| Iserlohn Roosters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Iserlohn,Germany |
| League | Deutsche Eishockey Liga |
| Founded | 28 February 1959; 66 years ago (1959-02-28) |
| Home arena | Balver-Zinn Arena (capacity: 4,967) |
| Colors | Blue, black, white |
| General manager | Christian Hommel |
| Head coach | Doug Shedden |
| Captain | Hubert Labrie |
| Website | iserlohn-roosters.de |
| Franchise history | |
| EC Deilinghofen | |
| 1980–1987 | ECD Iserlohn |
| 1988–1994 | ECD Sauerland |
| 1994 | ECD Sauerland Iserlohn Penguins |
| 1994–2000 | Iserlohner EC |
| 2000–present | Iserlohn Roosters |
 Current season | |
TheIserlohn Roosters are a professionalice hockey team based inIserlohn,North Rhine-Westphalia. They are members of theDeutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) since 2000 and play their home games at theBalver-Zinn Arena which is also known asEissporthalle am Seilersee. The team made the playoffs three times in its first 15 seasons in the DEL. The Roosters are widely regarded for their fans and having one of the best atmospheres at home games inEurope despite having an arena capacity for just 4,967 spectators. The club caused much controversy in 1987 when, underHeinz Weifenbach, a US$900,000 advertising deal was signed for formerLibyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi'sThe Green Book.
The history ofice hockey inIserlohn began in the neighbouring town ofHemer.Canadian soldiers were deployed to a district of Hemer called Deilinghofen. They came to the town after the end of theKorean War in 1953 and soon built an arena – first without a roof. The teenagers in Deilinghofen were interested in this strange kind of sport and wanted to play it, too. They played on streets or frozen ponds, and were allowed to play in the arena in 1957 for the first time. Recognizing the joy of the teenagers, the Canadians found some coaches, with Charles McCuaig later becoming a regular trainer. After a long period of preparation, the first game against a Canadian youth team fromSoest was on 8 March 1958 in front of 120 people. Deilinghofen played well, but lost 2–6. The equipment was borrowed from the soldiers. After that game, matches were more regular and attracted more fans, so a roof was built on the arena in 1958.
On 28 February 1959EC Deilinghofen was founded. In 1959 a team from Deilinghofen started in a junior league and reached second place. A year later they took part in the German championship and finished fifth. In the second season, 1960–61, they came in first in North Rhine-Westphalia and were the second best team in the country.[citation needed] Between 1962 and 1964, they were champions of the north of Germany, but they lost the playoffs against the champions of the south. As a result, they missed promotion, although they were eventually promoted.[citation needed]
In 1971 theCanadian soldiers were sent home, and the incoming British soldiers were not interested in ice hockey. The team had to search for a new home. Local politicians wanted to have an arena in Iserlohn. With the agreement of Iserlohn's town council, theEissporthalle am Seilersee was built.[1]
In the 1976–77 season, Deilinghofen finished two places behindKaufbeuren in the newZweite Bundesliga. However, Kaufbeuren waived their right to promotion, and Deilinghofen received the chance to play in Germany's top hockey league for the first time.[citation needed]
In 1980 the club was renamedECD Iserlohn because of its long history being based there. In the following season, the team was relegated for the first time in its history. Two years later, it moved back up again. The following years were the most successful seasons in the club's history. In 1986 ECD reached the semi-finals in the playoffs with stars likeJaroslav Pouzar andMartti Jarkko. Due to the added expenses created by the addition of these star players, the team president,Heinz Weifenbach, looked for financial help inLibya, whereMuammar al-Gaddafi agreed to pay if the team advertised his "Green Book".[2] On 4 December 1987 they came to an agreement. However, due to negative attention, ECD scrapped that plan a few days later.[3]
The next season,ECD Sauerland was founded. They started playing in theOberliga, although Weifenbach wanted to begin play in the Bundesliga. The club had the same significant financial problems as its predecessors. The 1991–92 season was a catastrophe, so the fans were afraid that the team would not receive a license to continue operating. ECD eventually obtained a license, but went bankrupt a few days after the end of the 1993–94 season.
One day later, on 9 April 1994, theECD Sauerland Iserlohn Penguins were founded, but the peewee players didn't contract in, so the club's history was short-lived.
Iserlohner EC (IEC) was founded on 20 April in the same year. The new committee wanted to avoid financial difficulties. After one season, the team moved up to the second-tier league. The following two years were more difficult, but new players during this time helped revived the club. In 1997 a new coach,Greg Poss, came to Iserlohn. After three successful years, the club moved up again after purchasing the operating license ofStarbulls Rosenheim. 40 years after the foundation of the original team, the arena in Deilinghofen was torn down in 1999, despite protests from many people in Deilinghofen.
Iserlohner EC joined theDeutsche Eishockey Liga in 2000 and adopted the nameIserlohn Roosters. AGmbH, which serves to administer the finances and the business organisation, was created for the professional team. The GmbH was named the Iserlohn Roosters GmbH. All junior teams were still under the control of the IEC. The Roosters continually had the lowest budget of all DEL teams, and the media often referred to them as anunderdog team. In their first two seasons, the Roosters placed 15th and 12th.
In the 2002–03 season, the team again missed the playoffs by falling just two points short even though they beat the German champion of the year, theKrefeld Pinguine, 8–1 on the last day of the season. Before the next season, Poss left the club and went on to coach theNürnberg Ice Tigers. Iserlohn named Dave Whistle as new coach, but after only nine games,Doug Mason was his successor. During thelockout season in2004–05,Mike York andJohn-Michael Liles came to Iserlohn and helped the team reach 11th place despite still having the smallest budget in the league. York signed with Iserlohn after his old college friendBryan Adams, who was the captain of the Roosters, talked to him.Brian Gionta also signed, but left without having played due to his wife's pregnancy.
