When the German U20 national team reached their destination, Tobias Abstreiter was initially relieved. “We are happy when we arrive at the hotel. We were on the road for almost 24 hours and are all pretty exhausted,” said the U20 national coach after the long flight to Edmonton and the previous bus ride from Füssen to the airport in Zurich.
The team and support team were happy to take a well-deserved rest from the trip to the IIHF U20 World Championship in the city of the two German Edmonton Oilers professionals Leon Draisaitl and Dominik Kahun, after all, a challenging time awaits both the selection of the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund on the other nine World Cup teams.
Abstreiter sees his squad as well prepared, especially for the days of individual quarantine in the hotel until December 17th. The first ice training is only possible on December 18th. “The players received important information, good advice on how to spend the time as sensibly as possible and come out of this quarantine stronger,” reported the U20 national coach, who generally has a good impression of his players’ state of mind: “The team is doing mentally Definitely a good impression, I have a very good feeling about that. Everyone wants to perform really well.”
In the first week of preparation for the World Cup, a lot of time and energy was invested in this, and all team members adhered to the strict guidelines that the IIHF World Association had given to all participating nations in a disciplined manner. The reward was a small team evening on Saturday, the last evening together in Füssen. “I think we have a cool team with whom we can achieve something good,” said Tim Stützle – and fellow striker Manuel Alberg added: “The atmosphere is good and everyone is really looking forward to it. We want and have to show how well we stick together.”
In purely sporting terms, Abstreiter sees his team on target, although they have not yet achieved the level of performance that is the goal at the start of the tournament. “We still have to improve defensively, everyone has to work together so that we appear as a compact unit,” emphasizes the U20 national coach. Even the days in the hotel room can be used to further discuss the tactical elements and the individual roles in virtual team and individual meetings.
The finishing touches then follow on the ice. “Everyone is hungry for December 18th,” says Abstreiter, “we want to make our players better day by day and ensure that they develop trust in the system.” The comparisons with Austria (December 21st) should also help. and Czech Republic (December 23rd), which, like all German World Cup games, will be shown live and free of charge on MagentaSport. “It is important to recognize how far we have come,” the coach looks ahead: “The games will be an indicator of where the journey can go.”
