Haie secure home advantage for play-off quarter-finals with win over Hannover – First play-off home game on 18th March – Tickets available everywhere from Monday!

Sunday, 24. February 2008

The Haie have secured home advantage for the play-off quarter-finals. Sunday Head Coach Doug Mason’s team beat the Hannover Scorpions 4:0 and are now certain to finish amongst the top four positions in the DEL rankings.

This means that the schedule for the Haie’s first two home games in the 2008 play-offs has been confirmed: the KEC will be at home on March 18 and 22. The opponents have yet to be confirmed. A best-of-seven system will apply (four victories are required to progress). Here is the Kölner

Haie’s entire quarter-final play-off schedule:

03/18/08 Tuesday  Game 1, at home!
03/20/08 Thursday Game 2
03/22/08 Easter Saturday  Game 3, at home!
03/24/08 Easter Monday  Game 4
03/26/08 Wednesday  Game 5, at home!*
03/28/08 Friday  Game 6*
03/30/08 Sunday  Game 7, at home!*
*if necessary

Play-off tickets for the Kölner Haie’s games at the Kölnarena will be available from Monday!

Tickets for the Haie’s first two play-off quarter-final home games at the Kölnarena (March 18 and 22) will be available from Monday at the Haie Shop, at all regular advanced sale outlets, on the internet (e.g. www.haie.de), at the Kölnarena or by telephone (+49(0)1805-752075, 14 cents per minute).

The Haie fans had to wait a while before celebrating at Sunday’s game. After a good tactical but scoreless opening period, defenseman Slaney corralled the puck in the 27th minute and set off from his own goal line. The Canadian was allowed to skate through almost unopposed and hammered the puck past Hannover netminder Jung from the blue line, sending the Haie fans amongst the 11,095 spectators in attendance into ecstasy: 1:0 to Cologne.

Scoring opportunities were few and far between in a tough match-up, but it remained tense until the end. However, the Haie then pulled away: Warriner (55 minutes), Piros (57 minutes) and McLlwain (57 minutes), who was making his 500th DEL appearance against the Scorpions and was honored before the game, increased the KEC’s lead to 4:0. It meant three points, home advantage in the play-off quarter-finals and Robert Müller’s first shut-out in the Haie jersey.

The Haie face Hamburg on the road Friday. On Sunday, the KEC play their final regular season home game against Mannheim at the Kölnarena.

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