EHC Red Bull Munich from the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) has released coach Toni Söderholm, 46, with immediate effect. The four-time German champion announced the decision of the sporting management on Saturday. The evening before, the Munich team had suffered their third home defeat in a row in the new SAP Garden with a 2-1 penalty shootout against bottom team Düsseldorfer EG. After the former national coach was fired, Söderholm’s previous assistant coach Max Kaltenhauser took over the ambitious club as interim coach.
The 42-year-old Kaltenhauser only joined the EHC in the summer after winning the DEL2 championship with the Eisbären Regensburg. “For us as an organization, this was undoubtedly one of the hardest decisions ever,” said Christian Winkler, Managing Director Sports of the ice hockey department at Red Bull: “Based on the performances shown by what we believe to be a top team in preparation and over the course of the season so far We didn’t notice the changes that, in our opinion, were necessary after last season.” Söderholm took over Munich before last season. He followed iconic coach Don Jackson, under whom Munich celebrated its four championships in the DEL.
In his first season, Söderholm reached the semi-finals as fifth in the main round, but it was over after five games against the eventual championship runners-up Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven. Söderholm was previously responsible for the German national team between 2019 and 2022; he took over from Marco Sturm after the sensational Olympic silver medal in 2018. The best result of his tenure was fourth place at the 2021 World Cup. In the current season, Munich are in sixth place after seven games.
