The Vikings started the Inline Regionalliga Süd with mixed results, winning two out of three games in the first tournament of the season.
In the first game of the season the Vikings faced the Herborn Crocodiles but came up short, losing 4:8.
The transition from ice to concrete seemed to be difficult, as the Vikings were trailing 0:2 already after 7 Minutes. After that the scoring chances were evenly distributed, Wiesbaden having more puck possession but not converting enough – it was 1:3 going into the break. 30 seconds into the second half the Vikings cut Herborn’s lead in half, but the Crocodiles answered right away to keep it a two goal game. During the second period te Vikings took too many penalties to be able to put enough pressure on their opponent. It was 3:6 with 5 minutes left so the Vikings pulled their goalie but Herborn got two empty netters to seal the loss. Richard Schäfer had two goals, Steve May and Kevin Stowers the other two.
The Vikings got their first win of the season in the second game against Frankfurt – 6:5 (OT). It took overtime though, as the Vikings blew a 5:2 lead late in the game. At halftime the Vikings were up 2:1 by goals from Jason Malak and Patrick Zell and quickly scored the third goal, 12 seconds after the break. Frankfurt got a goal back on the very next shift, keeping it a one-goal game. After that the Vikings scored two goals to make it 5:2 which seemed to decide the game, but that led to some sloppy play, giving the Mainprimaten the opportunity to score three consecutive goals within the following 5 minutes. That woke Wiesbaden up, although no more goals were scored in regulation. The Vikings put on a lot of pressure in OT and it was Kevin Stowers who scored the gamewinner after 1 minute.
In the last game of the opening tournament the Vikings beat the Kronberg Crusaders 5:1. It was the second of back-to-back games for the Crusaders which was probably having an impact – the Vikings used good position play, moved the puck well and were able to putskaze their opponents. Therefore it was a relatively easy win in which Jason Malak (2), Richard Schäfer, Matt Haynes and Patrick Zell scored for the Vikings.
The Vikings are currently on third place in the standings, one point behind Herborn and Kronberg.
The second tournament is on the 11th of June in Frankfurt.
