Third victory in the fifth test: The German national ice hockey team is gradually gaining momentum with reinforcements.
15 days before the start of the World Cup in Switzerland, national coach Harold Kreis’ team beat Austria 4:3 (1:0, 1:1, 2:2) in Zell am See, but still showed weaknesses, especially in defense. There will be a reunion in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Saturday (5 p.m./MagentaSport), and the two neighbors will be opponents again in the preliminary round of the World Cup.
Stefan Loibl from Straubing (5th/55th), Alexander Blank from Augsburg (37th) and Daniel Fischbuch from Iserlohn (48th) scored the goals for the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB), which was still missing the players from the DEL finalists and from North America. Patrick Söllinger (26th), Mario Huber (41st) and Timo Nickl (47th) scored for the hosts.
Fabio Wagner, who was banned from the DEL, and his Munich teammates Maximilian Kastner and Phillip Sinn strengthened the DEB selection, as did Cologne’s Dominik Bokk, Parker Tuomie and Jan Luca Sennhenn. Swiss professional Dominik Kahun stayed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen because he was still recovering from a flu-like infection.
Tuomie and Bokk introduced themselves well, and the duo set up Loibl to make it 1-0. Nuremberg’s Samuel Dove-McFalls was unlucky when he hit the crossbar (14th). Bokk also missed two good chances.
In the weaker middle third, Nuremberg goalkeeper Niklas Treutle didn’t look good when equalizing. But Blank managed to take the lead again. At the beginning of the final period, Treutle made another mistake. The decision was made by Loibl’s second goal.
The DEB team had previously lost twice in the Czech Republic (3:5, 1:4) and won twice at home against Slovakia (3:1, 3:1). The dress rehearsal against Olympic champions USA will take place on May 10th in Mannheim. Then the national players of the DEL finalists Eisbären Berlin and Adler Mannheim as well as possible reinforcements from North America are expected. NHL goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer has signaled that he will take part, but Moritz Seider says he is not yet fit. The World Cup in Switzerland begins on May 15th in Zurich against Finland.
