Rick Goldman: “Maybe you’ve put too much pressure on yourself. The expectations you have of yourself now set the bar very high. Still, you have to start with the basics and work hard. And if you have three games in four days, Then your mindset has to be right from the start. But that was broken by the Canadians in the first 10 minutes. I think the team never recovered from that and couldn’t build anything.”
Four years ago in Pyeongchang, the tournament didn’t start well either, but then it worked out…
Rick Goldman: “In fact, that was our hope that things would get going again. And the game against the Slovaks could have been a game that opens up the energy in the team and inspires the belief that you can go far.
However, when the NHL players are not there, the performance density of the teams is very tight. That means it depends more on the day’s form, on the players who outperform and who carry a team that isn’t one of the absolute favorites thanks to their performance. We didn’t have that here.”
Who should have taken on this role in the German team?
Rick Goldman: “It’s not that easy and it often turns out very differently. That’s exactly what makes a good team. In the Slovakians, for example, Juraj Slafkovský – who is 17 years old – scored four goals before the German game. Of course, scouts have him on the list for North America, but nobody would have believed that he could come here with four goals from the first three games. And it’s not always just about the players who expect a lot from delivering. It’s that you have someone who brings outperformance. But, and you have to be honest, none of the German players succeeded in this tournament.”
Still, is there anything positive that you can take away from this tournament?
Rick Goldman: “You can’t badmouth everything, but you can’t take many positive things away from this tournament. The existing potential simply hasn’t been accessed. But the tournament is also a snapshot. German ice hockey has developed well in recent years, it There are some young players who are already playing in North America. And there’s another World Cup in Finland in May. I think the squad will look a little different there.”
What needs to improve in view of the upcoming tournaments?
Rick Goldman: “In this tournament you saw again how ice hockey has changed overall. It has become so fast, so much comes from the skate speed. I think we could be a little better positioned in the next tournament. This tournament is a setback in terms of play, but fighting and physically. The German national ice hockey team can play better there, you have to say it quite clearly. Overall, German ice hockey has developed in the right direction and I’m excited about the next tournament, if then the team can do better.”
The conversation was conducted by Franziska Wülle.