player such as Ehrhoff.

The Krefeld Pinguine, who finished 12th out of 14 teams in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the second time in three years, should also benefit from having the crack National Hockey League rearguard on the ice, as well. Neither of the two imported defensemen that the North Rhine-Westphalian club signed this summer, the American JOSH MEYERS, the seventh round pick (# 206 overall) from the University of Minnesota-Duluth by the Los Angeles Kings at the 2005 NHL Draft who skated last season with HC Bolzano in Italy, nor the undrafted MARK VOAKES, a Canadian college product out of Wilfrid Laurier University who was with the Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League a year ago, have any NHL experience at all. The 30-year-old Ehrhoff, who does have 566 NHL games under his belt, can be expected to improve a less-than-airtight Krefeld defensive corps that conceded 153 goals last season, the third most in entire German elite league.

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Germany defenseman CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF, at that time under contract to the hometown Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League, on the puck at the arena temporarily known as Hockey Canada Place (the old General Motors Place now known as Rogers Arena) in the ice hockey match opposite Sweden during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games hosted by the western Canadian city of Vancouver.

Former German national team head coach HANS ZACH hoists a beer as part of celebrations following the HANNOVER SCORPIONS triumph in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga playoff finals at the TUI Arena in Lower Saxony. (Paulaner photo)===========================================================

61-year-old HANS ZACH will retire in style as head coach of the recently crowned Deutsche Eishockey Liga champions, the HANNOVER SCORPIONS.

The first-ever German championship in the history of the Scorpions’ club marks the fourth elite league championship for Zach, who won three titles with EG Dusseldorf from 1991 thru 1993 in the old Bundesliga.

Zach, a former West German international as a player who skated at the famed 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games, was coach of the German national team from the 1999 World Championships (B pool) thru the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

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HANS ZACH —— b. 1949, Bad Tolz

Player

• 1968-70 — EC Bad Tolz
• 1971-74 — SC Riessersee
• 1975-77 — SC Berlin
• 1978-79 — EV Landshut
• 1980-84 — SB Rosenheim

Coach

• 1988 ——- EC Ratingen — (Ger.2)
• 1989-90 — SV Bayreuth — (Ger.2)
• 1991-95 — EG Dusseldorf
• 1996 ——- EC Kassel
• 1997 ——- EG Dusseldorf
• 1998 ——- SC Zurich – (Switzerland)
• 99-2002 — Kassel Huskies
• 2003-06 — Koelner Haie
• 2007-10 — Hannover Scorpions

Canadian defenseman CHRISTIAN CHARTIER (43) and American forward CHRIS COLLINS (17) exalt after Chartier's late third period power play goal in the DEL semifinals at the Curt Frenzel Stadion in Bavaria. (volksfreund.de photo)

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Energized once again by strong goaltending from German Olympian DENNIS ENDRAS, the AUGSBURG PANTHERS prevailed 3-2 over the WOLFSBURG GRIZZLY ADAMS at the Curt Frenzel Stadion and advanced to the finals of the 2010 Deutsche Eishockey Liga playoffs.

German Olympic forward KAI HOSPELT put visiting Wolfsburg on the board first in the opening period with a power play goal in the thirteen minute.

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German international KAI HOSPELT (8) finished as the Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams top playoff scorer with four goals and eight points from seven games. (Bongarts/Getty Images)

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Augsburg answered, however, with a power play goal of their own from CHRIS COLLINS (Boston College) late in the second period and took the lead for good almost nine minutes into the final frame with a score from former Toronto Maple Leaf farmhand BRETT ENGELHARDT (Michigan Tech).

The Canadian Auslaender on defense, CHRISTIAN CHARTIER, added what proved to be the game-winner with a power play goal at the 16:05 mark of the third period.

Hospelt added a second for Wolfsburg with the goaltender on the bench two minutes later, but the third-seeded Grizzly Adams would not find the equalizer.

Endras, for his part, finished with 33 saves and continues to lead the DEL playoffs in save percentage (94.1) just ahead of Wolfsburg’s vanquished netminder JOCHEN REIMER.

The Augsburg Panthers under head coach LARRY MITCHELL, who finished the German regular season in 8th place before upending two-time defending champion Eisbaeren Berlin at the quarterfinal stage, are now set for a first-ever apperance in the DEL championship.

