Landshut Cannibals
Encyclopedia
The Landshut Cannibals are a professional ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 team based in Landshut
Landshut
Landshut is a city in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany, belonging to both Eastern and Southern Bavaria. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also the seat of the...

, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

. Currently they are members of the 2nd Bundesliga
2nd Bundesliga (ice hockey)
The 2nd Eishockey-Bundesliga is the second tier of Ice hockey in Germany. It is organised by the DEB, the German Ice Hockey Federation. In the 2007-08 season, it features 14 teams.- History of the 2nd Ice Hockey Bundesliga :...

. The team was founded in 1948 as Eislaufverein Landshut (EVL), but since 2002 the professional team is organised as “Landshut Cannibals”. The EVL is still responsible for non-professional areas, i.e. junior hockey. From 1963 to 1994 the Team was a participant in the Ice hockey Bundesliga
Ice hockey Bundesliga
The Ice hockey Bundesliga was formed in 1958 as the elite hockey competition in the Federal Republic of Germany, replacing the Oberliga in this position...

 and is a founder member of the DEL. The team celebrated two German Championships (in 1970 and 1983) – their greatest success so far.

The home arena of the Landshut Cannibals is the Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg
Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg
The Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg is an indoor sporting arena located in Landshut, Germany. It is primarily used for ice hockey. The complex of buildings consists of two ice rinks, one generally used for training purposes. The second arena is the home venue of the Landshut Cannibals, a professional...

 (hockey arena at the Gutenbergweg), where they have played since 1957, after leaving tentative other locations. The arena has since been renovated several times and currently holds 6,750 people.

Landshut’s player development program is counted among the best in Germany, producing numerous well-known hockey players such as “Germany’s hockey player of the century” Erich Kühnhackl
Erich Kühnhackl
Erich Kühnhackl is a retired German ice hockey player born and raised in Czechoslovakia...

, Gerd Truntschka
Gerd Truntschka
Gerhard Truntschka is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the Ice hockey Bundesliga....

 (All Star at the 1987 World Ice Hockey Championships
1987 World Ice Hockey Championships
The 1987 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 52nd such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was also the 63rd ice hockey European Championships. Teams representing 28 countries participated in four levels of competition....

) and longtime NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 players Marco Sturm
Marco Sturm
Marco Johann Sturm is a German professional ice hockey winger with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League . Sturm began his career with EV Landshut of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, playing with the team from 1995 to 1997. Selected 21st overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose...

 (Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...

) and Christoph Schubert
Christoph Schubert
Christoph Schubert is a German professional ice hockey player. Schubert is currently playing for Hamburg Freezers in Deutsche Eishockey Liga...

 (Atlanta Thrashers
Atlanta Thrashers
The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League on June 25, 1997, and became the league's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL season...

).

The origins of ice hockey in Landshut and promotion to the top division (1934–1957)

It was not until 1934 when Landshut-born Heinz Wittmann organised an ice hockey equipment from Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria...

. The first games were played under the name of “Team Brauerei Wittmann” (named after Wittmann Brewery) against squads from Wartenberg, Bavaria
Wartenberg, Bavaria
Wartenberg is a municipality in the district of Erding in Bavaria in Germany....

 and Donaustauf
Donaustauf
Donaustauf is a market town in Bavaria, 5 km east of Regensburg at the foothills of the Bavarian Forest. The ruins of a medieval castle, presumably erected between 914 and 930, tower above the small town...

. On February 1, 1934 the team was incorporated into the Ski-Club Landshut (SCL). The same season they got champions of the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 region. The 1935-36 season marked the first appearance in the Kreisliga (then second division), where the squad played the following three years. In 1937 the ice hockey section was transferred from the SCL to another club, the Turngemeinde Landshut (TGL). After the 1938-39 season a regular schedule of the league was not possible any more because of the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. During the war there only took place a few friendly games, for example against Straubing
Straubing Tigers
The Straubing Tigers are a professional men's ice hockey team in the German Ice Hockey League . They play out of Straubing, Germany, and they play their home games at Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which can hold 5,800 spectators....

 on January 10, 1943. From the first post-war season 1945-46 to 1947-48 the team started in the newly formed Landesliga – again as section of the TGL. In 1948 contentions evolved concerning transferring of the earnings from the lucrative hockey games to the club's other sections.

