Kölner Haie
Nickname	Sharks
City	Cologne, Germany
League	Deutsche Eishockey Liga
Founded	1972; 48 years ago
Home arena	Lanxess Arena (capacity: 18,500)
Colours
Head coach	Uwe Krupp
Captain	Moritz Müller
Championships	8 (1977, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1995, 2002)
Website	haie.de
Franchise history
1972–1995	Kölner EC
1995–present	Kölner Haie

The Kölner Haie (Cologne Sharks) are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL.

The Kölner Haie play their home games in the DEL and the German Cup (DEB-Pokal) at the Lanxess Arena, which opened in 1998, located in the district Deutz. With room for 18,500 spectators, Lanxess Arena is amongst the biggest multi-functional arenas in Europe, and the Kölner Haie have the second highest average attendance in European ice hockey behind Swiss team SC Bern. Previously, the Kölner Haie played their home games at the Eisstadion an der Lentstraße. A strong local rivalry exists between the Kölner Haie and the Düsseldorfer EG, of neighboring Düsseldorf. Games between the two teams often sell-out to attractive crowds.

History

1972 to 1976: Foundation and relegation

In summer, 1972 the hockey department of the Kölner EK (KEK) which made the puck play in Cologne in different lower classes able of drawing room since 1936 separated from the family association. The members believed to be able to play as an independent association successful hockey, because so more freedom of choice and better financial possibilities existed. 10 August 1972 the independence of the hockey department was decided and Peter Rentergent was appointed the president of the new Kölner EC (KEC). Because the KEC remained first still to the old club as an independent department connected – one was called first Kölner EC in the Kölner EK – the team might begin directly in the second division. The KEK was furthermore a member in the German Ice Hockey Federation and, hence, owned a start authorisation for this play class. The new association should be called originally only Kölner EC – what did not admit, however, the association register because of the resemblance to the Kölner EK. Hence, the addition "The sharks" was added later to the association name. Also in the first logo which the goalkeeper at that time and artist Dieter Horký sketched the shark was illustrated. Today the shark is the unmistakable brand name of the club and since 1995 also officially part of the name.^[1]

Immediately in the first season 1972/73 in the second division succeeded the sharks consider the rise in the Eishockey-Bundesliga. With strong players like Detlef Langemann, Wim Hospelt or player and manager Günter Peter occupied team degraded the opponents in the second-highest play class partly in two digits. In her first Bundesliga year there were always problems in and around the team. Thus team captain Sigbert Stotz finished his career on account of an injury and it gave riots in the board of directors. Manager Peter after whom financial problems with his tyre trade were repeated fled without news from the town. The association dismissed the trainer and fetched back rise trainer Ondrej Bendík to the gang. Still one created at the end extremely scarcely the class preservation. Also in the next playing time one had nothing to do with the descent. In 1975/76 became the first big crisis season of the sharks. The quarrel within the presidium led to beginning of the year in 1976 to the resignation of the president Rentergent who had also come under fire because of supposed payments to the players officially still applying as amateurs of the KEC. Besides, on account of the weak abscission and the turbulence in the association – middle of the season was dismissed trainer Bendík because of persistent failure – the numbers of spectators strongly decreased what led to a financial deficit.^[2][3]

1976 to 1983: The first success

In spite of the acute monetary problems the sharks with big transfer drew the attention to themselves., Among the rest, thus new president Jochem Erlemann obliged Gerhard Kiessling and his son Udo as a trainer or defender. Nevertheless, the purchase of Erich Kühnhackl of EV Landshut for the record transfer fee at that time of more than 600,000 DM was even more spectacularly. Strangely in the obligation: Jochem Erlemann had sent several times employee with money to negotiations with Kühnhackl to Landshut which achieved, nevertheless, no success. The star player still changed to Cologne. However, even as had set up of the KEC sportily in the top flight of the league, tax additional payments and debts became known at the rate of more than two million DM. Only by immediately initiated consolidation measures the association president succeeded in turning away the bankruptcy and in holding the play company straight. And thus the sharks in March 1977 managed the profit of the first mastery when one defeated, among the rest, the former standard master from Eisbären Berlin, as well as the Rhenish rivals from Düsseldorfer EG and Krefeld Pinguine in the master round introduced anew.^[4]

