Grubauer replaces injured Andersen / Six German players in Team Europe
Following their successful Olympic qualification, four of our national players went directly from Riga to Toronto/Canada, where they will take part in the World Cup Of Hockey (WCOH) from September 17th to October 1st. In addition to the already nominated Germans Thomas Greiss (New York Islanders), Christian Erhoff (most recently Chicago Blackhawks), Dennis Seidenberg (most recently Boston Bruins), Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers) and Tobias Rieder (most recently Arizona Coyotes), goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer (Washington Capitals) was called up to the team last night to replace the injured Frederik Andersen (Toronto Maple Leafs).
Grubauer recently impressed across the board at the Olympic qualifiers in Riga, Latvia. In the first two games against Japan and Austria, the 24-year-old was able to celebrate two shutouts. In the decisive game against Latvia last Sunday, he was one of the decisive factors in the 3:2 victory, according to national coach Marco Sturm: "In addition to our power play, Philipp once again made the difference today and played a significant role in qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics."
The World Cup of Hockey is the world's most competitive ice hockey tournament, with most of the participants being NHL players. A total of eight teams will be taking part. The participating national teams are Canada, the USA, Russia, Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic. There is also Team Europe, which includes the six German players, and Team North America, a selection of American and Canadian U23 players. DEB-President Franz Reindl is also President of Team Europe.
The first test match of the European selection is on Saturday, September 09, 2016 in Quebec/Canada against Team North America and can be seen live on SPORT2.00 US from 1:XNUMX a.m.
You can find a game plan here