German defenseman CHRISTOPHER FISCHER (24) paced Wolfsburg offensively in Game Three of the DEL semifinals with a goal and three assists for the Grizzly Adams. (eishockey-magazin.de photo)

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The WOLFSBURG GRIZZLY ADAMS finally figured out how to score goals for all their applied pressure against the AUGSBURG PANTHERS and posted a convincing as well as critical 6-1 victory in Game Three of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga semifinal from Volksbank BraWo Eisarena in Wolfsburg.

TYLER BEECHEY, the one-time Tornto Marlie of the American Hockey League, gave Augsburg the lead with a penalty shot nine minutes into the match but Wolfsburg would reply with a power play goal from the erstwhile Edmonton Oiler PETER SARNO at the 15:46 mark of the opening period.

Kraftwerk Orange overwhelmed the Panthers with a three-goal second period. A trio of Germans — the international forward SEBASTIAN FURCHNER, the defenseman CHRISTOPHER FISCHER as well as the Olympic forward KAI HOSPELT — delivered the goods to give the Grizzly Adams a dominant 4-1 lead heading into the final twenty minutes.

The 24-year-old Hospelt, a 7th round draft pick (# 216 overall) of the San Jose Sharks in the 2003 NHL draft, had a goal and two assists in Game Three for Wolfsburg.

Canadian Auslaender JOHN LALIBERTE (Boston University), the former Milwaukee Admiral in the American Hockey League, and the 35-year-old Swedish import, defenseman JAN-AXEL ALAVAARA, added goals for Wolfsburg in the third.

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Augsburg’s German Olympic goaltender DENNIS ENDRAS (44) has played well for the Panthers this playoff season but was replaced by veteran German international LEONARDO CONTI by head coach LARRY MITCHELL following Alavaara’s effort. (del.org photo) 

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The Panthers, despite the heavy defeat in Wolfsburg, still stand just one game from the Deutsche Eishockey Liga final heading back to the Curt Frenzel Stadion in Augsburg for Game Four.

Augsburg forward CONNOR JAMES (stick raised) is jubilant after shooting past Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams goalkeeper JOCHEN REIMER for the only goal of the game in the Panthers' 1-0 Deutsche Eishockey Liga semifinal victory. (Raphael Stueckner/Eishockey-Magazin)

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Another exceptional goaltending effort from German Olympian DENNIS ENDRAS and a solitary strike from former Pittsburgh Penquin CONNOR JAMES (Denver University) paced the AUGSBURG PANTHERS to a 1-0 victory in Game Two of the DEL semifinals from the Curt Frenzel Stadion.

For the second time this series, Wolfsburg again outshot Augsburg by a wide margin (36-23). Endras, making a strong case for playing time at the upcoming IIHF World Championships in Germany to be held later this spring, stopped everything the Grizzy Adams sent his way, however.

The 24-year-old leads all goaltenders in this year’s DEL playoffs with both a 1.88 goals-against-average as well as a 95.2 save percentage.

James scored on the power play off assists from TYLER BEECHLEY and defenseman CHRISTIAN CHARTIER to register his third goal of this post-season at 13:50 of the opening period.

James, who skated 16 games (1 go 0 as, 1 pts, 2 pim) for the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh over parts of three seasons, leads Augsburg with eight assists in the playoffs and is tied for the team lead with 11 points from nine games.

James, a 27-year-old center, spent most of the past three seasons with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Penquins in the American Hockey League before signing for Augsburg this past summer.

Augsburg attacker CHRIS COLLINS, who contested 89 American Hockey League games for the Providence Bruins (24 go 19 as, 43 pts, 87 pim) in two seasons, produced a hat trick to propel the Panthers past the Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams in the DEL semifinal series opener. (Siegfried Kerpf photo)

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American forward CHRIS COLLINS scored all three of his team’s goals, including the overtime game-winner, as the AUGSBURG PANTHERS the WOLFSBURG GRIZZLY ADAMS 3-2 in the opener of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga semifinal at the Volksbank BraWo EisArena in Wolfsburg.

German Olympic forward KAI HOSPELT had given Kraftwerk Orange a 1-0 lead at the 7:35 mark of the opening period, but the former Boston College Angriffer answered for Augsburg exactly one minute save one second later.

Collins, who transferred to the Panthers from Finnish elite league club Lukko Rauma early last season, put Augsburg into the lead with a power play goal fourteen minutes into the second stanza.

