Federal Young talent coach Christian Künast has named his squad for the 2016 IIHF U20 Ice Hockey World Championship (Division I) in Vienna (from December 13th): three goalkeepers, eight defensemen and twelve strikers in the 23-member squad will travel to the Austrian capital . Maximilian Franzreb, goalkeeper, is also there Hamburg Freezers and the HSV Young Freezers.
“It is a great honor to be able to wear the German colors at the U20 World Cup,” says Franzreb happily. “The nomination shows that I am on the right path. I will support the German team as best I can.”
The 19-year-old played four games this DEL season. He celebrated two wins and kept one clean sheet. His goals against average is 2,59 with one Fangrate of 91 percent. In eight games for the HSV Young Freezers in the DNL, he even saved almost 93 percent of the shots.
In addition to DEL, DEL2 and Oberliga players, there are David Trinkberger (Sioux City Musketeers), Jakob Mayenschein (Erie Otters), Maximilian Gläßl and Manuel Wiederer (both Moncton Wild Cats) the national players who work in North America are also in the squad for the first time this season. From Red Bull Salzburg Emil Quaas also joined the team, which started preparations for the World Cup last Saturday.
The team travels to Bratislava on Wednesday morning, where the World Cup dress rehearsal against hosts Slovakia will take place a day later (December 10th, 18 p.m.).
At the Federal Training Center in Füssen, where the team prepares, there have been six ice sessions on the program so far. “We focus primarily on the outnumbered and undernumbered game. The 'special teams' will play a significant role in victory or defeat in Vienna. The boys are pulling along really well and the pace is high,” explains the Federal Young talent trainer.
The Division I U20 World Championships will take place from December 13th to 19th, 2015 at the Kargan Ice Sports Center in Vienna. In addition to Germany, Austria, Norway, Latvia, Italy and Kazakhstan are taking part. The goal is direct promotion. Not an easy task, as Künast emphasizes: “Latvia and Norway will be our biggest competitors, but Austria also has an advantage in front of its own audience.”