Ice Hockey World Championship
DEB team starts preparation for Denmark game
The team of national coach Harold Kreis faces a challenge. photo
© Pavel Golovkin/AP/dpa
After three defeats in the first three games, the German ice hockey selection at the World Cup now has to win. The next opponent is waiting on Thursday, whether reinforcements will come remains an open question.
After a day off from ice hockey with a visit to the sauna and a barbecue, the German national team will start preparing for the important preliminary round match against Denmark at the World Cup in Finland and Latvia. The next training session for the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation in Tampere is scheduled for 12.00 p.m.
Germany has to win against the Danes on Thursday (7.20 p.m. / Sport1 and MagentaSport) and then the remaining games against Austria (Friday), Hungary (Sunday) and France (Tuesday) to make it to the quarter-finals.
Three unfortunate defeats
The team of national coach Harold Kreis had unfortunately lost the first three games against the favorites Sweden (0:1), Finland (3:4) and the USA (2:3). “The team is so stable and solid that we are not talking about pressure, but simply about a challenge,” said Kreis on the current situation after the defeats at the start. “We are already looking forward to Denmark.”
Training will now focus on optimizing the offensive game and generating more traffic in front of the goal. “Maybe we have to force it a bit more, want a bit more dirt,” said captain Moritz Müller.
It is still unclear whether top striker Leon Draisaitl and goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer will travel to Finland after their elimination in the NHL playoffs. “I’m currently in talks with the German Ice Hockey Federation. There are a few things to be clarified. We’ll see,” said Draisaitl in a media briefing on Tuesday in Edmonton. His Oilers failed on Sunday (local time) in the playoffs at Las Vegas, a day later Grubauer was eliminated with Seattle against Dallas.