The Hannover Scorpions, a DEL title contender, has had a bad start in the 2009-10 season with only four victories in 14 games. The team is placed 11th well outside the safe playoff spots (#1-#6). After a five game losing streak, Hans Zach showed his fierce temper by threatening to resign as head coach of the Scorpions.
After the Scorpions pulled a narrow victory over the Kölner Haie thanks to Adam Mitchell's late goal (1 min before the buzzer), Zach came down again: "I'm not going to let my players down. I have to help them and I want to help them", Zach said in an interview with Eishockeynews.de. Time will only tell when "Der Alpen-Vulkan" erupts again. Hans Zach is in his fourth season as head coach of Hannover Scorpions. Before taking this position, he was a head coach of the German national team for many years.
Fact is that Hannover Scorpions is approaching a crisis. Because of a €2.5 mio. dispute with the Hannover regional authorities, the franchise has had to make big savings. The players have accepted a 15% salary cut and new player enforcements cannot be made.

Round 13, 15-17 October 2009
Adler Mannheim - Augsburger Panther 2-3 SO (0-1, 1-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-1)
0-1 03:56 Brett Engelhardt (Likens, Chartier)
1-1 35:41 Francois Methot (Papineau, Scalzo)
1-2 36:56 Connor James (Kohl, Tölzer)
2-2 57:04 Nathan Robinson (Pollock, Methot)
2-3 65:00 SO Chris Collins (SO 0-1)
MAN 5x2, AUG 3x2, SOG 37:26, Att: 10,011
3 stars: Engelhardt (AUG), Endreas (AUG), Methot (MAN)
ERC Ingolstadt - Hannover Scorpions 6-5 OT (3-2, 1-1, 1-2, 1-0)
1-0 08:06 Jakub Ficenec (Goodall, Hinterstocker) PP1
1-1 12:42 Matt Dzieduszycki (Dolak, Herpeger) PP1
1-2 13:03 Sacha Goc (Kathan, Vikingstad) PP1
2-2 18:29 Michael Waginger (Motzko, Hussey)
3-2 18:52 Richard Girard (Wren, Greilinger)
3-3 23:29 Ben Cottreau (Herperger, Dzieduszycki)
4-3 33:58 Thomas Greilinger (Girard, Wren)
4-4 47:21 Patrick Köppchen (Hlinka, Cottreau)
4-5 48:50 Adam Mitchell (Dzieduszycki, Herperger)
5-5 55:00 Bruno St. Jacques (Greilinger) PP1
6-5 62:07 Bob Wren
ING 3x2 + 1x5+20 (Walsh), HAN 4x2, SOG 38:35, Att: 3,112
3 stars: Wren (ING), Greilinger (ING), Dzieduszycki (HAN)
Straubing Tigers - Hamburg Freezers 3-5 (0-3, 3-1, 0-1)
0-1 04:09 John Tripp (Aab, Fortier) PP1
0-2 08:23 Matieu Biron (Aab, Fortier) PP1
0-3 16:48 Peter Ratchuk (Karalahti, Loppi) PP1
1-3 21:41 Justin Mapletoft (Morin, Janka) PP1
2-3 24:39 Rene Röhtke PS
3-3 28:10 Chad Bassen (Canzanello) PP1
3-4 35:25 Peter Ratchuk (Fortier, Tripp)
3-5 59:55 Kimmo Kuhta (Loppi. Dotzler) EN
STR 9x2, HHF 12x2, SOG 45:23, Att: 4,457
3 stars: Fortier (HHF), Ratchuk (HHF), Mapletoft (STR)
Krefeld Pinguine - DEG Metro Stars 1-2 (1-1, 0-1, 0-0)
0-1 09:30 Craig MacDonald (Holland, Kaufmann) PP1
1-1 16:35 Richard Pavlikovsky (Akdak)
1-2 25:04 Brandon Reid (Holzer, Joseph)
KRE 5x2, DEG 6x2, SOG 28:25, Att: 6,780
Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg - Kassel Huskes 4-3 (2-0, 1-0, 1-3)
1-0 01:17 Norm Milley (Sarno, Genze)
2-0 09:10 Andreas Morcznietz (Green, Höhenleitner)
3-0 38:53 John Laliberte (Ulmer, Furchner)
3-1 40:36 Manuel Klinge (Schmidt, Damon)
4-1 42:16 David Sulkovsky (Sarno, Milley)
4-2 43:07 Manuel Klinge (Damon, Auger)
4-3 53:41 Manuel Klinge (Damon, Card) PP2
WOB 9x2, KAS 3x2, SOG 27:32, Att: 2,198
3 stars: Genze (WOB), Klinge (KAS), Morczinietz (WOB)
Frankfurt Lions - Nürnberg Ice Tigers 4-2 (4-0, 0-1, 0-1)
1-0 10:39 Eric Schneider (Angell, Hahn)
2-0 12:43 Joey Tenute (Young, Kopitz)