After the KEC did not manage the sighted title defence, the president obliged many new players., Among the rest, there came Miroslav Sikora who remained the following 20 years as a player and manager linked to the sharks to Cologne. Also Gerhard Kiessling, master trainer of 1977, returned to the sharks, after he had been dismissed immediately after the first championship unexpectedly. The sharks managed in the season the second title profit which was overshadowed, nevertheless, by the resignation of the president. Successor to Jochem Erlemann will appoint Heinz Landen, Clemens Vedder became the treasurer.^[5]

The next playing times stood in the sign of the sporty mediocrity as well as the financial consolidation of the association. In the season 1980/81 the Play out of vision qualification reached of the KEC though sportily, however, the team became because of the entanglement in the passport forger's scandal (application of Canadians or American as German players, however, the German nationality had not moved) into the descent round. Moreover, on 9 March 1981 it came in the Bundesliga play against the VfL Bad Nauheim to a mass scrap. The referee covered including match punishments, play duration punishments and disciplinary punishments of a total of 166 penalty minutes.^[6]

Till 1983 formed an efficient team with young, ambitious players, as for example Miroslav Sikora, Gerd Truntschka, Uwe Krupp and Helmut de Raaf, as well as experienced players like Udo Kiessling and Uli Hiemer.

1983 to 1988: Four championships in five years

With Jozef Golonka an experienced trainer was obliged who led the team in the finale of the playoff round where one hit on EV Landshut. The sharks defeated Landshuter EV with 5:0 in the fifth and determining play and celebrated the German mastery.^[7]

A year later the sharks begun once more as favorites had to be content with place three. On account of an injured person's plight one lined up in the semi-final against the Mannheim ERC only with eleven healthy players. The season, nevertheless, was overshadowed by the foul of the inhabitant of Mannheim Roy Roedger who hit the KEC forward Steve McNeill with the racquet point in the right eye. Only thanks to several operations a part of the visual ability of the eye was saved. Roedger was closed for many plays and was condemned, finally, to a compensation payment at the rate of 200,000 DM. Moreover, the shark forward Peter Schiller provided for sensation, when he in the European cup play against the Bolzano HC which the KEC with 6:1 won, went from boredom with the puck behind own gate and made push-ups.^[8]

The season 1985/86, the first playing time in which the former shark player Hardy Nilsson stood as a trainer in the Cologne gang became one of the most successful ones of the association history for the KEC. From beginning the team dominated the league and went as a front runner to the playoffs. There one lost only one play, won in the first final series against the Düsseldorf EC (DEG) with 3:0 victories and celebrated once more the mastery. Before one had already booked in the European cup the second place. However, also this season a tragic secondary phenomenon had for the sharks: 19-year-old Ralph Philipp, nephew of the long-standing KEC forward Rainer Philipp, died with a car accident. Since then the tricot number 8 which had "inherited" the promising young talent from his uncle any more will not award with the sharks to player.^[9]

In the season 1986/87 a team since introduction of the playoffs succeeded with the KEC for the first time in defending her title gained in the season before. In the playoffs to which one had gone as a qualifying round second the sharks lost no play and defeated Schwenningen, the DEG and Mannheim in three plays in each case. Already before the season Clemens Vedder had removed his post as a treasurer for private reasons.^[10] A year later made the sharks to the Titelhattrick perfect when they won the fifth determining play with 4:1 in the finale of the Playoffs against the sports alliance of Rosenheim. With it they defeated the team which was better placed as only in the qualifying round. At the beginning of the playoffs set of the KEC a record unequalled till this day: Including three victories in each case against Frankfurt and Mannheim the team 20 won playoff plays in succession.^[11]