The German national ice hockey team has to do without a prominent quartet at the World Cup. Leon Gawanke, Maximilian Kammerer, Dominik Bokk and Tom Kühnhackl from the DEL canceled Harold Kreis for the tournament in Prague and Ostrava (May 10th to 26th), as the national coach announced in a media round on Friday.
“The strain was one of the reasons, but I don’t want to speak for the player,” said Kreis about Gawanke’s cancellation. Last year, the man from Mannheim was part of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) selection that won silver in Latvia and Finland. “We would have liked to invite Kühnhackl, but he also declined,” said Kreis about the two-time Stanley Cup winner.
Despite the cancellations, Kreis (65) feels great enthusiasm for the national team – also in North America. Kreis and sports director Christian Künast recently sought personal contact with the NHL stars in the USA and Canada: “They were important conversations. A very fruitful trip,” said Kreis.
The participation of goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer or striker Tim Stützle, who recently signaled that they wanted to be there, does not only depend on the further course of the season in the NHL. “The signals were very positive, but there are regulations. Even if we had commitments, we weren’t allowed to say it. After the end of the regular season, we’ll move on to the next round of talks,” said Künast. The main round of the NHL ends on April 18th and the play-offs start on April 20th.
Regardless of the final line-up, “maximum success” is the goal. Kreis emphasized that the World Cup runner-up would not mean any guarantees for the upcoming tournament: “We are going into the tournament with self-confidence, humility and a healthy competitive attitude.” At the start, the DEB selection will meet Slovakia on May 10th.
2024-04-05 14:22:50
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