As a result of the dispute most of TGL's hockey players formed a new registered association, the “Eislaufverein Landshut” (EVL). The founding ceremony took place on April 25, 1948 in the “Sterngarten” tavern. The driving force behind this move was Georg Zeller, other notable players of the early time were Hans Frühmorgen, Walter Rauhmeier and Jaro Truntschka. The latter would be eight times best EVL-scorer of the year. The few players who stayed with the TGL formed a squad that broke up in 1951. The newly founded EVL-team however started in the Landesliga, the then second division. In the 1948-49 season, their first one, the team lost the finals against EV Tegernsee. The following eight seasons were also played in the Landesliga, until the team won the promotion tie 1956-57 against TEV Miesbach
TEV Miesbach
TEV Miesbach is an ice hockey team in Miesbach, Germany. They play in the Oberliga, the third level of ice hockey in Germany. The club was founded in 1928....

. That game's decisive player was Jaro Truntschka scoring two times. Following this victory the club moved up to the Oberliga
Oberliga (Ice Hockey)
The Oberliga is currently the third tier of ice hockey in Germany. In the 2007-08 season, the Oberliga is split in a northern and a southern group.-1948-58:...

, then the top level hockey league in Germany.

From the underdog to the champion of the ice hockey Bundesliga (1957–1994)

In the run-up to the first season in the Oberliga
Oberliga (Ice Hockey)
The Oberliga is currently the third tier of ice hockey in Germany. In the 2007-08 season, the Oberliga is split in a northern and a southern group.-1948-58:...

 calls for the construction of an artificial ice rink grew louder, because with only having a natural ice rink the EVL would not be competitive in Germany's highest hockey league. After prolonged negotiations the city favored building an ice rink instead of a public pool, and with joint work the Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg
Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg
The Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg is an indoor sporting arena located in Landshut, Germany. It is primarily used for ice hockey. The complex of buildings consists of two ice rinks, one generally used for training purposes. The second arena is the home venue of the Landshut Cannibals, a professional...

 was completed timely for the 1957-58 season (then without roof). The official inauguration took place on November 10, 1957 against EC Kitzbühel
EC Kitzbühel
EC Kitzbuhel is an ice hockey team in Kitzbuhel, Austria. They play in the Tiroler Eliteliga, the fourth level of ice hockey in Austria.-History:...

. 5,000 spectators saw a 4-4 draw. Due to the new rink the EVL played against international teams (e.g. Blau-Weiss Zürich
ZSC Lions
The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions are a professional ice hockey team located in Zürich, Switzerland, playing in the National League A. The home arena, the 10,700 seat Hallenstadion, is in the Zürich district of Oerlikon...

, HC Bozen or HK Partizan Belgrad
HK Partizan
Hokejaški klub Partizan is a Serbian professional ice hockey club from Belgrade. HK Partizan is one of the sport clubs that are part of Partizan sport society. They play their home games at Pionir. The club currently plays in the Slohokej Liga and the Serbian Hockey League. HK Partizan has won 15...

 for the first time. Following the season the German league system was reformed and the EV Landshut was relegated to the second division (then called Oberliga).

Forcing the pace of junior hockey player development the team was quite successful in the following years. Placed 1st after the 1961-62 season the EVL lost the promotion ties against TSC Eintracht Dortmund
TSC Eintracht Dortmund
TSC Eintracht 1848/1895 Dortmund is a German sports club from the city of Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed on 9 July 1969 through the merger of Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht 1848 Dortmund and football side Dortmunder Sports Club 1895.With over 5,500 members the current day...

, but the consecutive season they beat Dortmund and promoted to the ice hockey Bundesliga
Ice hockey Bundesliga
The Ice hockey Bundesliga was formed in 1958 as the elite hockey competition in the Federal Republic of Germany, replacing the Oberliga in this position...

. Without acquiring new players the Landshut-based team started in their first Bundesliga season 1963-64 as underdog and candidate for relegation. The home games attracted up to 10,000 people. Surprisingly the team reached the fifth place out of eight. 1965 marked the beginnings of a friendly relationship with HC Sparta Praha
HC Sparta Praha
HC Sparta Praha is a Prague based Czech ice hockey team playing in Czech Extraliga.-Team History:Founded in 1903 by Canadian expatriate Lyle P. O'Connor, HC Sparta Praha was among the first bandy teams to play on a semi-professional level in the Austro-Hungarian Empire...

