Garrett Festerling

Garrett Festerling
Born	(1986-03-03) March 3, 1986 (age 38) Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	172 lb (78 kg; 12 st 4 lb)
Position	Center
Shoots	Right
DEL team Former teams	Free Agent Hannover Scorpions Hamburg Freezers Adler Mannheim Grizzlys Wolfsburg Straubing Tigers
National team	Germany
NHL draft	Undrafted
Playing career	2007–present

Garrett Festerling (born March 3, 1986) is a professional ice hockey forward who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played under contract with the Straubing Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He is a dual citizen of Canada and Germany. ^[1]

Playing career

Festerling played for the Vernon Vipers of the BCHL before making the move to the WHL. He first represented the Portland Winter Hawks and then joined the Regina Pats.

In 2007, Festerling headed over the pond to play professionally in Germany and spent the 2007-08 season with EV Füssen, a team from the third division in Germany. Festerling excelled as the league's leading scorer, recording 50 goals and 70 assists in 45 games, while being named Oberliga Player of the Year by eishockeynews.de. ^[2]

His outstanding performances with the Füssen team drew the attention of teams from the German elite league Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Festerling eventually signed with the Hannover Scorpions in 2008, joining the DEL side on a three-year contract. ^[3] In his second year in Hannover, Festerling saw action in 18 contests en route to winning the German championship with the Scorpions. ^[4]

He left the team after the championship season to pursue more playing time and joined the Hamburg Freezers for the 2010–11 campaign. ^[5] Festerling developed into a key member of the Freezers’ squad and was joined by his twin brother Brett who signed with the Freezers in April 2014. Garrett inked a four-year contract extension with the Freezers in June 2014. ^[6] The Freezers folded in May 2016, which made Festerling a free agent. ^[7] Only a couple of days later, he was picked up by another DEL team, Adler Mannheim. ^[8] He signed a three-year deal with the Adler organization.

During the final season of his contract with Adler in 2018–19, Festerling signed in advance for the 2019–20 season, agreeing to a two-year contract with rival club Grizzlys Wolfsburg on January 19, 2019. ^[9] He proceeded to contribute offensively with Adler, enjoying his most productive season with the club with 33 points in 52 games and helping claim the DEL championship in the playoffs.

On May 5, 2022, Festerling was signed to a one-year contact in joining his fifth DEL club, Straubing Tigers, for the 2022–23 season. ^[10]

International play

In December 2011, Festerling made his debut on the German Men's National Team in an exhibition game against Russia. ^[11]

Personal life

His twin brother Brett Festerling previously played in the Winnipeg Jets organization of the National Hockey League.

Festerling's grandfather emigrated from Hamburg, Germany, to Canada after World War II. ^[12]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2002–03	Vernon Vipers	BCHL		43	7	5	12	10		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Portland Winterhawks	WHL		37	4	12	16	37		5	0	1	1	0
2004–05	Portland Winterhawks	WHL		72	14	20	34	45		7	1	1	2	4
2005–06	Regina Pats	WHL		72	22	36	58	51		6	3	4	7	6
2006–07	Regina Pats	WHL		67	22	51	73	46		10	5	7	12	16
2006–07	Oklahoma City Blazers	CHL		—	—	—	—	—		1	0	0	0	0
2007–08	EV Füssen	3.GBun		45	50	70	120	46		11	5	8	13	16
2008–09	Hannover Scorpions	DEL		43	1	4	5	14		8	0	2	2	4
2009–10	Hannover Scorpions	DEL		18	2	3	5	2		11	1	0	1	0
2010–11	Hamburg Freezers	DEL		50	4	15	19	18		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Hamburg Freezers	DEL		52	11	22	33	40		5	0	0	0	14
2012–13	Hamburg Freezers	DEL		52	14	22	36	24		6	2	1	3	0
2013–14	Hamburg Freezers	DEL		52	8	29	37	14		12	4	3	7	10
2014–15	Hamburg Freezers	DEL		40	14	18	32	45		7	1	2	3	6
2015–16	Hamburg Freezers	DEL		30	7	16	23	33		—	—	—	—	—
2016–17	Adler Mannheim	DEL		37	11	16	27	29		7	1	1	2	2
2017–18	Adler Mannheim	DEL		45	10	19	29	4		10	2	4	6	2
2018–19	Adler Mannheim	DEL		52	16	17	33	24		14	2	6	8	8
2019–20	Grizzlys Wolfsburg	DEL		52	13	22	35	14		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	Grizzlys Wolfsburg	DEL		32	8	11	19	14		9	3	2	5	0
2021–22	Grizzlys Wolfsburg	DEL		51	4	14	18	6		8	0	3	3	12
2022–23	Straubing Tigers	DEL		30	6	4	10	31		—	—	—	—	—
DEL totals				636	129	232	361	312		97	16	24	40	58

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2013	Germany	OGQ	NQ		3	0	1	1	0
Senior totals					3	0	1	1	0

Awards and honours

Award	Year
DEL
Champion (Hannover Scorpions)	2010
Champion (Adler Mannheim)	2019	[13]

References

1. "Festerling signs with German team". The Telegram. 2012-07-23. Archived from the original on 2013-11-22. Retrieved 2013-11-22. His twin brother Garrett has played in Germany the last five years, the past two with the Hanover Scorpions of the DEL as a dual Canadian-German citizen. The Festerlings' paternal grandfather is a native of Germany.
2. Tag, Medienhaus Der Neue. "Garrett Festerling Spieler des Jahres". onetz.de. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
3. "Garrett Festerling kommt nach Hannover". Hockeyweb. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
4. EISHOCKEY.INFO. "Hannover Scorpions: Kaum neue Gesichter beim Meister - Hannover Scorpions beim Fototermin in Langenhagen". EISHOCKEY INFO. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
5. "Festerling signs with the Freezers" (in German). Hamburg Freezers. 2010-04-28. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
6. "Freezers verlängern mit Stürmer Garrett Festerling bis 2018 - 07 - DEL.org". www.del.org. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
7. "Former NHLer Schubert's last-ditch effort to save Hamburg Freezers fails, DEL team folds". ddexpress.info | the world's sports. 2016-05-26. Archived from the original on 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
8. "ADLER Mannheim". www.adler-mannheim.de. Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
9. "Grizzlys sign Garrett Festerling". Grizzlys Wolfsburg. 2019-01-19. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
10. "Straubing Tigers bring in Garrett Festerling" (in German). Straubing Tigers. May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
11. ONLINE, RP (13 December 2011). "Eishockey-Länderspiel: DEB-Auswahl überrascht gegen Russland". RP ONLINE. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
12. Hamburg, Hamburger Abendblatt - (18 August 2010). "Garrett Festerlings mühsamer Weg zurück auf das Eis". www.abendblatt.de (in German). Retrieved 2016-02-14.
13. "Adler Mannheim wins DEL". IIHF. 2019-04-27. Retrieved 2019-04-27.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Eurohockey.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database