EV Landshut, formerly known as the Landshut Cannibals and later as EVL Landshut Eishockey, are a professional ice hockey team based in Landshut, Bavaria, Germany. They currently play in Deutsche Eishockey Liga 2, the second level of ice hockey in Germany. They were promoted from the third-tier Oberliga in 2019 after winning the Oberliga finals against the Tilburg Trappers.
The team was founded in 1948 as Eislaufverein Landshut (EVL), but since 2002 the professional operations have been incorporated as a separate entity. From 2002 to 2013 the professional team was competing as the Landshut Cannibals; in 2013 the name was changed back to EVL Landshut Eishockey to more closely reflect the tradition and history of the team. There is close cooperation with the not-for-profit EVL, which is still responsible for non-professional sporting competitions, i.e. junior hockey and figure skating. From 1963 to 1994 the team was a participant in the Ice hockey Bundesliga, and was a founder member of the DEL. The team won the West German National Championship in 1970 and 1983.
The home arena of the Landshut Cannibals is the Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, where they have played since 1957, after leaving tentative other locations. The arena has since been renovated several times, last in 2021, and currently holds 4,448 people. Landshut's player development program is counted among the best in Germany, producing numerous well-known hockey players such as “Germany’s hockey player of the century” Erich Kühnhackl, Gerd Truntschka (All-Star at the 1987 World Ice Hockey Championships) and longtime NHL players Marco Sturm (Washington Capitals), Christoph Schubert (Atlanta Thrashers), Tobias Rieder and double Stanley Cup winner Tom Kühnhackl (Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders).
History
The origins of ice hockey in Landshut and promotion to the top division (1934–1957)
It was not until 1934 when Landshut-born Heinz Wittmann organised an ice hockey team from Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The first games were played under the name of Team Brauerei Wittmann (named after Wittmann Brewery) against squads from Wartenberg, Bavaria and Donaustauf. On February 1, 1934 the team was incorporated into the Ski-Club Landshut (SCL). The same season they became champions of the Danube region. The 1935–36 season marked the first appearance in the Kreisliga (then second division), where the squad played the following three years. In 1937 the ice hockey section was transferred from the SCL to another club, the Turngemeinde Landshut (TGL). After the 1938–39 season, a regular schedule of the league was no longer possible because of the outbreak of World War II. During the war there were only a few friendly games, for example against Straubing on January 10, 1943. From the first post-war season 1945–46 to 1947-48 the team started in the newly formed Landesliga – again as a section of the TGL. In 1948 contentions evolved concerning transferring the earnings from the lucrative hockey games to the club's other sections.
As a result of the dispute, most of TGL's hockey players formed a new registered association, the “Eislaufverein Landshut” (EVL). The founding ceremony took place on April 25, 1948 at the Sterngarten tavern. The driving force behind this move was Georg Zeller; other notable players of the early time were Hans Frühmorgen, Walter Rauhmeier, and Jaro Truntschka. The latter would become an eight-time season-leading EVL scorer. The few players who stayed with the TGL formed a squad that broke up in 1951. The newly founded EVL team, however, started in the Landesliga, the then-second division. In the 1948–49 season, their first one, the team lost the finals against EV Tegernsee. The following eight seasons were also played in the Landesliga, until the team won the promotion tiebreaker for 1956–57 against TEV Miesbach. That game's decisive player was Jaro Truntschka, who scored twice. Following this victory, the club moved up to the Oberliga, then the top-level hockey league in Germany.
From the underdog to the champion of the ice hockey Bundesliga (1957–1994) In the run-up to the first season in the Oberliga calls for the construction of an artificial ice rink grew louder, because with only a natural ice rink the EVL would not be competitive in Germany's highest hockey league. After prolonged negotiations, the city favored building an ice rink instead of a public pool, and with this cooperative work the Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg was completed timely for the 1957–58 season (then without roof). The official inauguration took place on November 10, 1957 against EC Kitzbühel. 5,000 spectators saw a 4–4 draw. Thanks to the new rink, the EVL played against international teams (e.g. Blau-Weiss Zürich, HC Bozen or HK Partizan Belgrad for the first time. Following the season, the German league system was reformed and EV Landshut was relegated to the second division (then called Oberliga).
