Bit doesn’t get any better. The German national ice hockey team started the world championship with a series of successes that even the most daring optimists in their own ranks did not expect. Over Pentecost, however, the team made it clear that it has what it takes to show off at this tournament in Latvia. National coach Toni Söderholm won against Canada 3: 1 (2: 1, 0: 0, 1: 0).
It was the third victory within four days after the Germans had also defeated Italy and Norway, so that as a reward for the effort, the table lead in Group B jumped out, before the next Wednesday against Kazakhstan (3:15 p.m., live on Sport1) .
Tobias Rieder was one of the first to get an idea of the quality of the Canadian World Cup squad. The German professional, full-time in the service of the Buffalo Sabers, flew to Riga last week with the North Americans in tow. Whom and what he saw on board the machine made him believe that the delegation of the nine-time Olympic champion at this event is not one to freeze in awe. With the exception of three players, they are all cracks who earn their money in the NHL, but it is also not a collection of extra talent that should be considered the ultimate. Rieder did not deceive his assessment.
Canada and the search for oneself
While the Germans work as a collective and emerged as winners from their matches twice over the weekend, the Canadians, who trained together for the first time in Latvia, had to admit defeat to both the host’s team and the United States – and Söderholm’s collective got it on Monday as next boundaries shown.
Rieder played a key role in getting things started right away. With his running strength he made dangerous attacks. The lead resulted from a combination initiated by him, in which the disc landed via Tom Kühnhackl at Stefan Loibl, who pulled away unsustainably (11th minute). Just 38 seconds later, Matthias Plachta increased to 2-0 (12th). Thanks to Nick Paul, the Canadians took the next goal (19th).
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In the second section, when a duo had to take a seat in the penalty box for the Germans, the fact that they are also able to defend themselves despite all the storm and stress. Keeper Mathias Niederberger, who was there when the 26-time world champion earned a clear increase in chances, was a great help to them; His reflexes against Cole Perfetti (30th) and Gabriel Vilardi (36th) were particularly worth seeing. Niederberger fended off a total of 30 shots that evening and was then voted “Man of the Match”.
“Everything is possible now”
The will that drives him and his colleagues at this World Cup is illustrated by a scene shortly before the second break, when the Germans once again had to get by with two fewer men: At that moment, Kühnhackl broke his stick (39th). But nobody panicked, instead the Bavarian threw his body into the Canadians’ shots. Loibl later certified himself and his fellow opponents an “outstanding outnumbered game”, which was crowned in the 58th minute when the opponent had just taken his goalkeeper off the field in order to force the turnaround in the power play. However, Korbinian Holzer switched faster than everyone else after a duel and scored the 3-1 final score with an “empty net goal”.
The last time the Germans defeated the men with the maple leaf on their jerseys was a quarter of a century ago (1996 in Vienna) in a World Cup match. The memories of the semi-final coup at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, when a 4: 3 paved the way to the silver medal, are fresher.
“Everything is now possible”, was Niederberger’s challenge when he caught his breath again after the tough fight: “We have a lion heart.” And it beats in a chest that has now become even wider.
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