Shortly before departure for the U20 World Championship in Edmonton, Canada, U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter announced the 25-man squad of the German Ice Hockey Federation. DEB-Selection travels to the title fights in the Canadian state of Alberta with three goalkeepers, eight defenders and 14 forwards. Defender Tommy Pasanen (Clarkson University) is no longer part of the squad. Until the end of the training camp in Füssen, goalkeeper Christopher Kolarz (Red Bull Hockey Juniors) at the team to compensate for the failure of one of the three nominated Goalies to be prepared.
Although the German U20 national team was not spared from corona cases, there were not a single positive test at the federal base during the week that could have been attributed to an infection on site. The infections among the affected players had already occurred in the run-up to the first week of preparation for the World Cup. All players and staff members in Füssen strictly and disciplined adhered to the specified hygiene regulations as well as the intensive testing procedure with three PCR tests within the past seven days.
The DEB-Selection flew from Zurich to Edmonton on Sunday afternoon on a charter flight with the Swiss team and the delegation of the IIHF World Association and will initially be in individual quarantine in the hotel rooms until December 17th before they can train on the ice for the first time on December 18th. In the run-up to the World Cup opener against Finland on December 25th (16 p.m. local time/0 a.m. CET), there are two test matches against Austria (December 21st/20 p.m. CET) and the Czech Republic (night of December 23rd to 24th/3.30:XNUMX a.m.). CET) on the program.
All German games in the World Cup tournament, as well as the two test matches, will be shown live and free of charge on MagentaSport.
U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter: "The boys are full of energy and have prepared well during the week. It is particularly worth highlighting how well the boys have adhered to the rules and behavioral guidelines. It really isn't easy, you have to face up to such a challenge first. We didn't have a single case in Füssen, nothing happened. Thanks go to the team and also to the staff for dealing with the conditions so well. The players received important information for the quarantine in Canada, good advice on how to spend the time as meaningfully as possible and come out of this phase stronger. The team is definitely making a good impression mentally, I have a very good feeling about that. Everyone wants to put on a really great performance and show that the German team is a great team and sticks together very well."