19:07
Due to the squad planning that has not yet been completed on both sides, all players are on the match report sheet today. That’s seven defenders and four complete forward lines. Philipp Grubauer starts between the posts on the German side and Logan Thompson on the Canadian side. By the way, it is a special tournament for national coach Toni Söderholm, for the Finn this is a home World Cup.
18:58
Team Canada also have two goalkeepers and 19 outfield players in their squad so far. These are all boys from the NHL. However, the absolute top stars are missing, head coach Claude Julien does not have the really big names with him. The best scorer of the past regular NHL season was Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Winnipeg Jets with 60 points. Incidentally, on the German side, rookie defender Moritz Seider scored a great 50 points.
18:48
Toni Söderholm has initially called up 21 players in the squad and thus kept four places free for possible replacements. Dustin Strahlmeier, Mario Zimmermann, Taro Jentzsch and Alexander Karachun, who are in Finland, will therefore have to be patient. The national coach is still hoping for reinforcements from North America (NHL, AHL). Leon Draisaitl, who could fail with his Edmonton Oilers in the upcoming game 7 of the first playoff round against the Los Angeles Kings, should not be an issue. So far, Tim Stützle (Ottawa), Philipp Grubauer (Seattle) and Moritz Seider (Detroit) have come over from the NHL – plus Marc Michaelis from the Toronto Marlies from the AHL.
18:38
The venue for the Group A games is the Helsingin jäähalli, i.e. the Helsinki ice rink. France and Slovakia faced each other here in the afternoon. The favored Olympic bronze medalist prevailed 4:2 against the French, who had moved up for the excluded Russians. In the two groups with eight teams each, the top four reach the quarter-finals, the last one is relegated directly without another playoff game.
18:28
Welcome to the Ice Hockey World Championship 2022 in Finland! On the very first day, the German national team gets involved and has to deal with the strongest opponents in Group A by name. At 19:20 CEST it’s time to prevail against Canada.