Inconsistencies before the tournament
DEB team strives for victory at the World Cup dress rehearsal
05/08/2022, 8:40 p.m
Without the top performers from champion Eisbären Berlin and finalist EHC Red Bull Munich, the German national ice hockey team narrowly won the last World Cup test match. For the first time, several NHL professionals are also strengthening the team, which still has a lot to do before the start of the World Cup.
The German national ice hockey team only passed their World Cup dress rehearsal with a great deal of effort. Coach Toni Söderholm’s team won their seventh and final test match in Schwenningen against Austria 3-1 (0-0, 1-1 2-0). Five days before the World Cup in Finland (May 13th to 29th), the DEB team, which had barely worked together, revealed a few inconsistencies. The DEB selection will meet record world champion Canada at the start of the World Cup on Friday (7:20 p.m. / Sport1 and MagentaSport) in Helsinki.
Alexander Karachun (40th), Stefan Loibl (56th) and Dominik Bittner (58th / empty net) from Schwenningen scored in the sold-out Helios Arena for the DEB selection, for which the NHL professionals Moritz were preparing for the first time Seider (Detroit Red Wings), Tim Stützle (Ottawa Senators) and goaltender Philipp Grubauer (Seattle Kraken) went onto the ice. Grubauer was replaced by Dustin Strahlmeier after just under 28 minutes. Brian Lebler (29th) put Austria in the lead. “We have some construction sites in terms of playing,” said Söderholm: “But I’m confident. You can tell that the team is growing. There’s a mood in it that you can build on a lot.”
In total, Söderholm had nominated eleven new players for the last endurance test in the Black Forest, including captain Moritz Müller. Of the two DEL finalists Eisbären Berlin and Red Bull Munich, who only ended their final series on Wednesday, Maximilian Kastner from Munich was surprisingly already on the ice. The final World Cup squad will be announced on Monday at 5 p.m. The team has no training on Monday before the flight to Helsinki takes off on Tuesday.
Increase in the final section
Before the eyes of DEB President Peter Merten, who was unanimously elected on Saturday and who had succeeded Franz Reindl after eight years in office, Germany put the Austrians under pressure, at least at the beginning, and forced them to two early penalties. The DEB team was unable to use the power plays and subsequently found it difficult to create chances.
Daniel Fischbuch from Düsseldorf missed the best opportunity (16th). At the other end, Grubauer was on hand against Ali Wukovits (18′), just before the break Benjamin Baumgartner’s slap shot was saved by the post for Grubauer. Against the defensively stable world number 17. Austria, who along with France replace Russia and Belarus, who have been excluded from the World Cup in Finland, also had problems for Germany in the second period.
Shortly after being substituted on, Lebler caught Strahlmeier ice-cold with the first shot on goal. Shortly before the break, local hero Karachun redeemed the German team and poked the target into the net. In the final section, the German team came into play a little better and had more staying power in the end.