Vice world champion turns up the heat
DEB team leaves Slovakia and receives bitter news
April 18, 2024, 10:45 p.m
The German ice hockey team is showing its best side just in time for the World Cup. The DEB team, which is far from complete in terms of personnel, clearly beats Slovakia 7:3. But: Not everything is good before the tournament.
With a goal festival three weeks before the Ice Hockey World Cup, the German runners-up showed clearly improving form and celebrated their first victory in preparation. With ten silver medalists, but still without the Munich and Berlin players as well as the NHL stars, national coach Harold Kreis’ team defeated Slovakia 7:3 (2:2, 3:1, 2:0) in its third preparatory game.
At the same time there was good and bad news from North America: NHL striker Tim Stützle announced in Ottawa that he would not be available for the World Cup due to shoulder problems. John-Jason Peterka, on the other hand, who was the best striker at the World Cup in last year’s silver coup, announced his participation in Buffalo.
Straubing’s Joshua Samanski (2nd) and Parker Tuomie (28th), Ingolstadt’s Wojciech Stachowiak (16th), Augsburg’s Samuel Soramies (27th), Cologne’s DEL top scorer Justin Schütz (36th), Mannheim’s Daniel Fischbuch (42nd) and the Swiss legionnaire Marc Michaelis (56th) scored the goals for the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) in Kaufbeuren.
“The quality of the team has increased”
“It’s liberating when every row scores goals,” said the outstanding Stachowiak at MagentaSport: “Then the coach doesn’t have to worry.” Robert Lantosi (9th/29th) and Oliver Okuliar (12th) scored for Germany’s opening opponents at the World Cup in the Czech Republic (May 10th to 26th). On Saturday (5 p.m./MagentaSport) Both teams will duel again in Augsburg.
After the two defeats at the start in the Czech Republic (0:3, 2:4), Kreis brought the Swiss Dominik Kahun and Michaelis as well as four players from the DEL semi-finalists Straubing Tigers into the team. “With the two of them we gained speed,” said the coach, referring to Kahun and Michaelis, both of whom he fielded together in the front row. Overall, “the quality of the team has increased.”
The 3,100 spectators saw this after just 89 seconds, when Samanski scored his first international goal after an assist from his club colleague Tuomie. However, a third Straubinger made it possible to equalize: defender Mario Zimmermann missed the puck on the blue line. When the score was 1:2, Mannheim’s Matthias Plachta was in the penalty box. Stachowiak used the first German power play to make it 2-2. Soramies and Tuomie ensured a two-goal lead in the similarly turbulent second third before Lantosi reduced the deficit. Schütz restored the old distance in the majority before Fischbuch and Michaelis increased.
The players from the dethroned defending champions Red Bull Munich around silver goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger will join the DEB team next week, which will then face Austria twice. The DEL finalists and the NHL professionals should also be part of the squad for the last two games against France.