Germany celebrates a historic victory over Canada
With combined forces, Lucas Rachel (left) and Marcel Noibles fought Canada with Justin Danforth
Source: dpa / Roman Koksarov
In the third match of the World Ice Hockey Championship in Latvia, the German national team scored their third victory on White Monday. The DEB team last won against Canada in the World Cup 25 years ago.
DrThanks to much passion and outstanding goalkeeper Matthias Niederberger, the German ice hockey team was unbeaten after their first World Cup victory against Canada in 25 years. On a White Monday, the selection of national coach Tony Soderholm, 26-time world champion, led to despair at 3: 1 (2: 1, 0: 0, 1: 0) in Riga and went on to make a previously perfect World Cup return.
After three good years of Match of the Century in the Olympic semi-final in Pyeongchang (4: 3), goals by Stefan Loebel (11th minute), Matthias Plachta (12) and Korpenian Holzer (58th) secured another historic victory against Canada that was only Nick. Paul (nineteenth) was successful.
With this, the German Ice Hockey Association team admirably supports the high aspirations. The last World Cup victory so far came against Canada in 1996 in Vienna (5: 1). With three wins from three matches, the start of the World Cup is reminiscent of the first World Cup under Söderholm in Slovakia in 2019, with four consecutive victories and ultimately the best pre-round for a World Cup ever. This year, Germany had already beaten Italy (4: 9) on Friday and Norway (5: 1) on Saturday. Next competitor is Kazakhstan on Wednesday (3:15 pm, Sport1).
Strong team spirit, which can be felt again on Monday, should lead the team to a sensation without their world star Leon Dreisette like it did in the 2018 Olympics. At that time, after beating Canada in the semi-finals, the silver medal jumped. “How everyone throws themselves into shots is unbelievable,” said Loebel’s top scorer at Sport 1.
Canada with a false historical start
The situation is completely different with the top candidates, who have already started the World Cup with three defeats. Never before at a World Cup in the home of Ice Hockey. Canada’s choice of the World Cup has little to do with the best team possible due to the qualifiers underway in the National Hockey League. However, several countries – including Germany – have the same problem and the Canadian selection is still made almost exclusively of NHL players.
The first third was a reflection of previous World Cup appearances. Favorite began with enthusiasm. The uncertainty was clearly noticeable in the talented team. Coach Gerard Gallant called up the Canadians for a third time in a different squad and trusted another goalkeeper. Darcy Cumber, who was forced off the ice 40 minutes after a 5-1 draw against arch-rivals USA on Sunday, was not in the squad on Monday and was replaced by Arizona team-mate Aden Hill.
The 26-year-old was bluffed within 38 seconds after ten good minutes. Twice Stanley Cup winner Tom Konakle did a first-class preparatory job on a lovely guided tour through Loibl in Mannheim. At 2-0, Loibl’s club teammate Plachta was vetted by top Canadian talent Owen Bauer of the University of Michigan. Canada immediately responded with a fracture – a clear indication of the nerve flutter of a maple leaf, which was shortened shortly before the first fracture by Paul (Ottawa).
“Just keep playing with pride, be patient and have fun,” asked Moritz Sider, Germany’s best defender. “We were simply rewarded and worked hard.” In fact, the German team fought sacrificing, throwing themselves into Canadian strikes and twice defeating the middle division twice. Canada did not like it at all. The star-studded NHL squad responded with indignation with some titles and angry attacks. Niederberger from Mr Eisbären Berlin held out exceptionally well to the end. Holzer made it clear with one shot at the orphan goal.