Twelve players left the club in the summer of 2005, but the Roosters were able to make some great moves on the transfer market with the biggest signings being former DEL top scorerBrad Purdie and former NHL playerMark Greig for two years. Nevertheless, they finished in just eleventh place despite having the best power play in the league. In March 2006, Mason left Iserlohn forKölner Haie, andGeoff Ward came to Iserlohn to coach. After defeating theDEG Metro Stars 5–1 in the opening game of the season in 2006–07, the Roosters were in first place for one week for the first time in their history. After again finishing another season in eleventh place, Ward then left Iserlohn during the summer of 2007 to be an assistant coach for theBoston Bruins of the NHL.
For the 2007–08 season,Rick Adduono became the new coach of the Roosters. The Roosters improved the team by addingNorm Maracle andBob Wren. After the fifth game, they were in a playoff position and were able to hold on to it the rest of the season. Improved offense was due toRobert Hock andMichael Wolf beginning to dominate the league as native players, breaking the historic dominance of North American players. Wolf was the top goal scorer, and Hock became league top point scorer. The third man in their line was eitherTyler Beechey, who was first signed on a try-out contract, orBrad Tapper. The line withJimmy Roy,Pat Kavanagh, andRyan Ready also helped the unexpected trip to the playoffs. However, in the quarterfinals they were defeated by theFrankfurt Lions in game 7.
For the next season, the Roosters signed formerNew York Islanders coachSteve Stirling. The team failed to continue the success they had the year before, and Stirling was fired in February after the team fell out of playoff position. Over the summer many players voiced their critique of Stirling. Assistant coachUlrich Liebsch [de] became the new head coach, and many key players left the team. Due to the global financial crisis at that time, the Roosters announced that they would look for young, talented players instead of focusing on veterans for the 2009–10 season.
| Season | Games | Won | Lost | Tie | OTL | SOL | Points | Goals for | Goals against | Rank | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 60 | 23 | 31 | 0 | 6 | – | 68 | 152 | 189 | 15 | Did not qualify |
| 2001–02 | 60 | 23 | 28 | 0 | 9 | – | 74 | 154 | 183 | 12 | Did not qualify |
| 2002–03 | 52 | 25 | 19 | 8 | 0 | – | 75 | 142 | 132 | 9 | Did not qualify |
| 2003–04 | 52 | 19 | 26 | 0 | 7 | – | 59 | 137 | 169 | 12 | Did not qualify |
| 2004–05 | 52 | 21 | 26 | 0 | 5 | – | 64 | 138 | 156 | 11 | Did not qualify |
| 2005–06 | 52 | 21 | 26 | – | 0 | 5 | 65 | 166 | 178 | 11 | Did not qualify |
| 2006–07 | 52 | 24 | 24 | – | 1 | 3 | 70 | 148 | 163 | 11 | Did not qualify |
| 2007–08 | 56 | 33 | 18 | – | 4 | 1 | 96 | 208 | 196 | 5 | Lost in quarterfinals |
| 2008–09 | 52 | 22 | 18 | – | 5 | 7 | 71 | 171 | 187 | 11 | Did not qualify |
| 2009–10 | 56 | 26 | 26 | – | 3 | 1 | 74 | 166 | 183 | 11 | Did not qualify |
| 2010–11 | 52 | 21 | 22 | – | 5 | 4 | 68 | 150 | 159 | 12 | Did not qualify |
| 2011–12 | 52 | 25 | 19 | – | 4 | 4 | 77 | 150 | 150 | 10 | Lost in playoff qualifications |
| 2012–13 | 52 | 20 | 29 | – | 2 | 1 | 59 | 130 | 167 | 13 | Did not qualify |
| 2013–14 | 52 | 19 | 22 | – | 2 | 3 | 74 | 147 | 149 | 10 | Lost in quarterfinals |
| 2014–15 | 52 | 28 | 17 | – | 4 | 3 | 86 | 179 | 150 | 6 | Lost in quarterfinals |
| 2015–16 | 52 | 23 | 12 | – | 6 | 6 | 91 | 162 | 143 | 3 | Lost in quarterfinals |
| 2016–17 | 52 | 17 | 27 | – | 6 | 2 | 55 | 129 | 171 | 13 | Did not qualify |
| 2017–18 | 52 | 27 | 24 | – | 1 | 0 | 76 | 138 | 154 | 8 | Lost in playoff qualifications |
| 2018–19 | 52 | 17 | 28 | – | 4 | 3 | 56 | 162 | 189 | 13 | Did not qualify |
| 2019–20 | 52 | 17 | 30 | – | 3 | 2 | 51 | 116 | 163 | 13 | Cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[4] |
| 2020–21 | 37 | 18 | 12 | – | 5 | 2 | 56 | 113 | 116 | 7 | Lost in quarterfinals |
| 2021–22 | 54 | 22 | 24 | – | 7 | 1 | 67 | 159 | 177 | 12 | Did not qualify |
| 2022–23 | 56 | 24 | 26 | – | 6 | 2 | 73 | 149 | 192 | 13 | Did not qualify |
| 2023–24 | 52 | 13 | 27 | – | 6 | 6 | 57 | 125 | 183 | 13 | Did not qualify |
| 2024–25 | 52 | 17 | 27 | – | 5 | 3 | 53 | 140 | 180 | 12 | Did not qualify |
Updated 11 April 2025.
Current as of the end of the2022–23 season.[5]
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Media related toIserlohn Roosters at Wikimedia Commons
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