The German national ice hockey team's planned February event with international matches against Switzerland has been canceled. The reason for the cancellation is the generally tense situation in the corona pandemic, the lockdown in both countries, the possible closure of the borders and finally the intended avoidance of health risks for the players. The Deutscher Eishockey-Bund had planned two performance comparisons on February 10th and 11th at the federal base in Füssen, which would have been important with a view to preparing for the next major events. The focus of national coach Toni Söderholm's team is now fully focused on preparing for the World Cup in the spring.
In the past two years, the February event was used for duels between the two nations' promising teams. This time the situation was different due to the uncertainties surrounding the corona pandemic and both associations intended to compete with a selection of their respective national teams.
DEB-President Franz Reindl: “In order not to expose the players’ health to further risks, the cancellation of the national team activity is unfortunately inevitable and consistent, even if it is extremely regrettable from a sporting perspective.”
DEB-Interim sports director Christian Künast: “It is a shame that the measure has to be canceled, but health has absolute priority and we respect that. Our focus is now on detailed planning of the World Cup preparations in order to create the best possible conditions for a successful tournament in the spring.”
National coach Toni Söderholm: “It's a shame, but we accept the situation as it is and will work on the plans for the World Cup preparation. We now have to intensify our scouting even further and exploit everything that is possible in this area. At the international matches we could have given players a chance who have earned this opportunity in the last few weeks.”