21-year-old attacker is fourth debutant after Pascal Zerressen, Maximilian Kammerer and Jakob Mayenschein / Christoph Ullmann has to miss the World Cup
National coach Marco Sturm has named the fourth debutant in his squad for the two matches in the Euro Hockey Challenge in Norway against the hosts (Thursday, April 06.04th, 19 p.m., Saturday, April 08.04th, 18:15 p.m.; both in the internet live stream on SPORT1) in Lillehammer, 21-year-old attacker Frederik Tiffels.
“He is a young and fast player whose development I have followed closely over the past two seasons and who now deserves a chance,” said Sturm and added: “Frederik has always performed well in our Young Talent selection teams. He can be recommended just like Pascal Zerressen, Jakob Mayenschein and Maxi Kammerer.”
The Cologne native went through the Young Talent program of Krefelder EV, Kölner EC and Jungadler Mannheim before moving to North America for the 2012/2013 season and playing for the Western Michigan University college team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for the past three seasons. During his time with the U20 national team, Tiffels played alongside Leon Draisaitl, Dominik Kahun, Fabio Pfohl and Jonas Müller, among others.
Meanwhile, Christoph Ullmann (Adler Mannheim) canceled his participation in the preparation and the home World Cup due to a slight injury to his left shoulder. The veteran told the national coach this at the weekend. “Despite the break since the playoff exit, unfortunately I’m still not at 100 percent. So I can't help the national team. It is therefore better to recover from the injury in the summer and make room for a healthy and fit player,” said Ullmann.
Next Monday, April 3rd, the first preparation phase for the home World Cup (May 5th - 21st, 2017) begins in Cologne.