Narrow defeat against arch rivals
Germany eliminated after thriller in World Cup quarter-finals
23.05.2024, 18:43
Last stop Switzerland: Unlike last year, the German national ice hockey team was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in the Czech Republic against the strong defensive Swiss. The DEB team has been chasing two goals from the first quarter for a long time, but things get dramatic in the end.
The series is broken, the dream of another medal is shattered: After the first defeat in a knockout match against Switzerland in 32 years, the German ice hockey vice world champions have already failed in the quarterfinals of the World Championship in the Czech Republic. The team of national coach Harold Kreis lost to their arch rivals 1:3 (0:2, 1:0, 0:1) and travels home empty-handed.
“We showed the Swiss too much respect,” said Kreis on ProSieben. Moritz Müller was also “disappointed. We didn’t do well enough to win the game. You have to be honest about that,” explained the captain. In an interview with MagentaSport, NHL pro Nico Sturm saw the first ten minutes as the main reason for the elimination: “At this level, you need 60 minutes.”
Of all people, Swiss legionnaire Dominik Kahun (32nd) scored for the German Ice Hockey Association (DEB) selection in front of 6,583 spectators in Ostrava. But Christoph Bertschy (8th/60th) and NHL star Nico Hischier (17th) took advantage of weaknesses in the German defense and gave the Swiss their first knockout victory against their neighbors since the 1992 World Cup quarter-finals in Prague (3:1). After that, the Germans had won four times in a row. After World Cup silver in 2013 and 2018, the Swiss have their sights set on medals again with perhaps their best team.
15 players were on the ice in the DEB team who had already been part of the quarter-finals in Riga last year – when John-Jason Peterka and Sturm decided the game with a double strike to make it 3-1. In 2021, Marcel Noebels also won the penalty shootout in the quarter-finals with a spectacular “one-hander” to make it 3-2. The German team also triumphed 1-0 in the round of the best eight in Mannheim at the 2010 World Cup on home soil. On the way to the sensational Olympic silver in 2018, Germany also eliminated its arch-rivals 2-1 after extra time in the play-off for the quarter-finals.
DEB team misses equaliser
“What happened is no longer important today. We are starting anew. One thing is that we have to be good defensively,” said Kreis before the first face-off on ProSieben. The national coach had made one change compared to the last four preliminary round games: defender Tobias Fohrler sat in the stands, and Mannheim striker Daniel Fischbuch moved into the team. For the Swiss, NHL pro Philipp Kurashev, strike partner of young Canadian star Connor Bedard in Chicago, was just a spectator.
Although Kreis had explicitly called for “discipline”, Kai Wissmann received the first penalty after just 13 seconds – but the DEB selection survived unscathed. They then went behind when they had the advantage of numbers: Bertschy beat goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer on a quick counterattack. The Swiss dominated the game, the German defense was shaky. The 0:2 by Hischier was the logical consequence, but bad luck for Germany: defender Lukas Kälble broke his stick.
“The Swiss are putting brutal pressure on us, but despite everything we need to play out the back quicker,” said Wissmann after the first period on MagentaSport. In the disjointed second period, the German team improved, and a power play goal brought them back into the game. In the final period, Germany increased the risk in the last few minutes, but the Swiss held on to the win. Lukas Reichel had the last big chance (58th minute) to make it 2-2, before Bertschy scored into the empty net.