WHe usually looks pleased with the gift of an expensive watch. But what would a rule be without exceptions? This can be seen every year at the U-20 World Cup in ice hockey, when the best players on each team receive a gift from a sponsor in Switzerland after their last game. Nobody is happy then because the handover for nine of the ten teams means that the others cheer.
So it happened on Saturday the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) after the 1: 2 defeat in the quarter-finals against Russia. Goalkeeper Florian Bugl, defender Mario Zimmermann and striker Tim Stützle couldn’t even bring a smile for the obligatory photo. They were too disappointed because after Florian Elias scored 2-1 at the beginning of the final third “the Russians wobbled, we were very close and believed in victory,” said coach Tobias Abstreiter, whose team had three great chances to equalize had, Elias even hit the bar – which made him quarrel afterwards: “The Russians were a little lucky and we were unlucky.”
That would have been an unheard-of sentence earlier. A loss to Russia? Yes what else? But the new German ice hockey generation is no longer one that regards it as a success against top nations if they don’t lose in double figures. Thanks to the academies in Mannheim and Red Bull in Salzburg (the team from Munich also belongs to the organization), she herself has highly talented people in her ranks. As the most valuable player in the North American professional league NHL, Leon Draisaitl may be a German ice hockey player like the world has never seen him before, but he is by no means the only one who raves international observers. All you have to do is listen to the Canadian Ray Ferraro: No other player at the World Cup is “nearly as ready for the NHL as Tim,” said the former NHL player and today’s TV expert.
The star of the young team: Tim Stützle
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Image: dpa
With Tim I mean Tim Stützle from the first row with Florian Elias and JJ Peterka. The trio scored 13 of the 15 German goals and even mixed up the defenses of top nations. There were always new highlight clips on social media with breathtaking solo attempts, cracking checks and beautiful goals. Clicked a million times, hearted and shared a thousand times. Especially by fans from Ottawa, the Senators recently selected Stützle in third place in the NHL’s annual talent drawing (draft). Manager Pierre Dorion already calls the 18-year-old a “cornerstone” for the hoped-for turnaround at the club in the capital, which is in crisis.
Nevertheless, the conditions at the DEB for a successful tournament were extremely poor: Defense chief Moritz Seider was not approved by his team, top striker Lukas Reichel and regular goalkeeper Tobias Ancicka had to stay at home because of positive corona tests. Eight other players were hit in Canada. They had to stay in the hotel for days, while the miserable rest kept up reasonably well against Finland (3: 5) and were overrun by Canada a day later (2:16).
Even before that, the question had arisen what the sense of flying halfway around the world, maybe getting infected with a dangerous virus, sitting in quarantine over Christmas and being shot down with a fuselage troop. Now nobody asks the question anymore. Because after that there was a 4: 3 against Slovakia and a 5: 4 against Switzerland. Stützle and Peterka scored all five goals against their arch rivals – one more beautiful than the other. For example, the German U-20s made it to the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time, where they also sold at high prices.
They are now correspondingly satisfied at DEB. With the achievement, the international recognition, the attention at home. The games were broadcast live and there were numerous press articles. Finally good news for the industry badly hit by the Corona crisis. Sports director Christian Künast immediately appealed to the DEL clubs to “continue to give the youngsters the chance and build on them” in the league. However, this does not apply to Captain Stützle, he has terminated his contract in Mannheim. That evening he flew to Ottawa, where he was eagerly awaited.
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