World Cup starts against Canada - will the Olympic revenge succeed?

Created: 05/13/2022 04:33

Toni Söderholm, head coach of the German national hockey team, stands on the sidelines and gives commands.

© Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa

Even without Leon Draisaitl and other top performers, the DEB selection wants to survive against Canada at the start of the World Cup.

The aim is to start the tournament better than at the Winter Olympics.

Helsinki - The German national ice hockey team is looking forward to the start of the World Championships in Finland against Canada.

In the first of seven preliminary round games on Friday (7.20 p.m./Sport1 and MagentaSport) in Helsinki, the duel with the supposedly most difficult group opponent is on: Canada is the record world champion and defending champion.

How the coup can succeed:

"You need a goalkeeper who can keep almost everything, and if you have the chance up front, you have to score your goals," said striker Marcel Noebels from champions Eisbären Berlin: "I think there's a bit of luck involved." National coach Toni Söderholm left it open whether he would start the tournament with NHL goalie Philipp Grubauer, as expected.

the initial situation

The semi-finals at the 2021 World Cup was a highlight, the early exit before the quarter-finals at the Winter Games in Beijing in February was a low point.

The squad from Söderholm is now aiming for an Olympic reparation.

NHL star Leon Draisaitl and other top performers are missing.

Eleven players from the Olympic squad and 13 World Cup participants from 2021 are in the squad.

The opponent

The Canadians compete almost exclusively with NHL professionals.

Eric O'Dell is there from the strong KHL and is the player who caused a scene that was unpleasant from a German perspective at the Winter Olympics in February.

After an unpunished check by O'Dell against Marco Nowak's head, the German defender was unable to continue playing.

Nowak is injured in Finland.

the memory

The 1: 5 in Beijing against the Canadians, who were almost completely different at the time, was the beginning of the severe setback at the Winter Games.

NHL players did not compete in the Olympics.

The Canadians took revenge in China for South Korea's Olympic defeat.

It was terrific when Germany advanced to the final at the 2018 Winter Games by beating Canada 4-3 in a game of the century and secured Olympic silver.

At the 2021 World Cup in Riga, Germany scored 3-1 for the first time in a World Cup against the Canadians in 25 years.

more on the subject

Ice hockey team before the start of the World Cup: "Chance for redress"

DEB team loses first friendly against Slovakia

National ice hockey team wins prestige duel with Switzerland

The former NHL professional Korbinian Holzer says with a view to the disappointing participation in the Olympics: "I think we have learned the lessons from it and learned a lot from it in terms of the fact that we simply have to bring 110 percent in every tournament and in every game have to be there from the start.

In any case, we must have a better start to the tournament than at the Olympics.”

The perspective

On Saturday (7:20 p.m./Sport1 and MagentaSport) the game continues against Slovakia, who came third in the Olympics.

In Beijing, the Germans lost 4-0 to the Slovaks and were eliminated before the quarter-finals.

The games that the Germans actually have to win in Finland for the desired quarter-finals are only coming up afterwards.

dpa