After the first victory at the Ice Hockey World Championship, the German team continues against Austria. The DEB selection urgently needs more points for the quarterfinals.
The first victory at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Finland and Latvia is said to have been just the beginning of a big race to catch up for the German team. After the 6: 4 (0: 1, 3: 1, 3: 2) in the all-or-nothing game against Denmark, the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation is aiming in the prestige duel against Austria on Friday (live ticker from 19:20 clock) directly to the next success.
“We have to know that it starts from the beginning and that the game is just as important as today’s.”said captain Moritz Müller before the fifth German group game in Tampere.
Due to the unfortunate defeats at the beginning against the title favorites Sweden (0:1), Finland (3:4) and the USA (2:3), the team of national coach Harold Kreis now only needs victories to reach the minimum goal of the quarterfinals.
Storm is confident
“It won’t be any easier tomorrow and the rest of the games. If we continue like this, I have a good feeling that we’ll reach the quarter-finals.”said NHL forward Nico Sturm (San Jose). After the game against Austria, there are still duels with outsiders Hungary (Sunday/3.20 p.m.) and France (Tuesday/11.20 a.m.).
The victory after regulation time against the supposedly biggest competitor in the fight for the quarter-finals was also extremely important mentally, as the players admitted. “We tried to moderate it a bit beforehand, but of course the pressure was enormous”admitted Captain Müller.
Attacker Marcel Noebels from Eisbären Berlin said: “It was very important that we proved to ourselves that we can win games. That we can also win close or tight games.”
DEB team wants to dominate
The Danes, who currently have eight points, now have to play their remaining games against the strongest teams in the group USA, Sweden and Finland. Should the favorites win these games, the German team could even afford to slip up against the weaker teams.
However, the DEB selection does not want to rely on Schützenhilfe. Before the game, NHL defenseman Moritz Seider (Detroit) said: “Of course we have to go in there with a broad chest. We want to show off as the dominant team.”