The German national ice hockey team continued its upward trend in the World Cup preparation with NHL goalkeeper Phillip Grubauer.
Two weeks before the first game at the World Cup in Sweden and Denmark (May 9th to 25th), the selection of the German Ice Hockey Association (Deb) for Grubauer won the second game against the neighbors within three days in the convincing 5: 0 (0: 0, 2: 0, 3: 0) against Austria in Rosenheim. The Deb team won 3-2 in Zell am See on Thursday.
Maximilian Kastner (26th) gave the German team outnumbered, Nicolas Krämmer (32nd), Philipp Krauss (43.), Wojciech Stachowiak (44th) and Joshua Samanski (53.) – and thus made a fully deserved manner for the third victory in the sixth and penultimate World Cup test.
On May 4 (5 p.m./Magenta Sport), the team of national coach Harold Kreis in Düsseldorf will now be the World Cup general rehearsal against the United States, and then again well-known reinforcements.
On Saturday, however, the focus was on Grubauer. After a messed up NHL season at the Seattle octopus, in which he was even sent to the farm team in the AHL in the meantime, the 33-year-old had started preparing early in his hometown-and in front of 5022 spectators in the middle of it. In the first third, he first let the puck slide through his legs and then saved them on the goal line.
T question at the DEB has not yet been clarified
However, it is not yet clear whether Grubauer goes to the World Cup. Last year, the goalie played solidly in this role, but not as outstanding as Mathias Niederberger at the 2023 Silver Coup.
Next Wednesday, the two NHL players Moritz Seider (Detroit Red Wings) and Lukas Reichel (Chicago Blackhawks) and Switzerland-legionnaire Dominik Kahun will be team in Düsseldorf. Top defender Seider in particular is a “very important player for the team,” said Deb sports director Christian Künast in the first third break when you are magenta.
For the game against the USA, Kreis can also plan with the national players of the newly chosen champions Eisbären Berlin and the final opponent of Cologne Haie. The World Cup begins for the DEB team on May 10th against Hungary. Other opponents in the preliminary round group B in Herning in Danish are Kazakhstan, Norway, Switzerland, the USA, the Czech Republic and co-host Denmark.