, e.g. regarding training camps and friendly games. In 1967, ten years after the construction of the ice rink, the stadium was roofed and converted into an arena. That year the EV Landshut signed coach Karel Gut
Karel Gut
Karel Gut is a ice hockey player who played in the Czechoslovak Extraliga. He won a three bronze medals on the World Championships. He was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1998.-External links:*...

 from Sparta Praha for three years. In his first year at the Isar
Isar
The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria and Bavaria, Germany. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald, and flows through Bad Tölz, Munich, and Landshut before reaching the Danube near Deggendorf. At 295 km in length, it is the fourth largest river...

 his team was placed third. The following year was rather disappointing: Being placed fourth, the squad had to play relegation. The 1969-70 season preliminary round, being under pressure to perform, was finished on the first place. As the champions round was also dominated by Landshut, the team won the German championship for the first time. The hockey euphoria in the city was immense, four out of ten home games were sold out. The most decisive players of the season were Alois Schloder
Alois Schloder
Alois Schloder is a retired ice hockey player. He participated at the 1976 Winter Olympics and won a bronze medal. He was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 2005....

, Rudi Hejtmanek and goalie Sepp Schramm. In the 1970-71 European Cup
IIHF European Champions Cup
The IIHF European Champions Cup was an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation , which took place during a long weekend in early January. The winner was considered the official club champion of Europe by the IIHF...

 Landshut defeated SG Cortina
SG Cortina
Sportivi Ghiaccio Cortina is an ice hockey team from Italy. They play their home games at Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio, located in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Veneto...

 but was disqualified due to an unlicensed player.

The following years the team were runners-up for two times (both 1973-74 and 1975–76). For years, both Alois Schloder and Erich Kühnhackl
Erich Kühnhackl
Erich Kühnhackl is a retired German ice hockey player born and raised in Czechoslovakia...

 belonged to the top-five scorers in the Bundesliga. Important task for every coach was the integration of the most talented junior players into the professional team. In a legendary game in the 1974-75 season the team faced a 0-10 loss against Krefeld
Krefeld Pinguine
The Krefeld Pinguine are an ice hockey team in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. They play in Krefeld, North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany at the KönigPALAST. Founded first in 1936, the pro team became a limited liability company in 1994 and joined the top tier Deutsche Eishockey Liga...

, because there were only six players available (due to a flu epidemic). In the following season two young players joined the team, which would be important in the years to come: Bernhard Englbrecht and Gerd Truntschka
Gerd Truntschka
Gerhard Truntschka is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the Ice hockey Bundesliga....

. At the 1976 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey at the 1976 Winter Olympics
At the 1976 Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck, Austria, the USSR team won the Gold Medal in ice hockey. Star forward, Valeri Kharlamov scored the game-winning goal in the final game. Games were held at the Olympiahalle Innsbruck.-Highlights:...

 in Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...

 three EVL-players joined the German national team
Germany men's national ice hockey team
The German men's national ice hockey team first participated in serious international competition at the 1911 European Hockey Championship. When Germany was split after World War II, a separate East German national ice hockey team existed until 1990...

 (Alois Schloder, Erich Kühnhackl and Klaus Auhuber), which won bronze behind the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia – the greatest victory in German hockey history. After middling results in the 1977-78 season the management signed František Pospíšil
Frantisek Pospisil
František Pospíšil was a Czech ice hockey defenceman and coach.He played in the Czechoslovak Elite League for Poldi Kladno from 1961-1978, then in Germany for EV Landshut in 1978-79. He won the Golden Hockey Stick as the top player in Czechoslovakia in 1971 and 1972...

. Nevertheless the team had to play relegation and the attendance dropped from estimated 4,500 to 1,700. Signing Jiří Kochta
Jirí Kochta
Jiří Kochta is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the Czechoslovak Extraliga. He played for HC Jihlava and HC Sparta Praha. He won a bronze medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics....

 for the 1979-80 season brought luck and the fourth place.

In 1980 the coach of the first championship, Karel Gut, returned to Landshut. This season saw the NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

-like playoff system introduced. While the team was eliminated in the 1980-81 quarterfinals, and the 1981-82 semifinals, they knocked out the Mannheimer ERC
Adler Mannheim
Adler Mannheim are an ice hockey team of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest ice hockey league in Germany. The team is from Mannheim, a city in the north of Baden-Wurttemberg...

 in the 1982-83 finals and could call themselves German champions for the second time. The major players for Landshut were Bob Laycock, Robin Laycock and Michael Betz (scored the decisive 4-5 goal in the last final).

