DEB selection is subject to Canada in the quarter-finals

The German women’s national team played their IIHF World Cup quarter-finals in Calgary, Canada on Saturday night. Women’s national coach Thomas Shadler’s team eventually lost 0:7 (0:3, 0:2, 0:2) to the Canadian selection and thus missed the semi-finals.

The German Ice Hockey Federation’s selection missed out due to injury to strikers Laura Kluge, Sonja Weidenfelder and Nina Christoph as well as defender Carina Strobel. National coach Thomas Shadler’s team started with seven defensive and nine offensive players on the ice.

As expected, Canada got off to a powerful start in the game and so head coach Troy Ryan’s team scored their first goal in the second minute of the game to lead them 1–0. Melody Doust was able to secure the puck in the German third and fit it directly onto Ashton Bell’s stick to allow it to be carried ahead of German goalkeeper Franziska Albal. Minutes later, Canada doubled their lead thanks to Natalie Spooner (4th minute). DEB Selection tried to enter the Canadians with each puck win from their field. However, shortly after the German team played a minor match, Brian Jenner was able to extend Canada’s goal score again to 3–0 in the 16th minute.

The strength of Canada’s selection was clearly noticeable in the second third as well. Goalkeeper Franziska Albal avoided dangerous strikes several times, but he again had to reach behind them in the 29th minute of the game. There were two power play chances for the German team in the middle section, which unfortunately did not lead to any dangerous scoring opportunities. Exactly six minutes later, Marie-Philippe Paulin enabled the Canadian team to celebrate another 5–0 goal.

In the final segment, national coach Thomas Shadler replaced goalkeeper Sandra Abstrater, who had played her first World Cup game by now. The German team tried to block each of Canada’s shots and keep the puck out of their third shot. Unfortunately, German striker Lena Dusterhoft received a disciplinary penalty of 5 + 20 minutes at the start of the final period and could no longer help the DEB team. The hosts took advantage of this, doubled the number of goals on the display board and qualified for the semi-finals. Yvon Rothemund was named German player of the match.

National coach Thomas Shadler: “We knew it was going to be a very tough game against the Canadians today. However, I have to take my hat off on my team’s performance. The commitment and willpower of the players was really commendable. Thrown in shots and just gave everything.”

Defender Anna Reich: “I am proud of my team. We showed our hearts today and put everything on ice. Each of them blocked the opposing shots and played their best. We also wanted to fight for those players who could not be there today.”

Striker Julia Zorn: “Despite the clear result today, we have nothing to blame. Of course, we have to draw the right conclusions for the future from this. We want to be in the top group and we still have tomorrow against Russia There is an opportunity to do that with the placement game. We absolutely want to win this game to maintain our fifth-place chance.”