DEB
Ice hockey team draws conclusions despite losing the World Cup dress rehearsal
Germany’s goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger (M) and his teammates Marco Nowak (2nd from left) and Jonas Mueller (2nd from right) in action. photo
© Christian Kolbert/dpa
The German national ice hockey team loses the final test match against the USA, but the players are satisfied. The first test at the World Cup is on Friday.
Despite the defeat at the end of the World Cup preparations, the German national ice hockey team feels prepared for the tournament opener on Friday in Tampere, Finland, against Sweden.
“We’re not far away,” said captain Moritz Müller after the 6-3 draw in the final friendly against eventual group opponents USA on Tuesday evening in Munich. “I don’t think the result fully reflected how the game went. I thought we did a lot of good things that we can build on,” summed up the Kölner Haie defender.
Like the former NHL attacker Dominik Kahun, however, Müller also complained that the exploitation of chances had to improve. For a long time, the team of national coach Harold Kreis had shown weaknesses in the end, all three German goals only came in the last ten minutes.
“I think we can actually be quite satisfied. We kept up, we created our chances,” said Kahun, who scored twice. The SC Bern professional was happy about the successful offensive: “Of course it’s always good when you can have self-confidence with the offensive. I think we did a good job there.”
Today the German team flies to Tampere, where it contests the preliminary round. The new national coach Kreis chooses the three top nations in the group right from the start: After the start against Sweden, hosts and defending champions Finland are on Saturday and the USA are the opponents on the following Monday.