In the 1983-84 season the EV Landshut only lost the finals against the Kölner EC
Kölner Haie
The Kölner Haie are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany that plays in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The team was one of the founding members of the DEL.The team colours are red and white....

 and were runners-up. In the following years the club faced increasing financial troubles as did most Bavarian hockey strongholds. Depts totalled 2.7 mil.
Million
One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...

 D-Mark
D-Mark
Marcos Ligero, born in Sabadell, Spain and better known as D-Mark, is a Spanish Electronic Dance Music DJ, musician and producer. Starting with the music as a hobby in the late 90s and at the early age of 13 he became an enthusiast of the dance music genre of the moment, and passed to be a mere...

. This was because Landshut's junior player education was expensive, and the well-educated players would be contracted by wealthy large city-clubs Despite signing a few well-known players like Tom Roulston
Tom Roulston
Thomas Roulston is a former professional ice hockey right winger. He was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the third round, 45th overall, of the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft...

, Matti Hagman
Matti Hagman
Matti Risto Tapio "Hakki" Hagman is a former Finnish ice hockey professional. Hagman was the first Finnish-born and Finnish trained player to play an NHL game and the first to play in a Stanley Cup final...

 and Tom O'Regan
Tom O'Regan
Thomas Patrick O'Regan is a retired professional ice hockey forward.-Career:O'Regan played 61 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL in the mid 1980s...

 between 1984 and 1989 the club was not able to come through the quarterfinals. The preliminary standings declined from fourth to eighth, before the team missed the playoff qualification in the 1989-90 preliminaries. The relegation round was finished on the first rank. The 1990-91 preliminaries were also completed only on the ninth rank, but in the playdowns the EVL knocked out the EHC Dynamo Berlin
Eisbären Berlin
' are a professional ice hockey team based in Berlin, Germany. The team competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga , the highest level of play in professional German ice hockey and is also one of the league's founding members...

. In the following season the squad finally hit rock bottom: Losing all relegation games, the EVL owed its participation in the Bundesliga the baize table (two contrahents resigned). After managing the 1992-93 relegation round, Landshut's management decided to invest in a punchy lineup to play for the championship, but was knocked out in the quarterfinals.

The founding of the DEL and the sale of the license (1994–2000)

Due to the desolate financial situation in German professional ice hockey the Deutsche Eishockey Liga was founded in 1994. It was the first self-managed German professional league. All teams of the Bundesliga
Ice hockey Bundesliga
The Ice hockey Bundesliga was formed in 1958 as the elite hockey competition in the Federal Republic of Germany, replacing the Oberliga in this position...

 and the 2nd bundesliga
2nd Bundesliga (ice hockey)
The 2nd Eishockey-Bundesliga is the second tier of Ice hockey in Germany. It is organised by the DEB, the German Ice Hockey Federation. In the 2007-08 season, it features 14 teams.- History of the 2nd Ice Hockey Bundesliga :...

 were outsourcing their professional areas into corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...

s. The EV Landshut's team was transferred to the Cannibals Eissport GmbH
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung is a type of legal entityvery common in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and other Central European countries...

and because of marketing purposes the professional team was known under “Landshut Cannibals” since then.

In the 1994-95 DEL season – the first ever – coach Bernie Johnston
Bernie Johnston
Bernie Johnston is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played in 57 NHL games with the Hartford Whalers over parts of two seasons.-External links:...

 was able to keep most of last year's squad and strengthened it with signing NHL-star Wallace Schreiber. Furthermore benefited the team from the 1994–95 NHL lockout more than most other DEL franchises, with Pavel Bure
Pavel Bure
Pavel Vladimirovich Bure is a retired Russian professional ice hockey right winger. Nicknamed "The Russian Rocket" for his speed, Bure played for 12 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers...

, Scott Young and Uwe Krupp
Uwe Krupp
Uwe G. Krupp is a retired German professional hockey defenceman and current coach of the German national ice hockey team. Following Walt Tkaczuk, Krupp was only the second German-born player to have a lasting career in the National Hockey League...

 playing shortly for the Cannibals. Bure's only game for Landshut was legendary, scoring three times against the Eisbären Berlin
Eisbären Berlin
' are a professional ice hockey team based in Berlin, Germany. The team competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga , the highest level of play in professional German ice hockey and is also one of the league's founding members...

