The Hamburg Freezers were a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

professional men's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

club from

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

that played in the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

. The club announced its withdrawal from the DEL and ceased operations on 24 May 2016 when

Anschutz Entertainment Group The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports even ...

, who owned both the Freezers and

Eisbären Berlin Eisbären Berlin (; English: ''Berlin Polar Bears'') is a professional ice hockey team based in Berlin, Germany. The team competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the highest level of play in professional German ice hockey, and is also one ...

, felt it was no longer financially viable to own two teams within the same hockey league. The Freezers were originally known as the

Munich Barons The Munich Barons were a professional ice hockey team between 1999 and 2002 run by the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) in the German Ice Hockey League (''German: Deutsche Eishockey Liga - DEL''). The best year the team had was in 2000 when th ...

from 1999 until 2002, before team owner

Philip Anschutz Philip Frederick Anschutz ( ; born December 28, 1939) is an American billionaire businessman who owns or controls companies in a variety of industries, including energy, railroads, real estate, sports, newspapers, movies, theaters, arenas and m ...

relocated the franchise to Hamburg for financial reasons on 3 June 2002. The club was renamed as the ''Hamburg Freezers''. Their German nickname was ''Eisschränke'' (''iceboxes''). The team's official colours were crystal blue and white and they played their home games in the Barclaycard Arena Hamburg. Goaltender

Jean-Sébastien Giguère Jean-Sébastien Giguère (; born May 16, 1977) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender. He played with the Halifax Mooseheads in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), where he was drafted 13th overall by the Hartford Wh ...

suited up for the Freezers during the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

season. Giguère played six games for Hamburg and posted a .925

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

, with a

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

of 2.39. During the

2012–13 NHL lockout The 2012–13 NHL lockout was a labor dispute between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) that began at 11:59 pm EDT on September 15, 2012. A tentative deal on a new collective barga ...

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

forward

Jamie Benn Jamie Randolph Benn (born July 18, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger and captain of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). In the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Benn was drafted by the Dallas Stars 129th overall. He pla ...

lined up for the Freezers in 19 games, amassing 7 goals and 13 assists, earning him a player of the month award for November.

History

The Hamburg Freezers were founded in 2002, when the

franchise was moved to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in northern Germany. The reason for the move was due to low turnouts and financial issues; Munich Barons had an average turnout of under 3,000 spectators, even though the team were crowned league champions in 2000. Despite being the second biggest city in Germany, Hamburg had no representation in the country's top league and was chosen as the next destination for the franchise. In their first season, the attendance average rose to over 5,000 and the team finished in 8th place, making it through to the playoff quarter finals. In the next 10 years, attendance figures continued to grow and the average attendance in 2011–12 was over 9,200. In its final season before the club's demise, 2015–16, the club was the fourth-best supported team in German ice hockey and the tenth-best in Europe. The club was a perennial playoff team, though it never won a DEL championship. In May 2016, team owner Philip Anschutz announced that the team would no longer be supported under his company Anschutz Entertainment Group. The Freezers were given a deadline of 24 May 2016 to find a buyer and new sponsorship, which was unable to be met, ceasing the operations of the club.

Rivals

Most of the DEL teams are based in the south and south west of the country, meaning there were very few local rivals for Hamburg. However, the Freezers did enjoy 'northern derbies' against two other franchises;

Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg Grizzlys Wolfsburg are a professional ice hockey club of the Germany, German professional ice hockey league Deutsche Eishockey Liga. They play their games at Eisarena Wolfsburg, Eisarena in Wolfsburg. History Wolfsburg earned their first promoti ...

and

Hannover Scorpions The Hannover Scorpions are a professional ice hockey team, which plays in the Oberliga, Germany's third tier ice hockey league. They previously played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga from 1996 to 2013. History Founded in 1975 as ESC Wedemark, the ...

, while the team's main rivals were

, who are also owned by Philip Anschultz.

Mascot

The Hamburg Freezers mascot was Stanley the Lion, 'cousin' of Bailey the Lion of the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

, another club owned by

Season records

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamburg Freezers Ice hockey teams in Germany * Sport in Hamburg Ice hockey clubs established in 1999 Ice hockey clubs established in 2002 Anschutz Corporation Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2016 1999 establishments in Germany 2016 disestablishments in Germany