The German U18 national team is heading to the Czech Republic for this year's Hlinka Gretzky Cup next Sunday, July 30, 2023. From July 31st to August 5th it will take place in Břeclav, Czech Republic (Group A) and Trenčín, Slovakia (Group B). Under the interim leadership of U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter, the 23-member U18 squad is taking part in the prestigious young talent tournament for the third time.
In addition to Tobias Abstreiter as head coach, André Rankel (Eisbären Berlin) and Patrick Reimer (DEB Development Coach) complete the coaching team in the role of assistant coach. On the day of arrival, the team's first and only training session will take place in the evening in preparation for the tournament. The German U18 team will then meet Sweden (July 31.07 / 15:38 p.m.), the Czech Republic (August 01.08 / 19:08 p.m.) and the USA (August 02.08 / 15:38 p.m.) in Group A. The semi-finals and the placement game will take place on Friday, August 04th, followed by the final and the game for third place on Saturday, August 3th.
Detailed statistics and live streams: Hlinka Gretzky Cup 2023
| Pos | Name | First Name | Club 2023/24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Elagin | Michail | Jungadler Mannheim |
| GK | Neiße | Lennart | Kitchener Junior Rangers |
| DF | Ficenec | Jacob | Jungadler Mannheim |
| DF | Händel | Carlos | Malmö Redhawks |
| DF | Hahn | Noah | Iserlohner EC |
| DF | Hense | Max | Kölner EC |
| DF | Kaiser | Rio | Eisbären Berlin / Lausitzer Füchse |
| DF | Merkl | Maximilian | EHC 80 Nürnberg / Nürnberg Ice Tigers |
| DF | Schams | Manuel | Jungadler Mannheim |
| DF | Serikow | Finn | EV Landshut |
| FW | Biggins | Nikolas | Jungadler Mannheim |
| FW | Griva | Gustavs | Jungadler Mannheim |
| FW | Griva | Rihards | Jungadler Mannheim |
| FW | Herzog | Max | Jungadler Mannheim |
| FW | Kerbel | Felix | Jungadler Mannheim |
| FW | Lewandowski | David | Düsseldorfer EG |
| FW | Maul | Nick | Red Bull Hockey Akademie |
| FW | Oswald | Maximilian | EV Landshut |
| FW | Pul | Elias | Red Bull Hockey Akademie |
| FW | Sager | Clemens | Eisbären Juniors Berlin |
| FW | Seeger | Clemens | Krefelder EV 81 |
| FW | Seidl | Simon | EV Landshut |
| FW | Schwarz | Tobias | EV Landshut |
STAFF: Christian Künast (sports director), Tobias Abstreiter (head coach), Patrick Reimer (assistant coach), André Rankel (assistant coach), Luca Endres (goalkeeping coach), Dr. Felicitas Stocker (team doctor), Richard Schroll (physiotherapist), Konrad Götz (equipment manager), Julius Werner (team manager)
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: “The Hlinka Gretzky Cup is the most important U18 tournament in the world with a very long tradition. We are very proud to be able to take part. In terms of sport, it is a very big challenge for us to compete against very strong opponents with very little training in the run-up to the tournament. We’ll see how big the gap is to the top nations at this age level.”
U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter: “We obviously want to see and get to know the boys first and foremost in the first activity of the season. The goal is that we improve from game to game and deliver our best performance in the fourth game. I don't want to give any table specifications here, because I also know that everyone is coming back from the summer break and hasn't completed any organized team training yet. We have training to prepare ourselves together and that's why our goals have to be realistic. We in the coaching team also exchanged ideas in advance to define tasks. Everyone has their own area, but we will tackle them together so that both Patrick and André get a feel for what needs to be done in their first step, given such a tight program with four games in five days.