Marc Michaelis, for example, could have said that more training on goal would be good – the Mannheim native plays for EV Zug in Switzerland, and he had just proven his goal threat with two goals and an assist. He could have simply said that players like him matter in crucial moments. When asked what it would take to win a game like the one against Austria, in which the German team was 2-0 down, 5-3, Michaelis refrained from self-praise or awkward puns. He answered movingly openly that it had taken “mistakes from Austria”. “We didn’t really deserve to win,” said Michaelis. “But” – and now he smiled – “good teams find ways to win.” And if it is a detour via a Swiss canton.
After the win against Austria and the 4-1 opening win against Denmark, the team of national coach Harold Kreis was unable to find a way past Slovakian goalkeeper Samuel Hlavaj on Sunday, despite having the best chances, and lost 1 after five wins against the 2002 world champion: 2 (0:1, 0:0, 1:1), the only goalscorer in front of 4200 spectators in the sold-out Fanatec Arena in Landshut was Leo Pföderl (56th). This one goal was enough for the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) team to successfully defend their title at the Germany Cup in a direct comparison with the Danes and Slovaks, who had the same number of points. At the premiere of the tournament in Landshut, the record winner secured his first title hat-trick and his tenth success overall.
What may have been more important for Kreis with a view to the 2024 World Cup was the realization that he has a deep “reservoir” of internationally competitive players from which he can draw. “Here I had the opportunity to see players that I would otherwise only be able to watch in different leagues,” said Kreis. “I had a large selection of players with me and they all did a good job here.”
Although the national coach in Landshut did without many regular players and managed the load sensitively, the DEB team showed that with the self-confidence they had acquired over the past few years, they had found a new identity and a certainty: even if there were bumps in the road or you just hit the man next to you from the preview booklet – the team is confident of success.
Michaelis missed World Cup silver due to a thrombosis
Striker Maximilian Kammerer said: “German ice hockey has developed enormously across the board. Number 50 in the squad is also at the top level.” Kammerer himself felt this in May: As one of the three best German goal scorers in the German Ice Hockey League, he was left out of Kreis’ squad shortly before the World Cup. “The success proved him right,” admitted Kammerer. Three weeks later, the DEB team won silver, their first World Cup medal in 70 years. When Kreis called him up again, Kammerer still agreed: “I want to make it as difficult as possible for the national coach to do without me again.”
Marc Michaelis also missed the World Cup last May. The 28-year-old was diagnosed with a thrombosis in the spring, a blood clot in the vein under his right collarbone. In a total of three operations, Michaelis first had the potentially life-threatening blood clot removed and later a rib removed in order to rule out further complications. A long summer of rehabilitation followed, as Michaelis said in Landshut. The new season got off to a great start for him and his club. EV Zug is third in the Swiss National League after 21 games, Michaelis is in fifth place on the scorer list. “He’s just a very good player, strong on the target, tough on the man,” said Kreis. “When someone is in the right place at the right time,” as Michaelis did on Saturday when he scored against Austria after an assist from Yasin Ehliz, then “that also shows his quality.” Michaelis, who took a break on Sunday, said: “It was a change for me – new coach, new system – and it’s even more important that I’m here. Now I know what to expect in May.” Michaelis, who played his first of three World Championships so far in 2018 as an almost unknown college player, definitely doesn’t want to miss the next World Cup next May. “It’s just a lot of fun to be here with the national team.”
The DEB’s chances of being able to host a double World Cup for men and women in 2027 have increased
Landshut did its part to make the national teams feel comfortable. Not just the men, but also the women, who – another first – held their tournament parallel to the men. After the 1-0 opening win against Denmark, the Germans conceded two major blows against Finland (1:8) and the Czech Republic. But even after the 8-0 defeat against the third-placed team from the neighboring country on Saturday, St. Martin’s Day, the team and supporters stood tall like the Landshut collegiate church, which is dedicated to the saint and defied the icy November wind. “Sure, you don’t want a 0:8,” said striker Bernadette Karpf, a native of Landshut. “But we showed that women’s ice hockey is also ice hockey, that it can be fast, that it can be technically very good and that we can offer the spectators just as much as the men – just different.” In the end, national coach Jeff MacLeod’s team finished third. The audience in Landshut – a record-breaking 3,007 people came into the hall against the Czech Republic – applauded while standing during the final two minutes, and after the end of the game the DEB team had to do a lap of honor. “At that moment I thought to myself: Wow, it’s great that we are so supported! We don’t know that before,” said Karpf.
Open detailed view
“We don’t know that”: Despite an 8-0 defeat against the Czech Republic, 3,007 spectators in Landshut called on the German women to do a lap of honor.
(Photo: Hafner/Nordphoto/Imago)
The response was also carefully noted by the World Association IIHF. “You have to congratulate the DEB on this idea of letting men and women play here in parallel,” said IIHF vice-president Petr Briza. The DEB’s plans to also try for the women’s tournament after winning the men’s World Cup in 2027 and to combine both should have even better chances of success. IIHF President Luc Tardif said in Landshut: “I really like the model,” it reminds him of the Olympics. DEB President Peter Merten said: “We will know at the beginning of January.”
