The loss against Canada, which still applies to German ice hockey, is not the end of the world. It was 1:5 (0:3, 1:1, 0:1) on Thursday evening local time – which gave the team a tough fight. In Marco Novak’s case, you have to take it literally. He was removed after a rigorous head examination in the first period. Tony Soderholm later revealed that he was being treated. The national coach couldn’t and didn’t want to say anything more. Both the referee’s decision not to penalize the check against Novak and his team’s performance had served him clearly.
“You can,” Söderholm began in relation to the much-talked-about scene and then looked for the right words for a moment, “look at it from different perspectives.” However, there were no protests during the game.
When asked about the game, everyone agreed: exactly 1448 days after the “game of the century” in the semi-finals in Pyeongchang, which Germany won 4–3, the Canadians have won this time successfully and most Above all, he deserves revenge. Even without their NHL pros, they were superior in all respects – and were highly skilled, especially in the beginning. Six shots, three goals, and one prettier than the other – that’s how tournaments can start. Alex Grant (5th), Munich Dell professional Ben Street (10th) and Daniel Vinnik (11th) gave the world champions a 3-0 lead early on. After a good ten minutes, the game was basically settled.
NHL pros are missing
“We weren’t good enough nor fast enough in those moments. It’s a learning factor for us,” said Söderholm, who seemed more depressed than his players. The captain summed up the mood of the team: “It was not the start we were hoping for,” said Moritz Müller.
Maxim Noro (33rd) and Jordan Weil (52nd) scored the other goals. “At that stage it’s the same old story: if you sleep for 15 minutes, that’s not enough,” said striker Patrick Hager, who, however, gave hope after the first third of a slight increase in performance. In fact, Germany now defended itself and fought back, but the majority play was very weak. “We saw how fast we had to play here,” said Soderholm, whose team scored 4-1 through Tobias Ryder in the 31st minute.
[Wenn Sie aktuelle Nachrichten aus Berlin, Deutschland und der Welt live auf Ihr Handy haben wollen, empfehlen wir Ihnen unsere App, die Sie hier für Apple- und Android-Geräte herunterladen können.]
Striker Hagar then also recalled the silver coup in South Korea four years earlier, when the team also started with a clear defeat against Finland. “There is no reason to bury your head in the sand now. We know we can beat any opponent here – but for that we need 60 minutes of good ice hockey.” At that time, the first two games were also lost. It shouldn’t happen this time, but it’s also very unlikely. Because it’s up against China on Saturday. Despite being 16 natural North Americans, the hosts are big outsiders and lost 8-0 to the USA at the start.
For the German team, it could be a build-up rival at the right time. “The team has the opportunity to beat any opponent,” said Leon Drisette. Like all professionals in the North American professional league NHL, Germany does not have the best ice hockey players. However, four years ago Driestel was not there – and the German still came in second at the Olympics. (with DPA)