. Ranked second after the preliminaries, the Cannibals knocked out the Lausitzer Füchse
Lausitzer Füchse
The Lausitzer Füchse is a German ice hockey team, based in Weißwasser, Saxony.- History :The team was founded already in 1932 but is most significant for its remarkable domination as SG Dynamo Weißwasser in the GDR ice hockey league with over 25 championships...

 in the round of sixteen, before defeating both Kassel Huskies
Kassel Huskies
The Kassel Huskies were a professional ice hockey team based in Kassel, Hesse, Germany. They played the majority of their seasons in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.The club was founded as ESG Kassel in 1977 and was renamed into EC Kassel in 1987...

 and Krefeld Pinguine
Krefeld Pinguine
The Krefeld Pinguine are an ice hockey team in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. They play in Krefeld, North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany at the KönigPALAST. Founded first in 1936, the pro team became a limited liability company in 1994 and joined the top tier Deutsche Eishockey Liga...

. In the finals they were only beaten by the Kölner Haie
Kölner Haie
The Kölner Haie are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany that plays in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The team was one of the founding members of the DEL.The team colours are red and white....

. Wallace Schreiber and Mike Bullard were top-scorers of the league with 38 and 39 goals resp. The following season the Cannibals had landed José Charbonneau
José Charbonneau
Jose Charbonneau is a retired professional ice hockey player who spent parts of 4 seasons in the National Hockey League between 1987 and 1995.-Playing career:...

 (top-scorer with 42 goals), while Marco Sturm
Marco Sturm
Marco Johann Sturm is a German professional ice hockey winger with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League . Sturm began his career with EV Landshut of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, playing with the team from 1995 to 1997. Selected 21st overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose...

 entered professional level and scored 12 times. In the 1995-96 playoff season they defeated the Starbulls Rosenheim
Starbulls Rosenheim
Starbulls Rosenheim is an ice hockey team from Germany. The team joined SB/DJK Rosenheim in 1979, after EV Rosenheim had folded, and in 1994 the team adopted their current name.The team played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga from 1995-2000...

 in the first round and swept the Adler Mannheim
Adler Mannheim
Adler Mannheim are an ice hockey team of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest ice hockey league in Germany. The team is from Mannheim, a city in the north of Baden-Wurttemberg...

, setting up another showdown with the Kölner Haie, which was lost. In the 1996-97 playoffs they played Köln for the third time in a row, this time knocking them out in the quarterfinal round, before losing to Mannheim in the semifinals. Best scorer was Gino Cavallini
Gino Cavallini
Gino J. Cavallini is a retired Canadian ice hockey forward.Cavallini played one year for the St. Michael's Buzzers, a Junior hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association Following his short stint with the Buzzers, Cavallini was offered a scholarship to play college hockey for the...

 with 28 goals. The team of following season's top-scorer, Dave McLlwain
Dave McLlwain
David Allan McLlwain is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. McLlwain is best known for playing for a record four National Hockey League teams in one season during the 1991–92 season...

, swept “favorite opponent” Kölner Haie, but lost to the Eisbären Berlin in the semifinals.

For the 1998-99 DEL season the Cannibal's management envisaged proceeding to the final round for the first time in the last four years. After signing Chris Valentine
Chris Valentine
Christopher William Valentine is a former Canadian ice hockey player and coach.He began his career in 1978 at St. Louis University. He was taken in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft in the 10th round by the Washington Capitals...

 as coach they contracted former NHL players Dean Evason
Dean Evason
Dean C. Evason is a Canadian former National Hockey League player who is currently an assistant coach for the Washington Capitals.-Playing career:...

, Jason Herter
Jason Herter
Jason Herter is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman. He is currently a head coach with the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League ....

, David Bruce
David Bruce (ice hockey)
David Bruce was a professional ice hockey player who played for the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, and San Jose Sharks of the NHL.-Career statistics:-External links:...

, Mike Casselman
Mike Casselman
Michael S. Casselman is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey left wing and former AHL All-Star. He was drafted out of Clarkson University by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1990 NHL Supplemental Draft. He played three games in the National Hockey League with the Florida Panthers in the...