Wolfsburg were able to even the match in the sixth minute of the final period of play via veteran German DAVID SULKOVSKY’s strike, however.

Once again, German Olympic goaltender DENNIS ENDRAS proved himself essential to the success of the Augsburg in this 2010 playoff season; the Grizzly Adams outshot the Panthers by the wide margin of 44-28.

Collins completed his hat trick 5:11 into extra time to give the game to Augsburg, who ended up eighth overall in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga this year, against home-standing Wolfsburg, who finished as the third place German club .

Collins leads the German elite league playoffs with six goals from eight matches. During the regular season, the 25-year-old native of Fairport, New York, finished fourth on Augsburg with 23 goals from 47 games.

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CHRIS COLLINS, who was never drafted by a National Hockey League team, led Boston College with both 31 goals and 60 points in 40 games his senior season. That year, the Eagles advanced to the NCAA championship game opposite the the University of Wisconsin Badgers, where they fell 2-1 in heart-breaking fashion.

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BOSTON COLLEGE forward CHRIS COLLINS is confronted by University of Wisconsin defender TOM GILBERT (14) at the 2006 Frozen Four from the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Darren Hacuk/AP)

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Defenseman JEFF LIKENS, a current teammate of Collins on the Augsburg Panthers in Germany, was a member of the 2006 NCAA champion Wisconsin Badger team.

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University of Wisconsin rearguard JEFF LIKENS rams Boston College forward NATHAN GERBE (9) along the boards at the Bradley Center in the 2006 NCAA men's ice hockey championship game. (Jeffrey Phelps/AP)

German Olympic forward SVEN FELSKI (11) and two-time defending champion Eisbaeren Berlin were knocked out of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga playoffs at the quarterfinal stage with a stunning 6-2 loss to the Augsburg Panthers at the 02 World Arena in Berlin. (del.org photo)

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Veteran Canadian captain STEVE WALKER gave EISBAEREN BERLIN a bright start eight and a half minutes into the rubber match of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga quarterfinal, but German Olympic goaltender DENNIS ENDRAS, once again, proved himself exceptionally difficult to beat as the AUGSBURG PANTHERS bounced the two-time defending German champions out of the playoffs at the 02 World Arena in Berlin.

Augsburg answered Walker’s opening salvo with three goals in the latter stages of the opening session.

For the third time this quarterfinal series, ex-Wisconsin Badger defenseman JEFF LIKENS opened the Panthers’ account — on this occasion with a power play goal in the 15th minute. BRETT ENGELHARDT (Michigan Tech) tacked on another with the man-advantage roughly a minute and a half to give Augsburg its first lead of the day. TYLER BEECHEY, once of the the East Coast Hockey League’s Pensacola Ice Pilots, added the third with three minutes to play in period one.

The German international Felski (11) of Eisbaeren Berlin opposite Augsburg Panthers Canadian import TYLER BEECHEY (16) in the DEL quarterfinals at the 02 World Arena. Beechey, a 28-year-old who spent the majority of his North American professional career in the ECHL never to reach the NHL, registered the official game-winning-goal for Augsburg to remove Berlin from the German playoff picture. (del.org photo) 

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Eisbaeren, who enjoyed a 16-12 shots-on-goal total in the first period, elevated their attack in serious fashion and would post a domineering 24-5 shots-on-goal ratio for the second session.

Endras, however, beat back everything Berlin sent his way in that middle period .

And, adding to Berlin’s woes was Augsburg leading scorer DARIN OLVER (Northern Michigan Univ), who added yet another Panther goal in the 34th minute on his way to a four-point match.

Former Calgary Flames rearguard RICHIE REGEHR reduced Eisbaeren’s deficit in half with a power play goal nearly nine minutes into the final frame, but Berlin would approach Augsburg no further.

Engelhardt and CHRIS COLLINS (Boston College) added empty-netters for Augsburg in the final two minutes to seal the fate of Eisbaeren, champions of Germany four of the past five seasons.

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Augsburg's German goalie DENNIS ENDRAS is greeted by Canadian defenseman CHRISTIAN CHARTIER (43) in front of the Panthers net. Endras saved 53 shots in Augsburg's rubber-match defeat of Eisbaeren Berlin. (Christof Koepsel/Bongarts/Getty Images)