Immediately after the Eisbären secured direct playoff participation, those responsible can come up with the next good news. Marcel Rodman is extending his contract early for another year and will remain head coach in beautiful Zell am See at least until summer 2027!
Master coach Marcel Rodman remains – “the architect of success”, as Eisbären managing director Patrick Schwarz ennobled him immediately after winning the Alps Hockey League, and is extending his working paper with the traditional Pinzgau club for another year.
With the signing of the likeable Slovenian, a new era was ushered in for the Eisbären around a year and a half ago. Rodman is a meticulous worker who tries to get the best out of himself and his boys every day. He significantly changed the Eisbären’s style of play and instilled a new identity into the team. Rodman cultivates a modern style of play, with a lot of speed, physical, physically strong hockey, so that we can see passionate, emotionally charged and successful ice hockey in Zell am See again.
He crowned his hard work with the championship title in the Alps Hockey League in 2025, but this year too, despite adverse circumstances, all of the previous season’s goals were achieved with confidence. The Eisbären are in the final of the Austrian championship and have already qualified for the 2026 playoffs with four rounds to go.
Eisbären Managing Director Patrick Schwarz: “Marcel is a modern coach who works hard every day and always has the big picture in mind. He is hungry, wants to be at the top – and that is exactly what impresses us very much. In a season that was or is extremely complicated due to numerous failures of leading players, we are still fully on target in both competitions. That is anything but self-evident.
Marcel develops young players in a targeted manner and combines high expectations with a clearly practiced performance principle. Our flexible style of play with aggressive ice hockey, lots of possession and physical play clearly bears his signature.
Furthermore, Marcel could certainly have taken the step into another league, but he consciously and clearly decided in favor of the EKZ. Values such as continuity, stability and sustainability have been important to us on the board from the start and will remain so in the future. We all still have a lot of work to do – we’ll get there together.”
Eisbären head coach Marcel Rodman: “Zell am See has become a second home for me. I feel incredibly comfortable here. The feeling is the same as last year when I extended my contract. I am provided with everything I need to develop further as a coach. I receive great support and I have to say that the entire organization is simply great. I feel the trust and support of the board. All these things make it easy to work here. I have a great team again this year and am I’m excited to see what we can achieve, the expectations are of course very high! In summary, I’m happy that I’ll have a top place in the coming year and that everything has been clarified now makes me feel good!”
www.ek-zellereisbaeren.at, Pic: Johannes Radlwimmer
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