The German national ice hockey players sensationally reached the final of the World Championships in Finland and Latvia and won their first World Championship medal in 70 years.
The team of national coach Harold Kreis defeated the previously unbeaten USA 4:3 (2:2, 0:1, 1:0, 1:0) after extra time in the semifinals after an early 0:2 deficit and thus at least secured silver . In the final on Sunday (7:20 p.m.), record world champion Canada is the opponent.
Tiffels scores in overtime
Munich’s Frederik Tiffels (13th) and Maksymilian Szuber (17th) as well as Berlin’s Marcel Noebels (59th) and again Tiffels in extra time (68th) scored the goals for the selection of the German Ice Hockey Association in front of 8,011 spectators in Tampere (DEB), who last won a World Championship medal in second place in 1953. It was the sixth win in a row in Finland after the county team started with three narrow losses.
Alex Tuch (2nd), Rocco Grimaldi (4th) and Michael Eyssimont (29th) scored for the Americans, who defeated the German team 3-2 in the preliminary round. For them on Sunday (2.20 p.m.) in the small final against Latvia it is all about bronze again. Since the last World Cup title in 1960, only seven third places have jumped out.
USA with lightning start
The DEB selection started their third World Cup semi-final after 2010 and 2021 with a lot of self-confidence and confidence – but after 71 seconds there was already the first severe setback. Tuch completed a combination worth seeing at high speed with the Americans taking the lead early on. Just two and a half minutes later, goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger was again at a disadvantage when Grimaldi shot the disc into the top corner.
Szuber hits right in the corner
It took the German team ten minutes to get into the game after the shock. In the first power play, the connection was achieved somewhat happily: Daniel Fischbuch’s shot deflected Tiffels, the puck slipped through the rails for US goalie Casey DeSmith. The equalizer was largely due to Nico Sturm, who freed Szuber, the World Cup debutant hit the corner.
Tough final third, but Germany scores
At the beginning of the middle section, Fischbuch again had the majority to make it 3:2 (21st). Moritz Seider hit the crossbar a little later (23′). The Americans then cheered when Niederberger’s disc slipped through – but the video evidence showed that the puck had not fully crossed the goal line (25′). Four minutes later it was the USA’s lead again that counted: Eyssimont poked the disc from Niederberger’s catch hand over the line.
The final third was tough for a long time against the strong defending young US squad before Berlin’s Noebels scored the deserved equalizer shortly before the end. In extra time, Tiffels caused a sensation.
Circle formed a unit
Hardly anyone had believed the German team capable of anything before the World Cup. The district had received 15 cancellations from service providers due to injuries. In addition, three of the best German NHL players are absent from the World Cup in Finland and Latvia: Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stützle and goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer. Nevertheless, Kreis managed to form a combative and playfully convincing unit.
Should the sensation succeed against Canada on Sunday, the greatest German success of all would be perfect. Germany also won bronze at the 1934 World Cup and even became vice world champion in 1930 and 1953. Back then, however, the World Cup tournaments were not as busy as they are today. In 1953, for example, only four nations had participated in a group stage with no knockout games. Germany won Olympic medals in 1976 (bronze) and 2018 (silver).