Two former NHL strikers Tom Kuhnhackel and Tobias Ryder are unavailable for the Ice Hockey World Championships in Finland from 13 to 29 May.
“They are definitely not there,” national coach Tony Söderholm said on the sidelines of preparations in Villingen-Schvenningen, without giving reasons for the cancellation of two pros playing in Sweden.
Two-time Stanley Cup winners Kuhnhackel (Skellefte AIK) and Ridder (Vaxjo Lakers) were in the semi-finals of the 2021 World Cup, along with disappointing Olympic performances in Beijing. Söderholm had previously held on to what Ryder and Kuhnhackel would call “50:50” during World Cup preparations.
It is still unclear how many players from German champion Isberen Berlin and eventual rival EHC Red Bull Munich will join the squad in the coming week. “Some,” Soderholm replied after the initial conversation: “One or the other is sick. One or the other feels very fit. Hopefully we’ll find out in the next two days what it looks like.”
At the arena of Schweiningen Wild Wings, the German national ice hockey team will play a friendly against Austria on the Sunday before the start of the World Cup. The first World Cup preliminary round game is against top nation Canada in Helsinki on 13 May.
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