Tobias Abstreiter is quite happy with it. "We have to make sure that we get off to a good start in the tournament and these are the ideal opponents for that," says the U20 national coach about the tough opening program of the U20 national team at the "Bubble" World Cup in Edmonton at the end of the year. Finland (25.12.) and host Canada (26.12.) are the first touchstones of the DEB-Selection in Group A.
Even if the German Ice Hockey Federation team will be an outsider, that does not rule out a surprise coup. "We want to present ourselves as well as possible - and if a team has a bad day, then we want to be there," Abstreiter notes. However, it remains undisputed that the following duels with Slovakia (December 28.12th) and Switzerland (December 30.12th) will be the deciding factor as to whether a quarter-final appearance is possible. Abstreiter wants to take "positive momentum" from the opening matches into these potentially decisive duels.
Overall, it will be a tournament under very special conditions. Spectators will not be present in the Rogers Arena, the ten teams in Edmonton live, train and play in a similarly isolated manner as the NHL clubs did a few weeks ago. Test matches also only take place in Edmonton, for which DEB-Selection should take place on December 21.12st. a comparison with Austria and on December 23.12rd. give a comparison with the Czech Republic. And nothing will be as usual for the teams until they arrive in the tournament bubble.
Tobias Abstreiter plans to gather his team in Füssen for a week on December 6th, after which they will take a charter flight to Canada on December 13th. During this preparation period, several corona tests are already planned, as well as after arrival at the World Cup venue, where the teams must first go into isolation. But even in Füssen, Abstreiter is taking a precautionary measure: "We're making sure that we isolate ourselves as best as possible."
Because all ten teams play in one arena, the World Cup schedule has been slightly modified. Instead of the usual Boxing Day, the tournament starts a day earlier and there are usually three matches scheduled per group game day, with the preliminary round ending on New Year's Eve. The quarter-finals will be played on January 2nd, 2021, the semi-finals on January 4th and the duels for the medals will follow one day later.
Due to the cancellation of all other U20 World Cup tournaments, there will be no relegation and therefore no usual relegation round.
The German preliminary round games at a glance:
December 25, 2020 / DEB against Finland / midnight German time (0 p.m. local time)
December 26, 2020 / DEB against Canada / 0:16 German time (XNUMX:XNUMX local time)
December 28, 2020 / DEB against Slovakia / 3.30 a.m. German time (19.30 p.m. local time)
December 30, 2020 / DEB against Switzerland / midnight German time (0 p.m. local time)