When there’s a commercial on TV, the cleaning crew comes. These 90-second breaks are called power breaks. Then, at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Tampere and Riga, young people in black spandex suits dash onto the ice, equipped with shovels and buckets, and in a perfectly rehearsed choreography clean the playing field of the snow that twelve pairs of ice skate blades incessantly scrape from the surface. So that the puck can glide smoothly again afterwards. This broomstick gang, which always springs into action in the middle of a third, does its job like a ninja commando with a Swiss obsession with cleanliness, precisely, perfectly coordinated, and silently. After that, the ice is clean down to the pores again.
Cursed shall they be.
If the German national ice hockey team has learned a lesson from their first three games at this World Cup, it is this: A little more dirt is needed.
“If we can chalk something up, it’s that it wasn’t dirty enough in the decisive phases,” said NHL professional Nico Sturm after the 2-3 win against the USA, the third loss in the third game, for the third time with a goal Difference. Again, the Germans had kept up more than well, as in the 0:1 against Sweden and in the 3:4 against hosts and defending champions Finland. “We were clearly the better team, if you don’t see it that way, you should explain it to me first,” said Moritz Seider, a defender with the Detroit Red Wings in his day-to-day work. “We played three top games here against top nations, some of them dominated,” said Samuel Soramies, who scored the German equalizer at 1-1. “It’s really annoying that the team has to leave the ice again without points,” said national coach Harold Kreis. Having zero points after three games also means that his team will have to win the remaining four group games against Denmark (Thursday, 3.20 p.m. / Sport 1 and Magentasport), Austria, newly promoted Hungary and France in order to reach the quarter-finals and the chance to qualify directly for the 2026 Olympic Games. “Of course it’s completely clear that the pressure is there now,” said Sturm.
Kreis, who is responsible for the first time as head coach at a World Cup, still makes a confident impression. “We have two days off, we can recover both physically and mentally, maybe get a little distance from the stadium,” said the 64-year-old. “I’m sure that’s good.” Tuesday morning was free for everyone, in the early evening the players wanted to get together informally, and on Wednesday they were preparing for Denmark. The team is very self-critical, said Kreis, but they also deal with the situation constructively.
The panes that are lying around in front of the goal in a mess, they now want to sweep them more consistently into the net
“We’re a bit too playful here and there, we want to make it too nice,” believes captain Moritz Müller. “We might have to force it a little bit more.” Sturm said: “We were missing a dirty goal in all three games, a rebound or away from the schooner.” Garbage goals call them garbage gates, which one shouldn’t pretend to be.
These rebounds, when the goalkeeper can’t hold onto the puck or fends it off to the side with the thickly padded leg guards, the discs that are lying around in front of the goal, they want to sweep into the net more consistently than before. Because with the quality of defenders and goalkeepers at a World Cup, it’s easier to score a goal than a direct shot. There must be a bit of fluff on it. “We need to go in front of goal more to get them loose pucks to get,” said Soramies.
Against the USA, the Germans again had more than enough chances for well over two goals. But despite the mantra repeated in a continuous loop to always place a man in front of the opposing goalkeeper, like a screen that blocks the view of the keeper, whenever possible, but in any case in a majority game, the American defenders were too often able to calmly wipe in front of their goal . Despite four power plays and an increase in chances of 32:26, only Justin Schütz, one of eight German World Cup debutants, was able to overcome US goalie Casey DeSmith, who was voted the best player in his team. “Regardless of how good the goalkeeper is, we definitely need more traffic in front of the goal,” said Harold Kreis. “We’ve gotten a little bit away from our game plan, and at that level it’s enough that it costs you the game,” said Nico Sturm. With five minutes remaining, Matt Coronato scored to make it 3-2 for the USA while Moritz Seider was in the penalty box.
“It’s bitter that you now have the gun on your chest because you have to win all the games,” said Seider. The 22-year-old, one of the team’s spokesmen, thought that no one should blame themselves. “Now we’re just standing there with zero points, now we can’t change it anymore.” But instead of quarreling with a situation that they all knew, given the opening program, that it could also happen, they should take the tailwind with them “from the situations that we created,” recommended Seider. “You can’t write us off just yet. If we win all the games now, I think nobody will complain when you’re in the quarter-finals.”
“Leon would be an incredible reinforcement,” says Moritz Seider, “but we’re not speculating that Leon will come.”
Theoretically, support could even come from North America. Both Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers) and goaltender Philipp Grubauer (Seattle Kraken) were eliminated with their teams in the NHL playoffs. Whether one of the two or even both would join the team in Tampere remained hypothetical until Tuesday. “Of course we want Leon to come, we could use him here,” said Moritz Müller when he didn’t yet know the result of Grubauer’s last game. “Leon would be an incredible reinforcement,” said Seider. “But we are not speculating that Leon will come, then we would make it too easy for ourselves.”
In all probability they will have to play the game against Denmark with the existing squad. There have been many close World Cup duels in recent years against the team of former DEL pro Heinz Ehlers, who started the tournament with two wins. Last year the DEB team won 1-0 in Helsinki, in 2019 in Riga 2-1 on the way to the semi-finals, in 2018 in Herning the Germans – with Draisaitl – lost 2-3 to the hosts after a penalty shoot-out.
Don’t expect the Danes to be swept off the ice as easily as a little snow. “You have to know that we can also be behind in the next few games,” said Captain Müller, “you have to be able to cope with that mentally.” If the gates are to become dirtier, mental hygiene is all the more important.