After the slimmed-down period due to corona Deutschland Cupversion last year, this time there are four teams in Krefeld again. And even if the really big names are missing, all teams still have some very interesting players and officials in their ranks. Here is an overview of the opposing teams.
All games are broadcast live MagentaSport transmitted. Entrance tickets are available via the DEB-Ticket shop: www.deb-online.de/tickets.
Russia (Thursday, November 11.11.2021th, 19, 45:XNUMX p.m.)
The biggest name at this year's... Deutschland Cup in Krefeld, is not on the ice, but behind the boards of the Russian team. Igor Larionov, yes, that's right, HIM! The now 2019-year-old has only been working for the Russian Ice Hockey Federation since 60. But, as befits a personality who was nicknamed "The Professor" as a player, he quickly rose to the position of head coach. With two gold medals at the Olympics, three Stanley Cup victories and four world championship titles, he is one of only 29 members of the Triple Gold Club. We really can't list any more of his merits at this point.
Larionov's team is the youngest in the tournament with an average age of 22. However, he does have some experience in goal. This starts on the bench with Russian goalkeeping legend Nikolai Khabibulin as goalie coach. Almost 900 NHL games, an Olympic gold medal and a Stanley Cup win are just a few of the impressive numbers of "The Bulin Wall". His protégés are 26-year-old Andrei Kareyev from TPS in Turku, Alexander Samonov from SKA St. Petersburg, also 26, and 20-year-old goalkeeping talent Artur Akhtyamov (Bars Kazan), drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Just as old or young - however you choose - as the most experienced goalkeeper is the most experienced player. Yuri Pautov, 26, comes from SKA St. Petersburg but only really established himself as a defender in the KHL last season. Two names must also be mentioned in the Russian squad: the youngest player and therefore considered a promising talent is striker Dmitri Ovchinnikov. The 19-year-old plays in Novosibirsk in the Young Talentliga MHL and also in the KHL and was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2020.
And then there is a returnee: Artur Tyanulin! Admittedly, there were only 32 games that the 24-year-old played for last season Krefeld Pinguine has completed. But it was a memorable season and, as a silver lining, he certainly made an impression in the Silk City. His 29 scorer points (13 goals, 16 assists) also speak for this. This season he is playing for the KHL club Torpedo Nizhni Novgorod and has collected five scorer points to date.
Even though the Russian team is so young and apparently not that strong, it is still considered one of the tournament favorites. Of seven participations at Deutschland Cup (including the USSR), Team Russia left Germany as winners six times.
Switzerland (November 13.11.2021th, 14, 30:XNUMX p.m.)
The Swiss national ice hockey team will be at Deutschland-Cup In 2021, it will be led by none other than Andreas Ambühl. What reads as if you were caught in a time loop is the pure truth. The 38-year-old captain of HC Davos is an absolute phenomenon and role model. In 2020/21, he was voted the most popular Swiss player. And in the Olympic year, he is already proving how valuable he can be with 19 points in 21 games. World Cup silver in 2013 and six (!) Swiss championships are just the biggest of his many titles.
In addition to Ambühl, you should especially look out for Lino Martschini from champion EV Zug in the attack, as well as last year's top scorers from their teams, Sven Andrighetto (ZSC Lions) and Enzo Corvi (HC Davos).
Yannick Weber has returned from North America and is back in the national team for the first time since 2019. At the age of 33, the Neu Zurich defender is once again attacking the dream of the Olympic Games. He was already there in Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014. Now the ex-NHL crack (over 500 games for Montreal, Vancouver, Nashville and Pittsburgh) is tackling his third games.
The Swiss team is traveling with three relatively unknown and not very internationally experienced people Goalies at. Interesting: only one of them, 24-year-old Joren van Pottelberghe from EHC Biel, completed training courses with the national team last season. The other two are currently trying to bring the Swiss heavyweights SC Bern and ZSC Lions closer to the top of the table. Ludovic Waeber (25 years old) had his breakthrough in the National League A at ZSC last season, as did Philip Wüthrich (23) at SCB. They are something like the next generation of Swiss goalies.
Patrick Fischer has been and remains the team's head coach since the end of 2015. The 46-year-old ice hockey legend from Zug was crucially responsible for the ice hockey team's two greatest successes as an assistant coach in 2013 and as head coach in 2018: two runner-up world championship titles. He shouldn't be forgotten Deutschland-Cup 2019. At the last event with four teams, Patrick Fischer's team was victorious, as it had been twice before. Overall, the Swiss are taking part for the 24th time.
Slovakia (November 14.11.2021, 14, 30:XNUMX p.m.)
One player is definitely no longer with Team Slovakia. This is no surprise, as he was last in the Slovakian squad for the 2015 World Championship and was voted one of the three best players on his team, but his official retirement from ice hockey a few days ago caused a stir. Marian Gaborik, whom IIHF.com described as "perhaps Slovakia's best player since 2002", officially hung up his skates. The now 1000-year-old has played over 39 NHL games for Minnesota, the Rangers, Columbus, the LA Kings and the Ottawa Senators. But another great of Slovakian ice hockey has been the team's general manager since 2017: Miroslav Satan.
So 47-year-old Satan put the team together this year. The squad is 23 years young this year, making it the second youngest team. Head coach Craig Ramsay, on the other hand, at 70 years old, brings with him an incredible wealth of experience from the NHL (including Buffalo, Florida, Philadelphia, Tampa, Boston). He has been looking after the Slovaks since 2017 and celebrated the successful qualification for the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing with his team at the end of August.
The most experienced player in Slovakia is 29-year-old Samuel Takac. Rather unknown on international ice, he has stood out as the top scorer for Slovan Bratislava so far this season. In other respects, the team doesn't have that much in common with the team that qualified for the Olympics. Ramsay is probably looking for just a few players who can make his Olympic squad a little better.
In goal, for example, there are two young keepers in the squad, Matej Tomek and Filip Belanyi, who have already played a decent number of games for Kometa Brno (CZE) and HC 05 Banska Bystrica (SVK) this season. The youngest in the storm is 17-year-old Filip Mesar. The top talent has scored four goals for Poprad so far this season in the Slovakian first division. Mesar will most likely be drafted in the NHL entry draft next year. And so far it looks like a first or second round pick for him. Defenseman Samuel Knazko was already selected in the 2020 draft. The 19-year-old also already has a contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Slovakia has already taken part 20 times Deutschland Cup part (last continuously between 2004 and 2019). They left the ice as winners four times.