, Peter Douris
Peter Douris
Peter W. Douris is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League from 1985 to 1998. He was drafted in the 2nd round, 30th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft after his freshman season at the University of New Hampshire...

 and Bob Joyce
Bob Joyce
Robert Thomas Joyce is a former Canadian ice hockey player who played 6 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets...

 as well as Evan Marble and Jari Korpisalo. Ranked sixth after the preliminary round the squad was knocked out surprisingly in the quarterfinals by the Adler Mannheim. The disappointment of the early elimination gave way to consternation regarding the club's financial situation. With depths totaling 10 mil. D-Mark (about 6.5 mil. USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

) the club management announced on May 12, 1999 they would not be able to run a team for the 1999/2000 DEL season. The corporation Cannibals Eissport GmbH (i.e. the franchise) was sold to the Anschutz Entertainment Group
Anschutz Entertainment Group
The Anschutz Entertainment Group is a sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports events, the owner of the world’s most profitable sports and entertainment venues, and under AEG Live the world's...

, renamed “MEC Münchener Eishockey Club GmbH” (Munich ice hockey club Gmbh) and relocated to Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, where the franchise played for three seasons as Munich Barons
Munich Barons
The Munich Barons were a professional ice hockey team between 1999 and 2002 run by the Anschutz Entertainment Group in the German Ice Hockey League ...

. In 2002 the franchise was relocated to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 and started operation as Hamburg Freezers
Hamburg Freezers
The Hamburg Freezers are a member of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga that play their games in Hamburg, Germany. Originally known as the Munich Barons from 1999 until 2002, team owner Philip Anschutz relocated the franchise to Hamburg for financial reasons on 3 June 2002, and renamed the team the...

. A cooperation contract ruled out that the EV Landshut had to stay two levels below the Barons for at least three years, therefore earning 350,000 D-Mark for junior hockey development p.a. As a result ice hockey in Landshut had to continue in the third level semi-professional Oberliga
Oberliga (Ice Hockey)
The Oberliga is currently the third tier of ice hockey in Germany. In the 2007-08 season, the Oberliga is split in a northern and a southern group.-1948-58:...

 after 36 seasons of top-level participation.

The new beginning in the third division (2000–2003)

With canceling top-level professional ice hockey in Landshut most of the squad left the team and continued their careers with the Munich Barons
Munich Barons
The Munich Barons were a professional ice hockey team between 1999 and 2002 run by the Anschutz Entertainment Group in the German Ice Hockey League ...

 or other clubs of the DEL. At first it was Michael Eibl who the team, that consisted mainly of young players out of the club's junior teams (e.g. Markus Hundhammer
Markus Hundhammer
Markus Hundhammer is a German professional ice hockey player. He is currently playing for Straubing Tigers in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga .-External links:...

 and Christoph Schubert
Christoph Schubert
Christoph Schubert is a German professional ice hockey player. Schubert is currently playing for Hamburg Freezers in Deutsche Eishockey Liga...

) but also foreign players like Kamil Ťoupal from HC České Budějovice
HC Ceské Budejovice
HC Mountfield České Budějovice are a professional men's ice hockey club, based in České Budějovice in the Czech Republic. The club plays home games at Budvar Arena, and are members of the Czech Extraliga...

. Later the management signed Gary Clark as coach. On the sixth rank after the preliminaries the squad knocked out the Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg and the TSV Erding and were qualified for playing the 2000/01 2nd Bundesliga season but had to resign due to the cooperation contract with the Munich Barons.

After completing the 2000/01 Oberliga preliminaries on rank six the team was swept by the Füchse Duisburg in the playoff quarterfinal round. That season saw later general manager Bernd Truntschka return as a player due to player shortage. The average audience dropped to 1,300 – a record low in the younger history of the club. The following season the management signed coach Bernhard Englbrecht and tried to struggle for promotion. Due to ongoing financial troubles – a legacy of the DEL-era – the club filed for bankruptcy, while the team still was playing the preliminaries. They were placed first finishing 14 points better than the second-place ESV Kaufbeuren
ESV Kaufbeuren
ESV Kaufbeuren is an ice hockey team in Kaufbeuren, Germany. They play in the Oberliga, the third level of ice hockey in Germany.The club was founded in 1946. In 2007, they were relegated to the Oberliga....

. Finally the squad swept Erding in the semifinals and the Dresdner Eislöwen
Dresdner Eislöwen
The Dresden Eislöwen are a professional ice hockey team in the 2nd Bundesliga. The team is based in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. They play their home games at the EnergieVerbund Arena which hosts up to 4.100 spectators....

 in the finals. Consequently the EV Landshut promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga
2nd Bundesliga (ice hockey)
The 2nd Eishockey-Bundesliga is the second tier of Ice hockey in Germany. It is organised by the DEB, the German Ice Hockey Federation. In the 2007-08 season, it features 14 teams.- History of the 2nd Ice Hockey Bundesliga :...

