Due to turbulence in Sochi, the national team arrived late at the Black Sea
Done: When the German entourage finally checked into the team hotel around midnight on Monday, an involuntarily extended day of arrival was coming to an end and everyone involved fell tired into bed after a short dinner. For most people the day had already started at 7 a.m., so it was difficult for anyone to fall asleep quickly.
The planes initially took off from Munich and Frankfurt towards Moscow. The “Munich travel group” was the first to arrive in the Russian capital and, after a stay of around two hours, traveled on to Sochi. At the same time, the “Frankfurt Travel Group” arrived in Moscow. Two and a half hours later, she also traveled on slightly late. Arrive in Sochi on time? None. Due to strong winds, the pilot had to circle over the airport for around 30 minutes before finally landing safely.
So far so good. But while still at the baggage counter, the “Frankfurt travel group” found out that the “Munich travel group”, which had left two hours earlier, had not yet arrived in Sochi. What happened? Due to the aforementioned turbulence, the first plane was quickly diverted to Krasnodar, around a 30-minute flight away. Only after their stay there were the “Munichers” able to travel on to their destination very late. “Everyone is there, even the luggage is complete,” said national coach Marco Sturm, smiling as he dismissed the stress of the journey.
The national players don't have many opportunities to think about the arduous journey, at least on Tuesday. Sturm is asking you to train twice today. A unit lasting around 90 minutes is scheduled for the morning and evening afternoon. “We have a lot of new faces in the team, so we have to get the boys used to the system as quickly as possible,” said the national coach, explaining the sensible measure.
There is no question that his players are working up a sweat. In particular, the players who have not played since the end of the DEL main round will have to make up for their small deficit in fitness in the coming days. For example, the players from Düsseldorf trained on the ice on Brehmstrasse under the direction of DEG legend Daniel Kreutzer. But the load and the rhythm are noticeably different.
There will be another session on Wednesday and Thursday as well as on the matchdays in the morning before the first of two comparisons with Russia on Friday. “We’re going to be really challenged right away. “It doesn’t matter who is on the ice with the opponent,” says Bernhard Ebner, knowing that the two games are a big challenge.
As Sturm emphasized before the trip to the venue of the 2014 Olympic Games that he would initially not pay much attention to the results, Ebner also does not see the pure results as compelling anyway. “Of course we want to win all the games. But the main thing here is that we find each other quickly and integrate the new people.”