Ice Hockey: DEL: Big will be the new coach in Mannheim next season

Coach Pavel Gross leaves the German ice hockey runner-up Grizzly’s Wolfsburg at the end of the season and changes to league rival Adler Mannheim. This was announced by the clubs of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) on Tuesday. The native Czech receives a three-year contract with the Kurpfälzern.

“After ten successful years with the grizzlies, I see an opportunity to develop myself and take on a new challenge. It is not a decision against Wolfsburg,”said Gross. The 49-year-old has been the coach in charge of the Lower Saxony team since 2010 and has formed the team into a top team. The Wolfsburg team always reached the play-offs in the era of Gross and were runner-up three times.

As a player, Gross played for the Adler in the DEL from 1994 to 1999 and celebrated three German championships (1997,1998,1999) with Mannheim before joining the Berlin Capitals,”We are delighted to have Pavel Gross as head coach from the 2018/19 season. After the events of this year’s season, the club is about to make a fresh start and we are convinced that Pavel is the right man for this position. He is undoubtedly one of the most successful coaches in the DEL,”said Daniel Hopp, Managing Director of Adler.