The Bietigheim Steelers were crowned the Deutsch Ice Hockey League’s (DEL) Division 2 champions – and a pair of Burnaby products played a big part of it.
For the fourth time in 11 years, the Steelers carried away the DEL 2 championship trophy, beating SC Reissersee 2-0 in the final, and 4-1 over the best-of-seven series.
Burnaby’s Tyler McNeely, in his debut with Bietigheim and fifth season in the DEL 2, scored seven goals and 13 assists in the team’s 16-game playoff run. During the regular season, the 31-year-old McNeely tallied 22 goals and 43 assists and finished eighth in league scoring.
McNeely, a member of the 2005-06 Royal Bank champion Burnaby Express, made the shift to the pro league in Germany after two seasons in the American Hockey League and ECHL.
Another Burnaby product, Marcus Sommerfeld, contributed to the Steelers win by tallying six goals and 10 assists over 14 playoff games. A six-year veteran with the team, Sommerfeld counted 12 goals and 32 assists over 44 regular season contests.
He’s played the past 14 seasons in Germany.
