Dress rehearsal against Belarus / 100 games: Müller yesterday, Goc and Hördler today
In the end, the 4-0 win over World Cup co-hosts France on Saturday was quickly shelved. The German national team dominated the game with the “Equipe tricolore” for almost the entire 60 minutes, creating good chances in every third and hardly letting anything go wrong at the back. Both Philipp Grubauer and Dennis Endras in goal for the German selection had a quiet evening overall and were able to “share” a shutout. In short: In the first preparatory game before the qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games (September 1st - 4th) in Riga, everything went almost perfectly for national coach Marco Sturm's team.
The head coach had little to criticize after the game: “We can be satisfied with both the game and the result. We controlled the game from the start and created good chances, so that we could have even scored one or two more goals.” Sturm added that he had seen good approaches in the first game and then came to an important point , namely that of team unity: “All four rows worked and the goalkeepers were in their positions.”
In fact, what was particularly noticeable against France was the aggressive style of play of his boys at times. Captain Marcel Goc and Co attacked the opponent early in the opponent's zone, forcing them to make mistakes. Immediately after taking the puck, the national team started on the offensive. The result: the French box was besieged several times. Double metal prevented even greater success. “Nevertheless, we have to prepare ourselves for an even stronger opponent today,” Sturm urgently warns his team against becoming too complacent. “We have to approach this game with the same discipline.”
The players probably understood their coach's advice. "We still need to work on the finer details today," said striker David Wolf, who was one of the goal scorers alongside Felix Schütz, Leon Draisaitl and Brooks Macek. And then there was Stanley Cup winner Tom Kühnhackl. The NHL star of the Pittsburgh Penguins enjoyed his international debut: "It was good. I was a bit nervous at the beginning and you have to get used to the different ice surface. But that calmed down afterwards. I enjoyed the game."
The weekend in Belarus also offers no side notes, but rather worth mentioning facts: While Moritz Müller from the Kölner Haien was on the ice for Germany for the 100th time yesterday, Frank Hördler (Eisbären Berlin) and Marcel Goc (Adler Mannheim).
The squad changes only slightly compared to Saturday: Nuremberg's Patrick Reimer will replace Gerrit Fauser in the team. Sturm prefers not to take any risks with Dennis Seidenberg, who trains normally but is not yet at full strength due to a gastrointestinal infection during the week. Keeper Philipp Grubauer will start again, Timo Pielmeier will be his replacement today.