The start of the ice hockey tournament of the 2022 Winter Olympics for the German men's national ice hockey team: On the first match day of Group A, the DEBselection faced record Olympic champions Canada in the Wukesong Arena in Beijing and lost 1:5. The goal for the DEBTobias Rieder made the selection.
Toni Söderholm can use the entire squad
After seven days in Beijing with intensive training sessions, the anticipation in the German camp was great for the first tournament game. National coach Toni Söderholm was able to rely on the entire squad in the new edition of the comparison against the maple leaves and therefore used seven defenders and 13 strikers. Twelve players DEB-Selection celebrated their first Olympic international appearance, including Mathias Niederberger in goal for the German team.
The Canadians got off to a better start in the game and put the German selection under pressure early on. After a hard check behind the goal against Marco Nowak, who then had to leave the ice injured, the lead for the maple leaves fell from the slot through the free-standing Alex Grant (5). A little later, the Canadians followed up with a double strike from Ben Street (10th) and Daniel Winnik (11th). This also came towards the end of the first section DEB-Selection for increased scoring chances in the power play, but no further goals were scored.
In the second period, the German team increased the pressure on the opponent's goal. Consequently, the first goal of the tournament came from Tobias Rieder (31st), who used a rebound after work by Leo Pföderl. Shortly before, Mathias Niederberger had successfully fended off a solo attempt by Adam Tambellini. Just as the German team was getting better and better into the game, the Canadians restored their three-goal lead with a slap shot by Maxim Noreau (33').
In the final third, the national team visibly tried to catch up with Canada. The compact Canadians mostly managed to stop the attacks and keep them away from the goal. On the other side, Jordan Weal (52nd minute) added another goal to make the final score 1:5 from the German perspective.
Voices about the game:
National coach Toni Söderholm: "Canada was very strong and efficient in the first third when it came to exploiting scoring opportunities. We were a bit too slow with some of our decisions. We were also not at the level we had imagined in terms of quality. We did get a little better as the game went on, but overall Canada was the better team."
Defender Korbinian Holzer: “In the first third we reacted more than acted. The Canadians also played very aggressively, which meant we couldn't cope well with the small area. It was difficult because of the deficit. We got into the game better in the second third, but the Canadians were more cold-blooded overall. We will learn our lessons from it.”
Striker Tobias Rieder: “When you concede three quick goals in the first third against such a strong team, it's hard to come back. We have to play more calmly from the back and not let our opponents stand so freely in front of the goal.”
Statistics for the game: https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2022/olympic-m/gamecenter/playbyplay/28598/6-can-vs-ger
National ice hockey team: the next Olympic Games DEB-Selection
The next game in the preliminary round is next Saturday, February 12, 2022 DEB-Selection on the agenda. Then it's against Olympic hosts China at the National Indoor Stadium. The game starts at 16:40 p.m. local time (9:40 a.m. CEST).
10.02.2022 |Canada – Germany | 5:1 (3:0; 1:1, 1:0)
12.02.2022/16/40 | 09:40 (German XNUMX:XNUMX) | Germany – China (National Indoor Stadium)
13.02.2022/21/10 | 14:10 (German XNUMX:XNUMX) | UNITED STATES - Germany (Wukesong Arena)