ERC Ingolstadt

ERC Ingolstadt - The Panthers
City	Ingolstadt, Germany
League	Deutsche Eishockey Liga
Founded	1964
Home arena	Saturn Arena
Colors
General manager	Jiri Ehrenberger
Head coach	Tommy Samuelsson
Captain	Patrick Köppchen
Website	erc-ingolstadt.de

ERC Ingolstadt (Eishockey-und-Rollschuh club) (German pronun­cia­tion: [ aɪshɔkeː ʊnt ʁɔlʃuː klʊp]) is a German professional ice hockey club that plays in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Commonly known as the Panthers, the team plays its home games at the Saturn Arena in Ingolstadt.

ERC Ingolstadt was promoted to the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in 2002 after three consecutive years of playing in the championship finals of Germany's second-tier hockey league, the 2.Bundesliga.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Ingolstadt signed National Hockey League (NHL) players Marco Sturm, Andy McDonald, Jamie Langenbrunner and Aaron Ward. Other well-known NHL alumni include goaltender Jimmy Waite, Yves Sarault, Patric Hörnqvist and Jason Holland.

In the 2008–09 season, the team took part in the famous Spengler Cup.

ERC Ingolstadt won its first and only DEL championship in 2014 as an overwhelming underdog entering the playoffs. After finishing in ninth place in the regular season, the Panthers knocked out the three-time defending league champions Eisbären Berlin in overtime of the final game of the playoff qualification round. In the first round of the playoffs, the team of head coach Niklas Sundblad then shocked second-seeded Krefeld Pinguine in five games and then eliminated Hamburg Freezers, who had finished the regular season in first place, in six games. In the championship final, Ingolstadt defeated Kölner Haie in seven games, with goaltender Timo Pielmeier recording a 27-save shutout in Game 7.

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