With three newcomers and Dominik Bokk returning, but without most top performers, the German national ice hockey team had a successful start to the season.
At the start of the Germany Cup, the young team of national coach Toni Söderholm defeated Denmark 3:2 (1:1, 1:1, 0:0, 1:0) after extra time, but the former exceptional talent Bokk went away empty-handed.
In the first test on the way to the World Championships in Tampere and Riga (12th to 28th May 2023), the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) went through an own goal by Anders Koch, which was credited to captain Marc Michaelis (16th), in the lead. Unlucky Koch equalized a little later himself in front of only around 800 spectators in Krefeld (19th). Daniel Schmölz (33rd) from Nuremberg forced Nicolai Meyer (26th) to overtime after the 1:2, in which Schmölz (64th) made the decision again.
The other opponents are Austria on Saturday (5:30 p.m./Sport1 and MagentaSport) and Slovakia on Sunday (2:30 p.m./MagentaSport). Last year, the DEB selection – three months before the Olympics was significantly stronger – won the traditional home tournament for the eighth time.
The focus was on Bokk, who made his comeback after three and a half years. The 22-year-old, selected by the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the NHL draft in 2018, has shined since the start of the season as the third-best scorer and top scorer in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) at newly promoted Löwen Frankfurt. The striker, who has been with his sixth club since the draft and has not yet played a single NHL game, appeared in the parade series together with Swiss legionnaire Michaelis and Mannheim’s Tim Wohlgemuth.
Söderholm, who had no longer nominated Bokk after six international matches in preparation for the 2019 World Cup, wanted to see “where he stands internationally”. The first two German goal chances in excess went to the account of the highly talented, but failed twice by goalkeeper Frederik Dichow. At the opening goal, Bokk was a spectator when Koch steered the puck into his own goal. Otherwise he hardly came into his own and was only rarely able to show off his outstanding technique.
Three debutants
Cologne’s Jan-Luca Sennhenn, Düsseldorf’s Luca Zitterbart and Wolfsburg’s Luis Schinko donned the senior national team jersey for the first time. Eric Mik from Berlin, also invited for the first time, has not yet played.
At the start, the Austrian team around young star Marco Kasper surprisingly beat Slovakia 3:2 (1:1, 1:0, 0:1, 1:0) after extra time. The 18-year-old, who was drafted eighth in the NHL draft by the Detroit Red Wings in the summer, did the preparatory work for Lukas Haudum’s winning goal.