The Ice Hockey World Championship developed into a triumphant tournament for the German team. In the semifinals, however, the team is an absolute outsider against the USA. The game takes place on Saturday at 5:20 p.m. in Tampere (live ticker at sportschau.de).
Is it a miracle That might be going too far. But: The entry of the German ice hockey cracks into the semi-finals at the World Cup is almost incredulous among insiders of the scene. After all, novice coach Harold Kreis had to struggle with the greatest difficulties before the tournament.
Hull team with amazing goal threat
No fewer than 15 top performers had canceled him before the World Cup. With Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stützle and goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer, three of the best German players from the NHL have also canceled for the tournament. The question of who should score the goals at the World Cup accompanied players and coaches to Finland. In fact, the DEB selection is the team with the second most goals in the World Cup so far.
“You can’t order it to form a team”said Kreis about his lucky hand in putting together the squad. “One can only hope that a team comes together in the dressing room, that this spirit forms. I’m really happy that the team comes together and develops such a spirit.”
“Everything is in now”
“Everything is in now”, said NHL attacker Nico Sturm and goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger, two outstanding performers so far at this World Cup. After the furious 3:1 (1:0, 2:1, 0:0) in the quarter-finals in Riga on Thursday against Switzerland, captain Moritz Müller was certain: “I believe we are capable of beating all opponents at this World Cup now.”
The team of national coach Harold Kreis landed in Tampere on Friday with even more self-confidence thanks to the convincing performance in terms of fighting and playing against the Swiss, who have been outstanding at the World Cup so far.
World Cup 2027 in Germany
There the team received the next good news: The 2027 World Cup will take place in Germany again. And the best German defender, Moritz Seider, can play against the USA. The 22-year-old from the Detroit Red Wings received a game misconduct penalty against Switzerland, but it did not result in a suspension. “We all know exactly where we want to go and we don’t want it to end here”said Seider decidedly.
After the semi-finals on Saturday, either the game for third place or even the first World Cup final in 93 years with German participation is on Sunday in Tampere. “We are respected”ex-NHL forward Dominik Kahun said about his team’s perception among the top nations.
2:3 in the preliminary round
The USA should also be warned against Switzerland after the German appearance. The USA had walked through the preliminary round as the table first in the German group in Tampere. The US team’s 3-0 win over the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals was their eighth win in eight games.
Although the big names are missing from the US squad, there are at least 15 players from the world’s best league, the NHL. In the preliminary round, Germany had the USA already on the verge of defeat at 2:3. Now national coach Kreis has his team ready for the big coup.
“Stick to the Game Plan”
“It will be about sticking to the game plan, playing disciplined”, said the 64-year-old successor to Toni Söderholm, who can already look back on a successful World Cup premiere as head coach. Reaching the semi-finals also briefly upset him. “This touches me”said Kreis, fighting back tears. tears of joy. Which you would actually like to see again on Saturday with the national coach.