.

The Landshut Cannibals in the 2nd Bundesliga (since 2003)

With re-entering the professional league system the professional area of the EV Landshut was outsourced a again. Since 2002 the team is organised by the “Landshuter Eishockey Spielbetriebs-GmbH” and is known as the “Landshut Cannibals”. Bernd Truntschka was appointed general manager. In October 2002 the insolvency plan was approved and the following year the last rate was paid.

The 2002-03 2nd Bundesliga preliminaries were surprisingly finished on the fourth rank. In the playoffs the squad knocked out the Heilbronner Falken
Heilbronner Falken
Heilbronner Falken are an ice hockey team in Heilbronn, Germany. They play in the 2nd Bundesliga, the second level of ice hockey in Germany.-History:...

 but was defeated 2-3 games by SC Riessersee
SC Riessersee
SC Riessersee is an ice hockey team from Germany.They play their home games at the Olympia-Eissport-Zentrum, located in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Oberbayern. They currently play in the second level of German ice hockey, the 2...

 in the playoff semifinals. Christian Brittig was top-scorer with 20 goals. The Cannibal's second season in the league was even more successful: They beat the EV Duisburg, before defeating EC Bad Nauheim
Rote Teufel Bad Nauheim
Rote Teufel Bad Nauheim is an ice hockey team in Bad Nauheim, Germany. They play in the Oberliga, the third level of ice hockey in Germany. The club was founded in 1982....

 in the fifth and last game 3-2 SO. After losing the finals to Wolfsburg in four games Landshut were runners-up. 2,622 spectators per game watched this spectacular season, and another pleasure for the manager: The insolvency proceedings were completed, the EVL was free from dept.
In the 2004-05 preliminaries the team could just qualify for the playoffs. In the quarterfinals they were knocked out by derby opponent EV Regensburg. The following season the club signed among others Daniel Naud as coach and goalie Martin Cinibulk. The powerful squad was ranked second in the first round. Understandably management, players and fans were heavily disappointed as the team was defeated by underdog Dresdner Eislöwen
Dresdner Eislöwen
The Dresden Eislöwen are a professional ice hockey team in the 2nd Bundesliga. The team is based in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. They play their home games at the EnergieVerbund Arena which hosts up to 4.100 spectators....

 in seven games. Strangely enough the EVL celebrated walkovers in the home games (7-1, 7-1, 4-1), while losing narrowly away. After all the team lost the final game in Landshut 4-1. In the 2006-07 season the Cannibals knocked out the Schwenninger Wild Wings, were however swept by Wolfsburg in the semifinals.

In the 2007-08 pre-season coach Andreas Brockmann formed a powerful team consisting of Brent Walton, Brandon Dietrich
Brandon Dietrich
Brandon Dietrich is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is currently playing for EHC München in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga ....

, and Peter Abstreiter and kept most of the regulars. The second placing in the preliminaries got fans and team in the right mood for a successful playoff season. In the quarterfinals the team defeated the Bietigheim Steelers 4-1, and swept Heilbronn in the semifinals. Thus the Landshut Cannibals entered a 2nd Bundesliga final round for the second time since 2004. Although the team's opponent, the Kassel Huskies
Kassel Huskies
The Kassel Huskies were a professional ice hockey team based in Kassel, Hesse, Germany. They played the majority of their seasons in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.The club was founded as ESG Kassel in 1977 and was renamed into EC Kassel in 1987...

, had a budget twice the amount of Landshut's, the finals were narrow. Winning the first game 1-0 in Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

, the team lost the following two encounters (0-6 and 0-5). In the fourth game the Cannibals cleared 5-4 OT. The final game was not finished until Drew Bannister
Drew Bannister
Drew Bannister is a professional ice hockey defenceman, and current player/head coach for the Braehead Clan of the British Elite Ice Hockey League...

 shot Kassel to the championship and promotion to the DEL in overtime.

