RIGA (AP) – The Germany national ice hockey team looks to stage a World Cup coup against Canada today (7.15 pm / Game 1). The two victories in Riga so far have boosted confidence.
“We are going into the game with a lot of anticipation,” said top defender Moritz Seder: “We don’t want to hide. We want to win the match, there’s no question about it.”
Starting Position: With six points, the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation for targeted quarter-final qualification is well underway. 9:4 against Italy and 5:1 against Norway was nothing more than a mandatory win.
Rivals: Canadians compete along lines of NHL players, but with a more unknown team than usual. “North Americans may have more question marks than usual,” said national coach Tony Soderholm. In fact, the Canadian players are already under a lot of pressure after just two matches. After a surprisingly losing opening game against Latvia (0:2), they lost with a 1:5 draw against the United States.
Smriti: It was spectacular when Germany defeated Canada 4:3 in a game of the century to enter the final of the 2018 Winter Games and take Olympic silver. In Pyeongchang, unlike now the World Cup, there were no NHL players. The last German World Cup win against Canada was in 1996 with a 5–1 victory in Vienna.
What Captain Moritz Möller says: «We can be very proud of how we have performed so far. We are a great team. We value and like each other. I think this is the key. Of course we want to beat Canada now.”
Perspective: There is a free Tuesday for the Germans after the third preliminary round game. Then it goes on Wednesday against Kazakhstan, who have been surprised by two wins so far after penalty shootouts against Latvia and Finland.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210523-99-717163/3
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