The German national ice hockey team went into the Olympic tournament with medal ambitions, but their dream of winning precious metal was already dashed in the quarterfinals. After the clear and deserved 2:6 defeat in the round of the last eight against Slovakia, DEB sports director Christian Künast found clear words.
“It just shows that we’re not quite as far along as the expectations were. Also our own expectations. We were a very, very good team off the ice. We never really got it on the ice,” the ex-professional criticized the German Olympic selection of nine NHL stars such as Leon Draisaitl, Moritz Seider and Co. on the TV station ZDF.
After a thoroughly convincing 3-1 opening win against Denmark, the performances in the surprising 3-4 defeat against Latvia and in the 1-5 against the USA left much to be desired. The 5-1 win in the second round against France gave hope for the quarter-finals, where the supposedly easiest task awaited Slovakia.
Ice hockey: “Little things” are missing in Germany
But the Germans had nothing to gain against the selection of super youngster Juraj Slafkovsky from the Montreal Canadiens at 2:6. “We’re definitely missing a lot from the really big nations like Canada, the USA and Sweden, and it’s the breadth. We have very, very good players, but we don’t have them in numbers like these nations,” said Künast, explaining the early failure.
According to the 54-year-old, it was only “little things” that the DEB team lacked to become a medal contender, but he emphasized: “You can’t afford little things at this level and that’s why we were deservedly eliminated in the quarter-finals.” A year before the home World Cup in May 2027, a bitter setback for German ice hockey euphoria.
“We have to show people: We can deliver when it’s expected and we haven’t done that anywhere in this tournament,” demanded the DEB boss.