– He was there from the beginning. He scored goals, prepared goals, watched his teammates come and go. And now he will be attending an ice hockey world championship for the first time: Daniel Schmolz worked hard to achieve this career highlight.
Tom Rowe didn’t want to make promises he himself couldn’t keep. But: “I can’t say here that he’s definitely there. But this year he’s closer than he was a year ago. And that in turn has a lot to do with what he showed Tony last year.” During a short home visit to Nuremberg, Rowe talked about – but not as – assistant coach of the German national ice hockey team and head coach of the Ice Tigers – Daniel Schmolz. A week later, however, “Tony” (Soderholm) confirmed American. Daniel Schmolz will fly to Finland on Tuesday. And from Friday, he will be allowed to call himself a participant of the World Cup.
It was not foreseen. Schmölz has been playing in the German ice hockey league for ten years, but was long considered a worker, a reliable player, but not a striker with national team potential. In the summer of 2020, Allgau moved to Nuremberg to take on more responsibility and take on a more prominent role. And when it was time to forget the Ice Tigers, Schmolz played and made his way into Soderholm’s notebook. Although he took part in the preparations for the World Cup in the spring of 2021 and was confident, the Finnish national coach did not take him to Latvia. After another strong DEL season and productive preparation, he is now in Finland.
Weber is not included
“When you play against teams like Canada, Finland and Kazakhstan,” Rowe said, “you need players who fight, who get their checks done, who go where it hurts — and right. That’s what Schmolzie does.” Because of his instinct, the 30-year-old is considered a man for dirty goals, a goalscorer who works into the puck, which “melts” his goals. However, in Nuremberg, he also developed playfully. “Maybe he wasn’t allowed to do that before. But at Nuremberg, the players have to be creative. I also talked to Tony about this: he would automatically move towards the goal, he would check to end a move. Will investigate and accept. But when I said that, Tony said he can play fast even in tight spaces. And rightly so.”
In the last Test match, Schmolz not only played in power play with the highly talented NHL professional Tim Stutzl and ex-NHL player Dominic Kahun. With Berlin and Munich later named finalists in the team, Schmolz would first fight for every assignment in Finland. Marcus Weber, on the other hand, didn’t make it. Like Tim Fleischer, Julius Carr, goalkeeper Niklas Truttle, former Nuremberger Tim Bender and future Nuremberger Danzo Leonhardt, the defender will have to wait for another chance next year. Daniel Schmolz proved it is possible.
World Cup squad: Goalkeepers: Philipp Grubauer (Seattle Kraken/NHL/30), Mathias Niederberger (Eisberen Berlin/29), Dustin Strollmeyer (Grizzly Wolfsburg/29, Mannheim/34), Jonas Müller (Eisberen Berlin/26), Moritz Müller (Kölner Hai/35), Moritz Seder (Detroit Red Wings/NHL/21), Fabio Wagner (ERC Ingolstadt/26), Kai Wiseman (Eisbren Berlin/25), Mario Zimmermann (Straubing Tigers/21) Attack: Alexander Ehl ( Düsseldorfer EG/22), Yasin Ehlies (EHC Red Bull Munich/29), Daniel Fischbuch (Düsseldorfer EG/28), Taro Gentsch (Iserlohn Roosters/21), Alexander Karachun (Schwenninger Wild Wings/27), Maximilian Kastner (EHC Red) Bull Munich / 29), Stefan Loibel (Schlefte AIK / 25), Mark Michaelis (Toronto Marlis / AHL / 26), Marcel Knoebels (Eisbrain Berlin / 30), Leonhard Födrel (Eisberen Berlin / 28), Matthias Plachta (Adler Mannheim / 30), Daniel Schmolz (Nuremberg Ice Tigers/30), Samuel Soramiz (ERC Ingolstadt/23), Tim Stutzl (Ottawa Senators/NHL/20).
