Ice hockey team for the World Cup preliminary round against the rival

Created: 05/24/2022, 06:01

Toni Söderholm, coach of the German national ice hockey team, sees a demanding opponent in Switzerland.

© Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa

After five World Cup victories in a row, the German ice hockey team also wants to win against Switzerland in order to take the momentum into the quarter-finals.

One point is enough for history.

Helsinki – At the end of the preliminary round on Tuesday (11.20 a.m. / Sport1 and MagentaSport) the German ice hockey team will face arch-rival Switzerland.

With just one point, the best German World Cup preliminary round would be perfect.

the initial situation

Both teams are already qualified for the quarterfinals.

Switzerland goes into the game as favorites with six wins from six games.

One point is enough for the Confederates to win their group, for which Germany would have to win in regular time.

The selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation only needs one point to secure second place.

That would also mean avoiding the supposedly stronger quarter-final opponents and not having to travel to Tampere.

The opponent

The sixth in the world rankings from Switzerland has marched confidently through the tournament so far and also won against record world champions Canada 6:3.

"It's the strongest Swiss team in years," said Detroit Red Wings defender Moritz Seider about the opponent, who started with seven NHL players.

The stats

German teams have won 15 and lost only nine of the 27 World Cup games so far.

Three games ended in a draw when they had not yet been decided.

Germany has also often triumphed in important games at major tournaments, for example at the 2018 Olympics on the way to the silver medal and at the 2021 World Cup on the way to the semifinals.

National coach Toni Söderholm says: "Switzerland is definitely one of the strongest teams in the tournament so far.

They are top-class and have developed their style of play.

There is a lot of joy in playing.”

The perspective: The quarter-finals will take place on Thursday.

The outcome of the game against Switzerland will determine who the German team will play against and whether they will play again in Helsinki or have to travel to Tampere.

Olympic champions Finland, Sweden, the USA, the Czech Republic and Latvia could become opponents in the quarterfinals.

dpa