Cancellations at short notice also increased the concerns of national coach Toni Söderholm for this special Ice Hockey World Championship in his home country of Finland. Even with a total of seven national players from champion Berlin and runner-up Munich, not all weak points in the squad should disappear.
In addition to the previously skeptical defensive, there are problems on the offensive. Söderholm will especially miss Dominik Kahun. The ex-NHL striker is injured. It was the next serious cancellation for the tournament, which begins on Friday.
NHL pro Kahun misses the World Cup
“I would have liked to have had Dominik with me,” said Söderholm. The 44-year-old at least hinted at how complicated the squad puzzle was this time, even if he didn’t want to use the word “difficult”: “You can tell that some players have 60, 70 games in their legs. It has a lot of mental energy cost,” said Söderholm and reported: “There were players who canceled at short notice, who might have had strength a month ago. Now that the season was over, it was suddenly different.”
On Tuesday, the 2021 World Cup semi-finalist and Olympic tenth from Beijing will board the charter plane to Helsinki with doubts despite the victory against Austria in the last World Cup test. Kahun was struck in the preparation. The 26-year-old played in the 3-1 draw in Schwenningen on Sunday, when the selection didn’t show World Cup form.
To the end, Söderholm was looking for stronger personnel who could accept the first challenge on Friday (7.20 p.m.) against defending champions Canada. In February in Beijing, the team had disappointed with the Olympics before the quarter-finals. According to DEB, the World Cup goal should only be set in the coming days.
The fact that other strikers such as Berlin’s former North America professional Manuel Wiederer and Munich’s Patrick Hager and Frederik Tiffels canceled further weakens the selection for the intended Olympic reparations. Söderholm did not want to give reasons for the cancellations of this trio.
Seider hopes for a “push for the team”
After all, the national coach can count on master goalie Mathias Niederberger, Berlin defenders Jonas Müller and Kai Wissmann as well as Eisbären strikers Marcel Noebels and Leo Pföderl. Attacker Yasin Ehliz is the only one from Munich alongside Maximilian Kastner, who was deployed on Sunday.
The additional challenge now lies in integrating the new forces quickly in just a few training sessions and, in the case of the Berliners, after an exuberant championship party. “The most important days that you have in terms of training at the World Cup are now at the beginning,” said Söderholm.
The finalists could “give the team a really good push again,” said NHL defender Moritz Seider hopefully. The 21-year-old from Detroit is one of three NHL professionals in the squad alongside Ottawa forward Tim Stützle and world-class goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer from the Seattle Kraken – and the outstanding defender.
Defensive worries DEB team
The occupation of the defensive aroused little hope of a successful performance until the end. But also on the offensive in Schwenningen, five days before the start of the World Cup, a formation appeared with which the minimum goal of quarter-finals should not be a matter of course, even in a preliminary round group that is weaker on paper. Söderholm listed a lack of efficiency, puck losses, inconsistent duel behavior as problems. “It’s actually the things that are important to us, we have to improve there,” said the Finn.
It is not uncommon for players to forego a World Cup in an Olympic season. The consequences of the corona pandemic robbed additional energy, other players are injured. It was already clear that the former NHL professionals Tom Kühnhackl and Tobias Rieder were missing before the DEB announced the squad. So it would be all the more important if other professionals from North America would move up in the course of the tournament. Söderholm is considering not officially reporting all squad positions immediately. It is unlikely that NHL top star Leon Draisaitl will come.
The national team is nowhere near as bold as it was before the Olympics. “There can also be a lot of criticism very quickly if a game doesn’t go that well. That’s why I don’t want to say much,” said Ottawa striker Stützle. Goalkeeper Grubauer, however, did not deviate from his firm belief in the team. “Of course our goal is to win gold,” he told “Kicker” (Monday).
Source: dpa