Test match win against Austria
DEB team gains self-confidence for big World Cup mission
April 25, 2024, 10:16 p.m
The World Cup squad is not yet complete, but the German national ice hockey team is already ending its series of weak results. The DEB selection celebrated a success against Austria that gave them courage for the World Cup. Until then, the vice world champions are expecting a few more reinforcements.
The German national ice hockey team achieved its second victory in preparation just two weeks before the World Cup in the Czech Republic. After only one success in four games, the newly strengthened selection of the German Ice Hockey Association (DEB) won 4:2 (2:1, 0:1, 2:0) against Austria in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and gained important self-confidence.
“It was good, especially in the first third we started well. In the second we lost the thread a bit, but then in the last section we did better again and were rewarded,” said Munich’s Yasin Ehliz, the three of the four Germans Prepared goals at MagentaSport.
Marc Michaelis (8th, 11th) had given the German runner-up world champions an early lead, who were able to count on the players from dethroned DEL champion Red Bull Munich around Ehliz at the start of the third preparation phase. But Benjamin Baumgartner (16th) and Lukas Kainz (38th) brought a strong Austrian team back into the game before Daniel Fischbuch (50th) and Parker Tuomie (52nd) decided the game in favor of national coach Harold Kreis’ team.
We were “well on the way to finding our identity, which we need for the task at the World Cup,” Kreis had said before the start of the third preparation phase. Finally, the World Cup squad also took shape again in Garmisch: the Munich trio around goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger and the strikers Yasin Ehliz and Maximilian Kastner strengthened the runner-up world champions.
NHL stars announce themselves
And especially Ehliz, who was the only one of the three from Munich to be on the ice at the beginning, immediately fit in excellently. The 31-year-old was involved in both of Michaelis’ goals. In any case, the German team showed enthusiasm on offense, but at the same time revealed weaknesses, especially in the game without the puck.
This became particularly evident in the second third, when the Austrians earned the equalizer thanks to a committed performance. In the final round, however, the German team took control again and scored more goals.
The DEB selection will meet Austria again in Landshut on Saturday (5 p.m./MagentaSport). The final preparatory phase will then take place against France on May 4th and 6th. In addition to the professionals from the DEL finalists Eisbären Berlin and Fischtown Pinguins, some players from the NHL will also join the team.
As with last year’s silver coup, strikers Nico Sturm (San Jose Sharks) and John-Jason Peterka (Buffalo Sabres) are likely to be there, and things are also looking good for Philipp Grubauer (Seattle Kraken). It is still unclear whether defender Moritz Seider (Detroit Red Wings) will travel to the tournament in the Czech Republic. The World Cup begins for the German team on May 10th in Ostrava against Slovakia.