Winter Olympics
Damper at the start: ice hockey women lose against Sweden
The Olympic goal of the semi-finals is likely to remain unrealistic for the women’s national ice hockey team. At the start of the tournament, the DEB team clearly lost to Sweden. Things started off well at first.
The Olympic comeback after twelve years of abstinence has gone wrong for the German ice hockey women. The day before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, national coach Jeff MacLeod’s team lost the first preliminary round game in Milan 1:4 (1:1, 0:2, 0:1) against Sweden. “It was the first game for each of us here. It was very fast and very physical,” said MacLeod, teasing the referees: “We also saw what a penalty is and what isn’t. That was a great learning experience for everyone.”
The selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) took the lead through Katarina Jobst-Smith (9th minute) from the Vancouver Goldeneyes from the North American professional league PWHL, but lost the thread somewhat in the middle section, especially in outnumbered situations. Lina Ljungblom (12th/28th), Mira Jungaker (40th) and Thea Johansson (52nd) shot the game for the Swedes in front of an official 2,455 spectators in the makeshift ice rink at the Milan exhibition center.
Players probably too nervous on their Olympic debut
“It’s obviously bitter to concede three goals when we’re outnumbered,” said captain Daria Gleißner from ECDC Memmingen. “Tick off. I can’t blame the girls. We fought. It was a very physical game.” MacLeod said: “The players thought too much. Normally we play a little differently when we’re outnumbered.”
The DEB women are back at the Olympics for the first time since 2014. The team only includes Olympic debutants. Even if national coach MacLeod had secretly had his eye on the semi-finals before the tournament, participation in the quarter-finals is probably the most realistic option. After the opening defeat, more is unlikely to be possible. Even if Germany makes it into the top three in preliminary group B, there is now a threat of a duel with the gold favorites from Canada or the USA.
Outnumbered players and scoring goals need to improve
In the preliminary round, Germany still has to play against Japan (Saturday), France (Monday) and Italy (Tuesday). “We’re not going to bury our heads in the sand now. There has to be more, especially when it comes to scoring goals. Every single person simply has to get through it better now,” demanded Gleißner.
The players primarily want to use the Olympic stage to get more attention. The games in the domestic league with only four German and one Hungarian teams take place almost behind closed doors.
dpa
