Ice hockey national coach Harold Kreis is running out of players at the Germany Cup.
Attacker Dominik Kahun from HC Lausanne and defender Lukas Kälble from Adler Mannheim, who were injured in the 4-1 opening win against Latvia, will no longer be playing at the home tournament in Landshut. The German Ice Hockey Association announced this, but did not provide any information about the type or severity of the injuries.
Kälble speaks of a “precautionary measure”. Former NHL striker Kahun, who scored the 1-1 goal against Latvia, later had to leave the ice apparently due to a wrist injury after a challenge on the boards.
Ingolstadt’s Preto is moving up
In defense the ceiling of players is now becoming thin. Before the tournament started, Colin Ugbekile from the Iserlohn Roosters had already left injured. National coach Kreis therefore nominated Philipp Preto from ERC Ingolstadt for the two remaining games on Saturday (6.45 p.m.) against Austria and on Sunday (2.45 p.m. / both MagentaSport) against Slovakia.
“We unexpectedly lost Colin Ugbekile. Playing with seven defenders works. But if someone else is out, then that’s suboptimal,” Kreis said after the game against Latvia.
Circle: “Everyone wants to recommend themselves somehow”
The failures are bitter for the players because Landshut is fighting for a place in the squad for the Olympics in Milan in February. Since a number of Olympic tickets have already been allocated for players from North America, the players from the German Ice Hockey League have to fight hard.
For Kreis, the good opening game was particularly due to the competitive situation. “The boys also know that the Olympics are just around the corner and everyone wants to recommend themselves for the Olympic Games in some way, that’s very clear,” said the national coach.