Five national players represented / Reindl: “Great result for German ice hockey”
Defender Christian Ehrhoff (most recently Chicago Blackhawks), striker Tobias Rieder (Arizona Coyotes) and goalkeeper Thomas Greiss (New York Islanders) are in the final squad of Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey 2016. The German national ice hockey players will represent German ice hockey in Toronto/Canada from September 17th to October 1st, 2016, alongside the already nominated Dennis Seidenberg (Boston Bruins) and Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers). Germany has the most players in Team Europe, alongside Denmark, Switzerland and Slovakia.
Franz Reindl, President of the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (DEB) and President of Team Europe, was visibly proud of the nomination of the German players: “This is a great award for the players and a great result for German ice hockey. The players absolutely deserve the nomination after great performances this season and the World Cup.”
The five German nominations were selected from over 50 potential European candidates. In total, over 300 scouting reports were submitted to the head coach, Ralph Krueger, as well as general manager Miroslav Satan and president Franz Reindl. After the initial nomination of 16 players in March, the squad is now complete with 23 players. As a young NHL player, national player Tobias Rieder is happy to have made it into the team despite strong competition. “It is a great honor to be able to play for Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey. This is something very special and I’m really looking forward to the tournament.”
Managerial staff
Gate: Frederik Andersen (Denmark/Anaheim Ducks), Jaroslav Halak (Slovakia/New York Islanders), Thomas Greiss (Germany/New York Islanders)
Defense: Zdeno Chara (Slovakia/Boston Bruins), Roman Josi (Switzerland/Nashville Predators), Dennis Seidenberg (Germany/Boston Bruins), Andrej Sekera (Slovakia/Edmonton Oilers), Mark Streit (Switzerland/Philadelphia Flyers), Christian Ehrhoff (Germany/ most recently Chicago Blackhawks), Luca Sbisa (Switzerland/Vancouver Canucks)
Striker: Mikkel Boedker (Denmark/Colorado Avalanche), Leon Draisaitl (Germany/Edmonton Oilers), Jannik Hansen (Denmark/Vancouver Canucks), Marian Hossa (Slovakia/Chicago Blackhawks), Anze Kopitar (Slovenia/Los Angeles Kings), Frans Nielsen (Denmark /New York Islanders), Tomas Tatar (Slovakia/Detroit Red Wings), Thomas Vanek (Austria/Minnesota Wild), Mats Zuccarello (Norway/New York Rangers), Tobias Rieder (Germany/Arizona Coyotes), Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (France /Philadelphia Flyers), Marian Gaborik (Slovakia/LAKings), Nino Niederreiter (Switzerland/Minnesota Wild)
About the World Cup of Hockey: A total of eight teams are taking part in the WCOH. In addition to the nations Canada, USA, Sweden, Russia, Finland and the Czech Republic, a U23 selection made up of young talent players from the USA and Canada is also taking part. "Team Europe" will be a mix of the best players from Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland, Denmark, Belarus, France, Latvia, Norway and Slovenia. More than 150 NHL professionals are expected to take part in the World Cup of Hockey.