Lukas Reichel was beaming when he returned to ice training and the rest of the German team remained in an absolutely positive mood. Before the decisive double game day in the race for a ticket to the World Cup quarter-finals, the selection of the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund continues to maintain its belief in its own strength with conviction. “We still have everything in our hands, we know that very well,” said defender Marco Nowak, looking ahead to the duels on Monday against the USA (from 15 p.m. on SPORT1) and Tuesday against hosts Latvia (from 19 p.m. on SPORT1): “ We will give everything to achieve our goal.”
The hard-fought game against the reigning world champions Finland (1:2) gave no reason to doubt either. It was the famous details that ultimately tipped the scales for Team Suomi, so the feeling prevailed DEBteam to be able to build on this achievement. “The game gave us important information about what we need for future games,” said national coach Toni Söderholm, who also assumes that the topic of freshness will become more relevant for the remaining match days: “All the teams are getting a little tired and it is now really a matter of the head. You still have to be able to make the right decisions.”
It is therefore good that NHL professional Dominik Kahun can almost certainly intervene for the first time on Monday. “If everything goes smoothly in terms of process and organization, then from that point on it is very likely and then the coaches have to decide,” said sports director Christian Künast on Sunday. DEB-Coach Söderholm had previously outlined what influence the Edmonton Oilers striker could have: “Dominik brings international experience, he knows what these tight spaces are all about at an international level. He gives us even more momentum offensively.”
The 19-year-old Reichel could also be an option after he returned to training on Sunday. The Berlinhe had been suspended for a few days as a precaution after a check to the head in the match against Kazakhstan (2:3). "We are working carefully," said Künast, "he is fine, he looks good on the ice." Nevertheless, they will wait until Monday before giving their approval for him to play. Andreas Eder, JJ Peterka and Daniel Fischbuch, who made their World Cup debut against Finland, have also proven themselves to be valuable players and have underlined their right to further opportunities to prove themselves.
Against the USA, Nowak expects another “battle over 60 minutes” and the German team must “continue as a unit just as we left off.” Künast believes that the tournament is “equally stressful for all the teams” and therefore “the momentum in the Game” is decisive and the fact how the DEB-Choosing to use this understands. “It’s all about commitment and successful actions – and that’s where the mental strength comes from,” said the 50-year-old, who also expects a “close battle on equal terms”: “Both teams want to win the game and hopefully we can better ending for us.” And this would lead to an ideal constellation for the duel with the hosts.