Increasing its pace of junior hockey player development, the team was quite successful in the following years. Placing 1st after the 1961–62 season, the EVL lost the promotion tiebreaker against TSC Eintracht Dortmund, but the consecutive season they beat Dortmund and were promoted to the ice hockey Bundesliga. Without acquiring new players, the Landshut-based team started their first Bundesliga season in 1963-64 as an underdog and candidate for relegation. Home games attracted up to 10,000 people. Surprisingly the team reached fifth place out of eight. 1965 marked the beginning of a friendly relationship with HC Sparta Praha, e.g. regarding training camps and friendly games. In 1967, ten years after the construction of the ice rink, the stadium was roofed and converted into an arena. That year the EV Landshut signed coach Karel Gut from Sparta Praha for three years. In his first year on the Isar, his team placed third. The following year was rather disappointing: having placed fourth, the squad had to play to avoid relegation. The 1969–70 season preliminary round, with the team facing pressure to perform, resulted in a first-place finish. The championship round was also dominated by Landshut, winning the German championship for the first time. The hockey euphoria in the city was immense; four out of ten home games were sold out. The most impactful players during the season were Alois Schloder, Rudi Hejtmanek, and goalie Sepp Schramm. In the 1970-71 European Cup, Landshut defeated SG Cortina, but was disqualified due to an unlicensed player.
In the following years the team were runners-up twice in 1973-74 and 1975–76. Both Alois Schloder and Erich Kühnhackl were in the top-five scorers in the Bundesliga for several seasons. An important task for every coach was the integration of the most talented junior players into the professional team. In a legendary game in the 1974–75 season, the team suffered a 0–10 loss against Krefeld, with only six players available due to a flu epidemic. In the following season two young players joined the team, who would be important in the years to come: Bernhard Englbrecht and Gerd Truntschka. At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck three EVL players joined the German national team: Alois Schloder, Erich Kühnhackl, and Klaus Auhuber. The Germans won bronze, finishing behind the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia – the greatest victory in German hockey history at the time. After middling results in the 1977–78 season, the management signed František Pospíšil. Nevertheless, the team had to play to avoid relegation and the attendance dropped from an estimated 4,500 to 1,700. Signing Jiří Kochta for the 1979–80 season brought better luck and a fourth-place finish.
In 1980 the coach from the first championship season, Karel Gut, returned to Landshut. This season saw the NHL-like playoff system introduced. While the team was eliminated in the 1980-81 quarterfinals, and the 1981-82 semifinals, they knocked out Mannheimer ERC in the 1982-83 finals, becoming German champions for the second time. The major players for Landshut were Bob Laycock, Robin Laycock, and Michael Betz (who scored the decisive goal in the last game of the final).
In the 1983–84 season, the EV Landshut lost in the finals against Kölner EC and were runners-up. In the following years, the club faced increasing financial troubles, as did most Bavarian hockey strongholds. Depts totalled 2.7 million Deutsche Mark. This was because Landshut's junior player education costs were expensive, and the well-trained players would be contracted by wealthy larger city clubs Despite signing a few well-known players like Tom Roulston, Matti Hagman, and Tom O'Regan between 1984 and 1989 the club was not able to get through the quarterfinals. They declined from fourth to eighth in the preliminary standings, before the team missed the playoff qualification in the 1989-90 preliminaries. They finished first in the relegation round. The 1990-91 preliminaries saw a ninth-place finish, but in the playdowns the EVL knocked out EHC Dynamo Berlin. In the following season, the squad finally hit rock bottom, losing all its relegation games. After surviving the 1992-93 relegation round, Landshut's management decided to invest in a punchier lineup to play for the championship, but the team was knocked out in the quarterfinals.
The founding of the DEL and the sale of the license (1994–2000) Due to the bleak financial situation in German professional ice hockey, the Deutsche Eishockey Liga was founded in 1994. It was the first self-managed German professional league. All teams of the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga were outsourcing their professional operations into corporations. The EV Landshut's team was transferred to the Cannibals Eissport GmbH and for marketing purposes the professional team was known as the Landshut Cannibals from that point.
In the 1994-95 DEL season – the first ever for the league – coach Bernie Johnston was able to keep most of the previous year's squad and strengthened it by signing NHL star Wallace Schreiber. Furthermore, benefited the team from the 1994–95 NHL lockout more than most other DEL franchises, with Pavel Bure, Scott Young and Uwe Krupp playing shortly for the Cannibals. Bure's only game for Landshut was legendary, scoring three times against the Eisbären Berlin. Ranked second after the preliminaries, the Cannibals knocked out the Lausitzer Füchse in the round of sixteen, before defeating both Kassel Huskies and Krefeld Pinguine. In the finals, they were beaten by the Kölner Haie. Wallace Schreiber and Mike Bullard were the top scorers in the league, with 38 and 39 goals respectively. The following season the Cannibals landed José Charbonneau (top scorer with 42 goals), while Marco Sturm turned professional and scored 12 times. In the 1995-96 playoff season they defeated the Starbulls Rosenheim in the first round and swept the Adler Mannheim, setting up another showdown with the Kölner Haie, which they lost. In the 1996-97 playoffs they played Köln for the third time in a row, this time knocking them out in the quarterfinal round, before losing to Mannheim in the semifinals. The top scorer was Gino Cavallini with 28 goals. The following season's team, led by top scorer Dave McLlwain, swept rival Kölner Haie, but lost to the Eisbären Berlin in the semifinals.