Tuesday, June 1st, 2021
Drama duel for Germany
The desperate spasm with the gate phobia
By Tobias Nordmann
After three defeats in the preliminary round in a row, the German ice hockey team is worried about the quarter-finals, i.e. about the minimum goal at the World Cup. A reminder of an extremely important victory in German ice hockey history should now help.
A fairly simple series of numbers is enough to explain why it happens in the evening as it does. Why the German national ice hockey team has to play a so-called do-or-die game in the last preliminary round match against Latvia at the World Cup (from 7.15 p.m. in the live ticker at ntv.de and at Sport1). So in a game in which only one win counts. The row of numbers reads like this: 9-5-3-2-1-0. What is behind it: The number of German goals scored in chronological order. The result: it gets stuck at the end. The hard rubber disc simply no longer ends up where it should, urgently needs to end up, if something else is to be achieved with the medal dream.
Now, of course, there is also a little more complicated truth in this simple series of numbers. Because the opponents in the tournament didn’t get any easier over time. Italy and Norway at the beginning, these weren’t the toughest tests. Canada is more likely, even if the team only got into a reasonable tournament shape after the Germany game (but still has to worry about participating in the quarter-finals). Then came the somewhat surprising bankruptcy (2: 3) against the strong climbers from Kazakhstan and the narrow defeats against the top nations Finland (1: 2) and USA (0: 2).
First post, then knockout blow
And especially the game against the US boys summed up the DEB team pretty perfectly in 60 minutes. Defensively, Germany hardly allowed anything against the most consistent team in the tournament to date. Only one goal outnumbered by Jason Robertson (39th), well, that just happens. Especially against a team in which there is still plenty of NHL power even without the really big stars. Well, what about the second goal? The story is particularly bitter. Because just seconds before Colin Blackwell (60th) pushes the puck into the empty case, the conspicuous German NHL player Dominik Kahun slams the pane on the post. More drama is not possible. It was the 33rd shot that missed the target. Not all shots were of this quality, however. In the statistics, the US boys only got half as many degrees. Efficiency is the bitter keyword.
Played well, so close to the decisive victory – and then severely disillusioned. A particularly painful final cramp. Captain Moritz Müller now wants to massage them out of their heads and bodies with even more will, even more mentality: “We have to force the puck into the goal even more.” With Kahun, for example. Or also with Lukas Reichel. The 19-year-old, who had to sit out a game after a check against the head, built on his strong performances in the first games against the USA. He was one of the most conspicuous players with high speed and technical finesse, but he too had bad luck in the final.
“It was a very, very strong performance!
“It was a very, very strong performance,” praised national coach Toni Söderholm, “unfortunately the boys didn’t get what they deserved in the end. Today’s game showed what the team can do. Even if it’s painful, they did.” can take confidence. ” Confidence in the ultimate showdown. And for that the Germans try to have a positive reminder: “We have done it before here in Riga. Now we will do it again,” says Müller. What he means: Five years ago, in 2016, there was a similar situation in the same place. Germany had competed with several NHL cracks to create the Olympic qualification. At the tournament there was also a decisive duel with the hosts in front of a loud audience on the last day of the match. Tom Kühnhackl scored the 3-2 winner.
What is now the same: Kühnhackl is there. And fans for the first time on this last matchday. A maximum of 2660 are allowed in view of the corona pandemic. Nevertheless, they will provide a powerful mood, because they are considered extremely frenetic. A disadvantage? “The boys are looking forward to it,” says Söderholm. “It doesn’t matter whether the audience is from here or from the moon.” Both teams have the pressure anyway, because the hosts are safe in the knockout round with a win. The pressure is increasing, the nerves are fluttering, the dream of the first German World Cup medal in 68 years threatens to burst. But it won’t turn out like that. Says Müller: “We played a really good World Cup, now we’re crowning it all.” Well then, showdown.
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