Setback for World Cup mission
DEB team surprisingly loses against Austria
April 27, 2024, 7:14 p.m
Despite superiority, the German national ice hockey team is unable to win against World Cup participants Austria. The German players simply don’t score in the penalty shootout. There are two more tests before the start of the World Cup.
The German national ice hockey team lost the second World Cup test against Austria. In Zell am See, national coach Harold Kreis’ team lost 1:2 (1:0, 0:0, 0:1) after a penalty shootout. On Thursday, the vice world champion defeated Austria 4-2 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
The last two preparatory games before departure to Ostrava in the Czech Republic will take place on May 4th in Wolfsburg and two days later in Weißwasser against France. The World Cup starts on May 10th with the first group game against Slovakia.
Coach Kreis expects NHL professionals and German champions
Wojtek Stachowiak from ERC Ingolstadt shot the DEB team into the lead after just seven minutes. It was the 24-year-old’s third goal in preparation. The German team then missed the second goal. There were a few chances for the district team. But Dominik Kahun and Co. repeatedly failed because of the well-disposed Austrian goalkeeper David Madlener. Shortly before the end, the hosts scored somewhat surprisingly to make it 1-1 (56th minute). Dominic Zwerger overcame Munich goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger, who was playing for the first time.
After a goalless extra time, the decision was made in a penalty shootout. Kahun, Joshua Samanski, Marc Michaelis and Yasin Ehliz missed, while Emilio Romig and Lukas Haudum were successful for Austria and perfected Germany’s fourth friendly defeat in the sixth match.
The DEB team can look forward to new blood in the coming days. The NHL professionals JJ Peterka (Buffalo Sabres), Nico Sturm (San Jose Sharks) and goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer were not yet in the squad. The trio from North America will only join the team in the fourth preparatory phase starting on Wednesday. The professionals from the new ice hockey champions Eisbären Berlin should also strengthen the selection.