At the Deutschland Cup has the German Ice Hockey Federation eV (DEB) consciously focused on over the past three years joint appearances of both national teams The women's and men's teams qualified for the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan and competed together for Team Germany. This week in April, both teams will once again celebrate joint international match days: in Kaufbeuren and Augsburg, the German national team will host the German national team. DEB-The women are the Swiss team, the men the team from Slovakia.
Since Monday, the two national teams have been training together at the Curt-Frenzel-Stadium in Augsburg. With training sessions on the ice, video analysis, and team meetings, both teams have used the time to prepare optimally.
The DEB-Women They will host Switzerland for the final showdown of the season. The two teams last met in Füssen during the 2025 World Championship preparations (3-2 in overtime for the Swiss). DEB-selection). Both Germany and Switzerland are entering the two matches with a mix of experienced players and young talents.
The Men's national team They face Slovakia, an opponent against whom they have consistently played close and intense matches in recent years. Most recently, the two teams met in the Olympic quarterfinals – with the Slovaks emerging victorious. For both teams, this international match is all about World Championship preparation: assembling the best possible roster and further developing their systems. Both teams are working towards this goal to be optimally prepared for the 2026 IIHF World Championship.
Overview of international match days
Kaufbeuren, April 23, 2026
16:30 PM | Germany – Switzerland (Women)
20:00 PM | Germany – Slovakia (Men)
Augsburg, April 25, 2026
13:30 PM | Germany – Switzerland (Women)
17:00 PM | Germany – Slovakia (Men)
All games live and free on MagentaSport.
Voices of the women's and men's national teams
Jeff MacLeod, Head Coach of the Women's National Team"The players have been very present and focused since day one in Augsburg. They are working hard in training and are thus taking responsibility for good preparation for the two games against Switzerland. For us, the most important thing is to play with passion and determination. As a team with many young players, we will certainly learn a lot in terms of system and playing style. This makes the commitment level of each individual player and each line all the more crucial."
Defender Ronja Hark: "We are looking forward to proving ourselves again at the end of the season. Two young teams are facing each other, which makes these games an opportunity for both sides to develop further and to bring the young generation closer to the international level. Switzerland is a technically strong and fast team. Therefore, it will be all the more important that we perform with discipline and concentration for the full 60 minutes."
Harold Kreis, Head Coach of the Men's National Team: "This week's training was demanding and intense. We focused on skating, defensive zone play, and special teams—all areas that will be crucial against Slovakia. They are an aggressive team with a strong forecheck, effectively denying the opponent time and space. We're preparing for that. We need to execute our game cleanly and precisely to be able to apply pressure ourselves."
Striker Nico Krämmer“As a team, we’ve had three very good, intense days together so far. It’s been fun, everyone is really pulling their weight. We know Slovakia well, of course. Regardless of their lineup, they’re always a fast, robust team. We’ve learned a lot in this first week together and now want to put that into practice in the two upcoming matches. They’ll certainly be two exciting games and a good challenge for us at this stage of our preparation.”