A star could not be replaced
Chaos third destroys Germany’s World Cup dream
24.05.2024, 13:07
The series against Switzerland is over, and this time there will be no World Cup medal. Vice World Champion Germany is defeated in the World Cup quarter-finals by its arch-rivals, against whom it had always succeeded. The mood is bad, and expectations have risen dramatically.
After the painful World Cup knockout against their arch rivals, the devastated vice world champions wanted to get away as quickly as possible. One last dinner together, one or two beers to get them going in the team hotel – then the German national ice hockey players left Ostrava that night and dispersed to the four winds from Warsaw and Krakow. Not without a final, comforting greeting. “I’m proud of the team,” said NHL pro Nico Sturm. “We did very, very well.” But out is out.
However, national coach Harold Kreis sees German ice hockey as “way ahead”. What sounds strange may actually be true at second glance. For one thing, the top teams at this tournament two years before the Olympics in Milan were much better equipped with NHL stars and for another, it was almost enough to pull off another coup against the clearly favored arch-rivals from Switzerland. This would have confirmed the team’s rise to the extended world elite.
“It’s bitter when you’re knocked out in the quarterfinals and you know you could have actually made it through,” said defender Jonas Müller after the 1:3 defeat against Switzerland, which not only ended the knockout winning streak against their neighbors, but also the dream of another medal. Unlike a year ago, when the silver coup in Tampere was followed by boozy celebrations until the morning and everyone didn’t want to leave, the World Cup mission in the Czech Republic ended too early, too timidly, too unsatisfactorily in the first knockout game, despite the goal record and ice hockey spectacle in the preliminary round.
“I don’t want to sell the boys short”
Against the Swiss, who were filled with all the NHL stars, some people missed the best Germans Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stützle and, above all, Moritz Seider, who had given the defense enormous stability in recent years. “It always depends on the composition of the team,” admitted Kreis. And NHL attacker Nico Sturm mused: “When I see that we can push Leon, Mo and Stützi into the line-up, then I don’t think we have to hide from anyone.”
However, the 2023 vice world champions are not yet on a par with Sweden, Canada and others. This was particularly evident in the 1:6 defeats in the preliminary round against the USA and Sweden. The absence of Seider was particularly noticeable there. Without the 23-year-old, the German defense was far too vulnerable in the tournament. The World Cup absence of Mannheim’s Leon Gawanke also hurt. “I don’t want to sell the guys who were here short,” replied NHL professional Sturm. “They did very, very well.”
NHL stars are missing
The Berlin defense duo Kai Wissmann and Jonas Müller were convincing. The new Mannheim player Lukas Kälble showed a good level and North American professional Maskymilian Szuber, at 21 years old, will also develop into a good defender. But compared to the World Cup coup in 2023, the game-defining figure in the German defense was missing. Seider is irreplaceable for the DEB selection.
Against the Swiss, this NHL power was missing in the decisive moments, especially since goal scorer John-Jason Peterka was not able to get a chance against star defender Roman Josi and Co. “The demands I have on myself are higher because I want to be a player who makes the difference in games like this,” said the 22-year-old, who nevertheless finished the World Cup as the best German scorer with five goals and four assists, “of course it’s very bitter.”
“Switzerland is ready for the World Cup title”
“We know what makes us successful,” said Josi. “It’s a good defense, we showed that today.” After four knockout defeats in a row against Germany, three of them in the World Cup quarter-finals, the 33-year-old said, “this hurdle was very important for us.” The nightmare of being stopped by the Germans every time you think you’re strong enough to make the big win is over. “Switzerland is ready for the World Cup title,” judged the portal watson.ch. “Respect for the Swiss. They played well today,” said attacker Yasin Ehliz. Dominik Kahun (32nd minute) from SC Bern scored the only German goal in the power play. Christoph Bertschy (8th/60th) even in the power play and with a goal into the empty German goal, and top NHL striker Nico Hischier (17th) scored for Switzerland, who consistently exploited the early weaknesses in the DEB defense.
“The first 20 minutes were our problem. We were always too slow,” complained Ehliz, and Sturm said: “The start was the difference today. It would have been possible again.” In fact, the first third was one of the German team’s worst in this tournament. The respect for power defender Josi or New Jersey’s Hischier was extremely high.
“Don’t know when my wife booked her vacation”
Sturm was the quickest to recover, and he brought with him mostly positive memories. After a disastrous season with the San Jose Sharks, the 29-year-old rediscovered his joy in ice hockey during his three weeks with the national team. “I’ve heard our goal song more often than in the last seven months combined,” he said. “It’s great fun to play with the puck and laugh after the game. I’ve really missed that in the last few months.”
Once he has recovered from “two or three injuries” on vacation, he will be keen to “go to the gym every day and work his ass off,” predicted the Augsburg native, who may be working with former national coach Marco Sturm in San Jose from the fall. Kreis’s vacation will start a little later after his second World Cup. First on the agenda is the evaluation at the coaches’ conference next Tuesday, “then there are a few other things.” And after that? “I don’t know when my wife booked her vacation,” said the 65-year-old, adding with a grin: “I’ll probably go with her then.”