6:4 win against France / Künast: “We saw how difficult it is to get promoted again”
The U20 national team won the last game of the 2017 IIHF U20 Ice Hockey World Championship Div.I in Bremerhaven with 6:4 (2:0; 2:2; 2:2) against France and thus took second place. Previously, Kazakhstan won the direct relegation duel against Norway and thereby secured relegation. Belarus defeated Austria 4-0 and thus achieved direct promotion back to the top division.
The DEB-Selection started well in the game for silver and local hero Christoph Körner was able to put his colors in the lead in the 5th minute of the game. Valentin Busch increased the score to 2-0 before the first break.
But newly promoted France didn't give up and used a power play to score the next goal. A cross pass bounced off the skate of a German player and landed in Mirko Pantkowski's box. Then it happened in quick succession. A few minutes later, Valentin Busch restored the old gap with his second goal of the evening before France got within one point again. After the Germans survived a penalty, Yannick Drews converted a pass from Eder and Körner as he fell to make it 4-2.
In a somewhat disjointed final section, the French were again able to use a power play and reduced the score to 4:3. But Tobias Eder and Lukas Kälble increased the score to 6:4 with their goals and thus secured the silver medal for Germany.
Christian Künast: “Overall, we had a good tournament. Unfortunately, in the end it wasn’t quite enough with a defeat, but that shows us how difficult it is to get back into the top division in such a narrow field of participants.”
Detailed tournament statistics and the final table can be found here: http://www.iihf.com/competition/591/