Eisbären Berlin

Originating in 1953 in East Germany's Dynamo sports club, the 'polar bears' are Berlin's popular professional ice hockey team. They won the national league 7 times, have also bagged the European Trophy. Their home matches at the Mercedes-Benz-Arena are true familyfests, with a festive, good-humoured atmosphere. The Eisbären finished the 2017-18 regular season second in the table, qualifying once more for the play-offs in which they missed out on the title in dramatic fashion: losing in seven games to Red Bull Munich. The winter has been dreadful for the team, and seven straight defeats saw them plummet to 10th position. Things need to improve, and fast.