Innsbruck celebrates: Captain Jan Lattner will stay in the team until 2026!

Innsbruck celebrates: Captain Jan Lattner will stay in the team until 2026!

The HC Innsbruck has extended his contract with captain Jan Lattner in the Win2day Ice Hockey League until 2025/26 season. The association announced this after Lattner has played a central role in the team since the 2019/20 season. During this time he played almost 300 games and established himself as a leader under Head Coach Jordan Smotherman. Loud laola1.at previously active at Orli Znojmo, both as Captain as well as vice captain.

The expectations of Lattner and the team are high, especially after a season that did not quite meet the ideas. "We want to return to the playoffs with the team," said the player, whose goal is to offer fans exciting games again. Smotherman is pleased with Lattner's whereabouts and emphasizes its reliability and operational readiness.

Future plans of HC Innsbruck

The extension of the contract with Lattner is part of the efforts of the HC Innsbruck to put together a competitive team for the coming seasons. After a promising basic round of last season, in which the team was temporarily at the top of the table and after five years the playoffs reached again, expectations are high for the coming season. But the early departure from the playoffs is perceived by fans and players as a shame because the team was extremely strong. Lattner sees the next step in the constant improvement and the goal of reaching the playoffs again and returning the fans something, such as hockey-news.info reported.

Head Coach Mitch O’Keefe plays Lattner's leading role in the best season in club history, while Sports Manager Max Steinacher emphasizes his importance as a leader for team success. Lattner himself describes Tyrol as his second home, which further deepens his bond with the club and the purely sporting component.

ice hockey in Germany and the region

ice hockey is very popular in Germany and is the third most popular sport behind handball and football. The German Ice Hockey Association, founded in 1963, and the German ice hockey league (DEL), which was launched in 1994, are the two organizations that promote sport professionally. Germany is currently taking 8th place in the men's IIHF world rankings and stands for a long ice hockey tradition that goes back to 1897 when the first official ice hockey game took place in Berlin. According to ice hockey100.de , about 4.87 million Germans are particularly interested in ice hockey.

The success of the German teams and the increasing audience forecast, which achieved an average of 7,162 per game in the DEL in the 2023/24 season, testify to the stability and progress of ice hockey in Germany. It remains to be seen whether Jan Lattner and HC Innsbruck will be able to build on these successes in the coming season and inspire the fans again.