Summary Hlinka Gretzky Cup 2022
The Hlinka Greztky Cup is one of the highest-caliber and best-organized tournaments in ice hockey, in which the best eight teams in the world meet with the best players. The tournament has been taking place annually since 1991 and so the U18 national team of the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund was able to take part. V. is now taking part in it for the second time. For the players and coaches, this was once again a very good experience, being able to gain match practice at a high sporting level and represent themselves, and especially Germany, internationally.
The coaching team led by U18 national coach Alexander Dück had a great opportunity to see at what level the German young talent national team competes and in which areas they can further improve in the future.
At the start of the tournament, the German U18 national team started with the game against the USA. The German young talent team led by U18 national coach Alexander Dück managed to get into the game well in this encounter. Unfortunately, the penalty times on the German side prevented them from keeping up with their strong opponents and that's how things turned out DEB-Team quickly fell behind due to several goals when they were outnumbered. Despite the superior Americans, it was still important to stick to the structure and stabilize the game. “We fought well and came together as a group. Everyone fought for each other and we showed good team spirit together,” said striker Linus Brandl after the game. The young eagle from Mannheim also saw the mistakes and that we had to work on the system. “There are too many mistakes, like turnovers. In the power play we have to get into the zone better and keep a cool head.” He also praised the two goalkeepers Nico Pertuch and Dean Doge – “They were both amazing and kept us in the game for a long time.” The 17-year-old said about his goal Brandl that he couldn't remember exactly what it was like. “Kevin (Bicker) fought his way through. I've known him for a while and knew it would be dangerous if I went along with him. Then I basically just had to shoot into the empty goal.” For the morale of the team, it was important to maintain focus together, even in difficult times, and not deviate from our goals.
The desired increase and stabilization over the course of the tournament was evident from game to game, so that the German U18 team was able to implement the guidelines better in the third game. The young talent team led by U18 national coach Alexander Dück presented their best game despite the defeat against the Finns. U18 captain Julius Marsh about the game: “I think the last 20 minutes were very good. If we can do that throughout the game, I think we have a good chance of winning games like this.” Even if an improvement in performance is clearly visible It also became clear that the experience at such a high international level was still missing in order to be able to continue after a good game.
“Overall, it was positive that the boys didn't take the tournament lightly and everyone was able and wanted to improve in the games, both in the technical and physical areas. It was a very strenuous tournament week, especially mentally, because it was not usual for the players to play four games in six days. What I particularly liked was that the team never gave up despite the defeats, grew close together and always believed in themselves. We were able to use the tournament as preparation for the upcoming World Cup in April 2023 to improve and develop. It was easy to see the potential in the team and the intensive time with the team was very good for getting to know the players better,” was the conclusion of the U18 national coach Alexander Dück on the trip to Red Deer, Canada, 7.708 km away.