Ice Hockey World Cup
Worries about NHL professional Sturm: World Cup start with ups and downs
Nico Sturm was an important performer at the runner-up championship last year. photo
© Sebastian Kahnert/dpa
The start of the World Cup is going as expected for the German national ice hockey team. In terms of personnel, however, the situation does not look good. After all, reinforcements are coming from North America.
Get three points after two World Cup games Harold circle happy. “I’ll take it,” said the national ice hockey coach in Ostrava. The sporting start with the strong 6:4 against Slovakia and the sobering 1:6 against the star ensemble of the USA is pushed into the background before the next games in the Czech Republic.
The impending loss of NHL professional Nico Sturm as well as defenders Maksymilian Szuber and Fabio Wagner in particular is causing the coach some concerns. “We’ll see what the recovery is like,” said Kreis. “We have the expectations and hopes that they will be fit again soon.” It remains to be seen whether the trio will be able to take part again against co-favorites Sweden this Monday (8.20 p.m./ProSieben and MagentaSport).
Above all, the absence of Sturm from the San Jose Sharks hurts the selection of the German Ice Hockey Association enormously. Even the 29-year-old could not have prevented the defeat against the USA on Saturday evening, the biggest defeat in almost a year and a half under national coach Kreis. But Storm on and off the ice is almost irreplaceable, especially for the rest of the tournament.
“Every injured player is a loss for us,” said Kreis. As is well known, there is no further information on injuries in ice hockey. “Of course they are missing,” said defender Kai Wissmann from German champions Eisbären Berlin.
Wissmann: “It was a good learning effect”
The vice world champion, on the other hand, is satisfied with the start of the World Cup so far. “It was a great performance on Friday,” said captain Moritz Müller, describing the convincing 6-4 win against Olympic bronze medalist Slovakia. According to the veteran, a little more than 24 hours later, “a few things were missing mentally” against the USA.
The ripped-off Americans with numerous top stars mercilessly exploited every mistake made by the DEB selection. “It was good to see what I could do to keep up. But it was also good to see what we weren’t allowed to do,” said Wissmann. “It was a good learning experience.”
The German team also had good chances against the Americans, who had 20 NHL professionals, but were unlucky with two shots on the crossbar. But Müller and Co. had no chance against the power and cleverness of the stars from North America. Munich goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger, who stood between the posts for the rested NHL goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer, prevented an even greater defeat with numerous saves.
Next opponent also a “chunk”
“It’s now a matter of classifying the result correctly,” demanded Captain Müller. “We’ll first take a look at what we did against the USA. We have to analyze now, then put the game behind us, recharge our mental strength on Sunday and attack on Monday.”
After the game-free Sunday, the next difficult task follows. According to Wissmann, Sweden’s team, which outplayed the USA 5-2 at the start, has another “chunk” waiting for them in Ostrava. “We’re definitely not going into the game as favorites, we have to stay realistic,” said the Berliner. Coach Kreis also asked his professionals to “play a different game.”
The reappraisal will probably focus more on the defensive. Without world-class defender Moritz Seider from the NHL, who is not available this time, the German defense continues to wobble. The failures of Szuber and Wagner are added to this. Ten goals conceded after two games is clearly too many. “We’ll take a look at that,” Kreis said.
At least there are reinforcements from North America on the offensive against the eleven-time world champions. Lukas Reichel, who is active for the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL, is expected to appear for the DEB team for the first time in the title fights in the Czech Republic. The 21-year-old joined the team on Friday evening and was rested against the US boys.