In the 2008-09 season the financial background was not that bright, so that the fifth rank after the preliminaries was a good result. Ben Cottreau (top-scorer with 59 points) was a lucky pull, and Tom Kühnhackl
Tom Kühnhackl
Tom Kühnhackl is a German ice hockey right winger who currently plays for the Niagara IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League. He has also played professionally for the Augsburger Panther of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest German hockey league...

 made his debut in professional hockey. Unfortunately the team was defeated in the quarterfinals by EV Ravensburg
EV Ravensburg
EV Ravensburg is an ice hockey team in Ravensburg, Germany. They play in the 2nd Bundesliga, the second level of ice hockey in Germany. In 2007, the club was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga....

 in six games. The 2009-10 preliminaries were finished on the fifth rank again. Even the young forwards Tom Kühnhackl and Tobias Rieder, who left for Canada after that season, could not prevent losing against Bietigheim in the playoff quarterfinals.

Current roster

Updated September 16, 2010.


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Honored members

Many important hockey players played in Landshut or learned playing hockey there. The first-ever German drafted for the NHL, Bernhard “Bernie” Englbrecht was a product of Landshut’s system, as were the two bronze medal winners of the 1976 olympics, Klaus “Butzi” Auhuber and franchise player Alois Schloder. Some of the most known were Sepp Schramm, Jaro Truntschka, Rudi Hejtmanek, Jiri Kochta, Bob and Robin Laycock, Helmut Steiger, Christian Brittig, Mike Bullard, Petr Briza, Wally Schreiber, Matti Hagman, Jiri Pospisil, Craig Laughlin, Bernd Truntschka and in the nearer past Kamil Toupal.
The most notable coaches in club history include Dr. Karel Gut and Bernie Johnston.
  • Erich Kühnhackl
    Erich Kühnhackl
    Erich Kühnhackl is a retired German ice hockey player born and raised in Czechoslovakia...

  • Alois Schloder
    Alois Schloder
    Alois Schloder is a retired ice hockey player. He participated at the 1976 Winter Olympics and won a bronze medal. He was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 2005....

  • Gerd Truntschka
    Gerd Truntschka
    Gerhard Truntschka is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the Ice hockey Bundesliga....

  • Bernd Truntschka
  • Helmut Steiger
  • Udo Kiessling
    Udo Kiessling
    Udo Kiessling is a retired ice hockey player. He competed at all Winter Olympics from 1976 to 1992, thus becoming the first ice hockey player to compete at five Olympics. He also played one game for the Minnesota North Stars. He was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of...

  • Marco Sturm
    Marco Sturm
    Marco Johann Sturm is a German professional ice hockey winger with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League . Sturm began his career with EV Landshut of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, playing with the team from 1995 to 1997. Selected 21st overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose...

  • Christoph Schubert
    Christoph Schubert
    Christoph Schubert is a German professional ice hockey player. Schubert is currently playing for Hamburg Freezers in Deutsche Eishockey Liga...

  • Mike Bullard
  • Hans Zach
  • Bernhard Englbrecht
  • Wallace Schreiber
  • Petr Briza
    Petr Bríza
    Petr Bříza is a former Czech ice hockey goaltender. He played in goal on the bronze medal winning ice hockey team for Czechoslovakia at the 1992 Winter Olympics.-External links:*...

  • Pavel Bure
    Pavel Bure
    Pavel Vladimirovich Bure is a retired Russian professional ice hockey right winger. Nicknamed "The Russian Rocket" for his speed, Bure played for 12 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers...

     (played 1 game: 3 goals)
  • Peter Douris
    Peter Douris
    Peter W. Douris is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League from 1985 to 1998. He was drafted in the 2nd round, 30th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft after his freshman season at the University of New Hampshire...

  • Dean Evason
    Dean Evason
    Dean C. Evason is a Canadian former National Hockey League player who is currently an assistant coach for the Washington Capitals.-Playing career:...

  • Gino Cavallini
    Gino Cavallini
    Gino J. Cavallini is a retired Canadian ice hockey forward.Cavallini played one year for the St. Michael's Buzzers, a Junior hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association Following his short stint with the Buzzers, Cavallini was offered a scholarship to play college hockey for the...

  • Craig Laughlin
    Craig Laughlin
    Craig Alan Laughlin is a retired Canadian ice hockey right wing and color analyst for the Washington Capitals on CSN Washington.Laughlin was drafted in 1977 by the Montreal Canadiens...

  • Matti Hagman
    Matti Hagman
    Matti Risto Tapio "Hakki" Hagman is a former Finnish ice hockey professional. Hagman was the first Finnish-born and Finnish trained player to play an NHL game and the first to play in a Stanley Cup final...

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