Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Quarter finals thanks to Canada’s victory?
DEB’s team dominates with “Lionheart”
The game of the century against Canada at the Olympics was three years ago and now the German national ice hockey team has acquired another sensation. With a win against favorites, the quarter-finals are within reach. This is mainly due to the excellent keeper Mathias Niederberger.
The players were feeling very proud. After the historic World Cup win against Canada, the cheers of German ice hockey sang the national anthem with a big grin and vigor on their faces. “We can really be proud of ourselves”, captain Moritz Müller said after Riga’s 3–1 (2–1, 0–0, 1–0) on White Monday – in the World Cup against Canada in 25 years First win. The last time a German team defeated the ice hockey homeland in Vienna was in 1996 (5: 1).
“The fact that we were actually able to win against Canada is extraordinary,” said excellent goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger, who had already had cramps during the game due to constant fire from Canadian NHL players. “The way we blocked shots and worked was extraordinary, I never saw a game like this,” he said. “We have the heart of a lion.”
And there was also much praise for the goalkeeper: “Mathias absorbed the shots,” Muller said of the German champion Isabren Berlin keeper, who passed 39 shots and only interim 1 against Paul Nick of the Ottawa Senators: 2 (19. minutes) was powerless. “You need a goalkeeper like him to win the game. Thank God we had it today,” Muller said.
Manheim’s Stefan Loible (11th minute) and Matthias Plachta (12th minute) as well as the future Mannheim Korbinian Holzer (58th minute) beat the German team to an empty Canadian goal for another very important win against Canada. Three years ago, Germany won the silver medal by defeating the 26-time world champion 4-3 in the Olympic semi-finals in PyeongChang. At the time, both teams were faced with not being able to use any NHL players.
True defensive battle
The top stars have also been missing from this World Cup so far. Unlike 2018, the Canadian team consisted almost exclusively of NHL players who did not make it to the playoffs. “We saw an extremely strong Canadian team,” Muller said. In fact, the Canadians who lost the first two games and now have their backs against the wall, were playing very angrily. Between the 2–0 and 3–1 finals, the German team had to avoid a real defensive battle, in which they majored brilliantly.
National coach Tony Soderholm said, “I’ve probably never seen a game where a team has stopped so many shots. Everything worked out perfectly – it was incredible to see,” which is on its way to winning a strong World Cup. His tournament debut as national coach in Slovakia in 2019 is still at the top. At the time, Germany started with four wins and had the best opening round ever at the World Championships. The German team currently has three wins after three matches, watching the quarter-finals strongly and secretly looking for more.
And yet Soderholm has something to criticize: “The fighting spirit, the passion, the pride and whether it was an incredible performance,” Soderholm said, “but tactically it was not our best game. So you are the world. Champion will not be in this tournament, if you do that then you take so much penalty. “
Seeing the many defeats of the top nations so far, Niederberger said, “It’s a strange tournament.” “I think anything is possible. We are doing our best.” The next opponent in the preliminary round is Kazakhstan on Wednesday (3:15 pm / Sport 1).
