The long wait ends! The German national team starts the 16.15 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship on Saturday (1:2019 p.m., live on SPORTXNUMX) against Great Britain. The euphoria and anticipation are great among national coach Toni Söderholm's team. On Wednesday the national players and the team behind the team landed in Kosice (Slovakia). Since then, the team has been preparing intensively for the opening game against the promoted team.
All national team World Cup games LIVE ON SPORT1
National coach Toni Söderholm: “Our team is really looking forward to the start of the World Cup! The mood in the team is positive and the players can't wait to get started. We prepare the team so that they go into the game with patience and instinct. The players internalized the tactical things during preparation. Now it’s important to play with focus from change to change.”
Great Britain won at the last 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Div. IA achieved promotion and is taking part in a world championship in the top division for the first time in 25 years. There are only two players in the British squad who are not active in the domestic Elite Ice Hockey League. On the one hand, this is Liam Kirk, who plays for the Peterborough Petes in the Ontario Hockey League - on the other hand, Joey Lewis is a player on the roster who earns his money in Germany. The 26-year-old striker plays in the German Ice Hockey League 2 (DEL 2) for the ESV Kaufbeuren. Over the past two seasons, Lewis scored 93 points in 121 games for the Allgäu team.
So far, the German team has faced this year's opening opponent in 17 duels. They decided eleven times DEB-Selection won the game for themselves, the British won five times and the game ended in a draw once. The last time the two nations met was in Amiens in 2006, when the German team won 8-0.
Duel against Denmark – first of three double match days in the preliminary round
The second game follows exactly 24 hours later DEB-Selection: Denmark, the opening opponent and host of the last World Cup, will face the team of national coach Toni Söderholm on Sunday (16.15:1 p.m., live on SPORT24). This means that the German national team will already be playing its first double match day of the World Cup right at the start - they will be asked to take to the ice twice more within 14 hours during the preliminary round (on May 15 and 18 against France and Slovakia and on May 19 and XNUMX against Canada and the USA).
The Danes defeated them DEB-Selection at the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship 3-2 after a penalty shootout. However, the international match record against the Scandinavians is positive: out of 23 games, they were able to DEB-Selection won 14 games - the German team lost nine times against Denmark.
The Danish squad includes the two NHL cracks Mikkel Boedker (Ottawa Senators) and Lars Eller (Washington Capitals). Head coach Heinz Ehlers trusts goalie Sebastian Dahm (Iserlohn Roosters -> Eisbären Berlin), defender Phillip Bruggisser (Krefeld Pinguine) and Nicholas B. Jensen (Fischtown Pinguins -> Düsseldorfer EG) continues to be limited to three players from the German Ice Hockey League (DEL).