3-0 18:19 Lasse Kopitz (Schneider, Ulmer)
4-0 19:55 Joey Tenute (Blanchard, Osterloh)
4-1 35:31 Björn Barta (Spang, Ehelechner) PP1
4-2 42:14 Andre Savage (Ask, Grygiel)
FRA 6x2, NÜR 7x2, SOG 19:36, Att: 5,800
3 stars: Tenute (FRA), Schneider (FRA), Ehelechner (NUR)
Kölner Haie - Iserlohn Roosters 0-4 (0-2, 0-2, 0-0)
0-1 07:57 Brian Swanson (Ready) SH1
0-2 12:03 Daniel Sparre (Schneider, Ready)
0-3 29:44 Quinn Hancock (Hock, Ardelan)
0-4 33:56 Jimmy Roy (Insana, Hancock) PP2
KÖL 4x2, IEC 8x2 + 1x10, SOG 44:31, Att: 10,523
3 stars: Aus den Birken, Hancock, Wilford (all IEC)
Round 14, 18 October 2009
Hannover Scorpions - Kölner Haie 4-3 (2-1, 1-1, 1-1)
1-0 04:13 Thomas Dolak (Kathan, Vikingstad) PP1
2-0 13:51 Klaus Kathan (Dolak, Vikingstad) PP1
2-1 17:34 Jason Jaspers (Müller, Frosch)
3-1 21:16 Sacha Goc (Vikingstad) PP2
3-2 23:31 Marcel Müller (Bartek, Julien) PP1
3-3 53:18 Jerome Flaake (Frosch, Bartek)
4-3 58:57 Adam Mitchell (Brimanis, Herperger)
HAN 5x2, KÖL 7x2, SOG 31:31, Att: 3,746
3 stars: Vikingstad, Szuper, Mitchell (all HAN)
Kassel Huskies - Frankfurt Lions 2-1 (2-0, 0-0, 0-1)
1-0 01:04 Derek Dinger (Leavitt, Sleigher)
2-0 06:15 sean Tallaire (Carciola, Boisvert)
2-1 40:39 Jeff Ulmer
KAS 8x2, FRA 6x2, SOG 41:55, Att: 5,001
3 stars: Hauser (KAS), Tallaire (KAS), Gordon (FRA)
Augsburger Panther - Krefeld Pinguine 5-1 (2-1, 3-0, 0-0)
0-1 11:30 Patrick Hager (Grönvall) PP1
1-1 17:34 Connor James (Collins, Kohl)
2-1 18:05 Matt Ryan (Beechey, Chartier)
3-1 32:37 Rhett Gordon (Ryan, Engelhardt) PP1
4-1 36:23 Darin Olver (Engelhardt, Murphy)
5-1 39:30 Christian Chartier (Ryan, Beechey)
AUG 1x2 + 1x5+20 (Murphy), KRE 5x2, SOG 37:30, Att: 3,160
3 stars: Chartier, Ryan, Endras (all AUG)
Iserlohn Roosters - Hamburg Freezers 8-3 (6-1, 2-1, 0-1)
1-0 05:44 Mads Christensen (D. Sparre, K. Sparre)
2-0 08:33 Jan Taube (Hommel, Schneider)
3-0 09:55 Michael Wolf (Hock, Christensen) PP1
4-0 12:03 Michael Wolf (Hock, Christensen) PP1
5-0 12:41 Steven Rupprich (Hommel, Langwieder)
5-1 17:47 Matias Loppi (King, Kuhta)
6-1 17:54 Brian Swanson (Insana, Danielsmeier)
7-1 27:18 Jimmy Roy (Swanson, Schneider)
8-1 30:14 Mark Ardelan (Wolf, Christensen) PP1
8-2 35:52 Jason King PP1
8-3 52:16 Paul Manning (King, Loppi) PP1
IEC 6x2, HAM 10x2, SOG 31:42, Att: 3,445
3 stars: Wolf, Rupprich, Taube (all IEC)
DEG Metro Stars - ERC Ingolstadt 1-5 (1-1, 0-3, 0-1)
0-1 05:04 Joe Motzko
1-1 14:30 Craig MacDonald (Kauffmann, Traverse)
1-2 25:59 Matt Hussey (Waginger, Motzko)
1-3 32:38 Thomas Greilinger (Ryan, Pätzold)
1-4 38:36 Matt Hussey (Ficenec, Greilinger)
1-5 56:33 Pat Kavanagh (Bouck, Clymer) PP1
DEG 5x2 + 1x10, ERC 7x2, SOG 35:24, Att: 4,733
3 stars: Pätzold, Greilinge, Motzko (all IEC)
Nürnberg Ice Tigers - Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg 3-4 SO (0-1, 1-0, 2-2, 0-0, 0-1)
0-1 06:04 Sebastian Furchner (Ulmer) PP1
1-1 32:41 Brad Leeb (Albers, Barta) PP1
1-2 42:47 Kai Hospelt (Milley, Sloan)
1-3 45:44 Jan-Axel Alavaara (Ulmer, Sarno) PP2
2-3 49:11 Andre Savage (Grygiel, Ancicka)
3-3 54:21 Dan Spang (Barta, Peacock) PP2
3-4 65:00 Peter Sarno (SO 1-2)
NÜR 8x2, WOB 11x2, SOG 41:40, Att: 3,143
3 stars: Barta (NUR), Furchner (WOB), Höhenleitner (WOB)
Straubing Tigers - Eisbären Berlin 1-3 (0-0, 1-2, 0-1)
0-1 23:44 Marvin Degon (Mulock, Pederson)
0-2 28:25 Derrick Walser (Walker, Hahn) PP1
1-2 38:44 Rene Röthke (Elfring, Ramsey)
1-3 50:30 T. J. Mulock (Friesen, Regehr) PP1
STR 3x2, EBB 5x2 + 1x10, SOG 33:20, Att: 4,233
3 stars: Zepp (EBB), Pederson (EBB), 3. Röhtke (STR)