The ice hockey roots began in Mannheim in 1938 when its original club, the Mannheimer ERC, was founded. In 1994 the club changed its name into Adler Mannheim and developed into one of the most successful hockey organizations in Germany.

Adler Mannheim is one of the record-champions of the DEL with five titles since the League was established in 1994. Overall the club has collected a total of six Championship victories within its long club history. The first title win was in 1980 in the former Bundesliga.

Since 2005, the “eagles” play their home games in one of Europe’s most modern multifunctional Arenas. The SAP ARENA has a capacity of 13.600 spectators. Last season, the club achieved the fourth place in Europe’s spectator’s statistics with an average of more than 11.000 fans per game.

In 2010, Mannheim’s legend Harold Kreis was presented as head coach for the new season. Defenseman Kreis was a member of the team who won the first Championship title in 1980 and retired with his second title in 1997. He’s a big part of Mannheimsports history and he carries the hopes of the fans for the near future.

The 2010/2011 season was a difficult for the team in the DEL. The Adler suffered lots of injuries and struggled offensively to score goals. The team was very inconsistent in the league games which every point could make the difference in the standings. At the end of the preliminary round Adler Mannheim finished tied for 6th place but lost tie-breaker and finished seventh in standings. The Adler swept the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers in a best-o-three-series in pre-playoffs. After that the Adler lost the quarterfinals to DEG METRO Stars 1-3.

On international ice, Mannheim has participated four times at the traditional and prestigious Spengler Cup in Davos. Most recent appearance was in 2009. The team showed good performances in these tournaments, which included a historical franchise victory versus TeamCanada(5:2). In last years European Trophy Competition, the team missed the final round although playing convincing games against some of Europe’s Top Clubs.

The Adler Mannheim developed some of Germany’s top players of all times. Current NHL-players like Jochen Hecht (Buffalo Sabres), Marcel Goc (Nashville Predators) and Dennis Seidenberg (Boston Bruins) have been wearing Mannheim’s colors in club history.

The fan favorite: Fred Brathwaite

Fred Brathwaite is not only Mannheim’s number one goalie, but also a fan favorite. The 38-year old Canadian has collected 255 NHL-games for teams like Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues. After leaving North America, Brathwaite travelled to Russiaand won the Championship in the KHL with Kazan in 2006, before joining the Adler Mannheim in 2008.

He captured the hearts of his fans with spectacular saves and moves, and was one of the best goalies of the last DEL-season. At the end of the 2010 season, Brathwaite extended his contract for one more year.

Interesting new player: Christoph Ullmann

Christoph Ullmann returns to Adler Mannheim after playing three years for Cologne. Previously, he played five years for Mannheim and was an inherent part of the team that won Mannheim’s last Championship title in 2007. After three disappointing seasons with Kölner Haie, the 28 years old forward decided to come back to Mannheim.

Last season Ullmann showed his incredible offensive ability and collected 52 points in 57 games. Besides being topscorer of the team Ullmann demonstrated both on and off ice leadership qualities and was Cologne’s team captain.