US college pick too strong
DEB team has to go into the “all or nothing” game
02/13/2022, 4:46 p.m
The way to the hoped-for medal could hardly be further. After the second defeat in the third preliminary round game, the German national ice hockey team has to make the playoffs in order to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games. The young US selection punishes lack of effectiveness.
Improved, but not good enough: Despite their strongest tournament performance to date, the German national ice hockey team ended the Olympic preliminary round with their second defeat. In the 2: 3 (1: 1, 0: 1, 1: 1) against the USA, the team of national coach Toni Söderholm started furiously, gave everything until the end, but has to improve even more for the fight for the medals. Because now things are getting serious in Beijing.
On Tuesday morning at 5.10 a.m. German time it is: win or fly. In the playoff for a place in the quarter-finals, Slovakia is the opponent after third place in Group A. Four years ago, Pyeongchang’s silver miracle began with a 2-1 overtime win against Switzerland in the first knockout game. The rest is sports history. However, another bankruptcy would already mean the end of all dreams of renewed precious metal.
“We played our best game in the tournament, that was a big step in the right direction,” said Korbinian Holzer on ZDF. At the same time he emphasized: “We don’t need to hide from anyone. If we play like this, we can live up to our expectations.”
With ten heroes from 2018, the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) played more straightforward and purposeful 28 hours after the 3-2 victory against China – but not effectively enough. Munich’s Patrick Hager (2nd) and Tom Kühnhackl (58th) scored the goals in the Wukesong Sports Center. Steven Kampfer (5th), Matt Knies (25th) and Nathan Smith (43rd) scored for the USA, who qualified directly for the round of eight by finishing first in their group.
The “ice cream grandma” brings no luck
Against the young US team with 14 college players, who had previously won 4-2 in the prestige duel against Canada, the German team started with a lot of speed and drive towards the goal – and was rewarded early on. Hager scored in the first majority after assists from Matthias Plachta and Dominik Kahun, a co-production of three silver medalists.
After a stupid penalty by Tom Kühnhackl, however, the equalizer came immediately. Somewhat surprisingly, silver hero Danny from the birches stood in the gate. The 36-year-old has had a rather weak season at Red Bull Munich so far, and his nomination for Beijing was controversial.
Cheered on by “Eis-Oma” Claudia Pechstein and other German athletes in the stands, the DEB selection played much more aggressively and gained respect with hard checks. It got loud when defender Marcel Brandt was lying on the ice after a puck hit. “I’ll rip your head off,” shouted Korbinian Holzer in the direction of the US players.
Especially bitter: Before the 1:2, Aus den Birken lost his bat and couldn’t get hold of it properly again. Söderholm demanded video evidence of the goalkeeper’s disability – but the goal was not withdrawn. After the weak performances in the first two games, Söderholm had mixed up his attacking lines. David Wolf and Daniel Pietta stayed outside. The injured defender Marco Nowak was absent again.