Germany’s favorite opponent of recent years is waiting in the quarterfinals of the Ice Hockey World Championship. At the end of the group phase, the runner-up world champion broke a record.
And Switzerland is waiting again. The German national ice hockey team will once again face their favorite opponent in the World Cup quarter-finals. For the third time in four years there will be a duel with the rivals in Ostrava, Czech Republic. National coach Harold Kreis’ team secured third place in Group B with a 6:3 (1:1, 3:2, 2:0) against France.
“We have completed the first stage. Now the next stage begins,” said Kreis. In 2010, 2021 and 2023, the German Ice Hockey Federation’s selection defeated the Swiss in the knockout round. The German team was also the final destination for the Swiss at the 2018 Olympics. “It’s always fun to play against them. They might be a little afraid of us if you look at the last few years,” said NHL star JJ Peterka of the Buffalo Sabres.
Previously, the district team was once again in a scoring mood at the end of the preliminary round, even if the French were, as usual, unpleasant to play against. “I thought it was important that it was about the fight today. We can assume that it will be the same on Thursday,” said NHL professional Nico Sturm about the end of the preliminary round against France. “It was good as preparation.”
Wojciech Stachowiak (32nd minute/42nd), Marc Michaelis (20th), Lukas Kälble (26th), Maxi Kastner (33rd) and Lukas Reichel (45th) scored for the German team and also set a record. Never before has a selection from the German Ice Hockey Association (DEB) managed to score 34 goals in the preliminary round at a World Championship. 30 goals at the 1992 World Cup was the previous record.
The fifth quarter-final in a row was already certain before the first face-off on Tuesday morning with four wins against Slovakia, Latvia, Kazakhstan and Poland. However, in view of the hot World Cup phase from Thursday, Kreis did not want to change or rest a player. “This is not a warm-up for the quarter-finals,” captain Moritz Müller emphasized before the game.
DEB goalie Grubauer strong
Like group winners Sweden the day before, the DEB selection also had some problems for a long time against the unpleasantly playing French in front of 9,109 spectators in the sold-out arena. Individual performances from Stachowiak, Jonas Müller and NHL striker Peterka failed due to the good French goalkeeper Quentin Papillon.
On the other hand, NHL goalie Philipp Grubauer from the Seattle Kraken also had to show his class a few times. When the French counterattacked perfectly, the Rosenheimer was also powerless: Valentin Claireaux confidently converted to make it 0-1 (17th). Michaelis equalized 56 seconds before the end of the first third. It was the third goal of the tournament for the Neu-Mannheimer.
Even though there was nothing left to play for for the French, coach Philippe Bozon’s team was in a playful mood. In a wild middle period, the French took the lead through long-time DEL striker Anthony Rech (21st) and Sacha Treille (27th). Kälble with his third goal in Ostrava (26th) and Stachowiak (32nd) equalized. “After half an hour, we controlled the game,” explained coach Kreis.
Two German goals taken back after video study
After Kastner’s goal just 22 seconds later, the German team was ahead 4-3 for the first time. Two more German goals by Peterka and Leonhard Pföderl were taken back after video study.
In the final third, the district team showed their recent desire to score goals. Stachowiak with his two goals (42nd) and NHL striker Reichel from the Chicago Blackhawks (45th) quickly increased the score to 6:3. Only the exclusion after a board check for Frederik Tiffels shortly before the end marred the fifth success in the seventh preliminary round game. The Berliner could even be banned for the quarter-finals.
Source: Stern
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