Winning the championship was also the team's goal in the DEL. Munich finished in first place with a six-point advantage over second-placed Adler Mannheim after the 52-game regular season.  Shortly before the start of the playoffs, the rest of the season was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic that started spreading through Europe.

"We didn't really know what to say to all of this when we received the news," said Ehliz. "You are already in full playoff mode and focus everything on the fight for the championship in the previous two to three weeks. Then you find out that the season is finished.

"On one hand, of course, it was upsetting and disappointing for us, on the other hand, the decision was right, of course. Health always comes first," he continued. "We already had a premonition of what was to come a few days before the cancellation. We followed the situation but we didn't really believe it would be over that quickly. It was brutally bitter, especially since we had played a very strong regular season."

Shortly afterwards, Ehiliz left for his home Bad Tölz. There he tries to exercise on a regular basis. 

"Under normal circumstances, you are completely done after the playoffs. What you need is a few weeks to fully regenerate your body. That wasn't the case this time as there were no exhausting playoff rounds," said Ehiliz. "Many of my teammates immediately flew home. I joined my family and have been working on my individual training schedule, which I received from our fitness coaches, ever since. Additionally, I often go hiking, ride my bike and try to exercise as often as possible and try to keep myself fit."

While the new Champions Hockey League season is scheduled to start in early October, the DEL teams have to be a bit more patient. The German ice hockey league will start in early November at the earliest.

"This isn't all that easy for us," Ehliz explained. "The pre-season is quite long this year. You don't really know when the season will start – or if at all. Nevertheless, we have to be prepared 100% for the start of the season. Usually you divide your training stages over the summer. That obviously isn't possible in this case."

While Ehilz is hoping for a 1 November start, his former teammate Patrick Reimer, captain of the Nuremberg Ice Tigers, together with some other DEL players, is planning a new players' union to advocate for the players' interests in the league.

"I haven't heard anything in a long time in this regard but fundamentally like this idea a lot. This model already exists in other leagues. There it proved successful. I'm curious how it will work here in Germany."

In the first round of the new CHL season, Munich faces Ilves Tampere from Finland. In the new and significantly shortened playing format, the first round will already be a knockout round. The very first game might already decide to a large extent the future of a team in this CHL season.

"As everything is a bit different this time, I'm quite excited for the course of the games. You more or less start immediately with two playoff games after a six-month break. I'm looking forward to finally get started. As for our opponents, I know that they have won the Finnish championship already 16 times. It's difficult for me to evaluate their playing style as I've never seen an Ilves game so far," Ehliz said about the upcoming season.

One thing is sure though for the Munich forward. He just can't imagine hockey without spectators. "This, for sure, is something you have to get used to. You can see in football how important fans are. A large part of our sport is missing. Without fans in the stadiums ... that is something I almost can't imagine. But again, health comes first."