U20 World Cup in Canada: Final squad ready

U20 national coach Tobias Absterter, along with his coaching team, announces the final personnel decision and the squad for the German junior national ice hockey team for the IIHF U20 World Championship 2022 in Edmonton, Canada.

A team from the German Ice Hockey Federation traveled to Canada with 23 players on Sunday to support two other young North American talent. Defender Luka Münzenberger will also lead the German team on the ice as captain. Young players Maximilian Glotzl and Maximilian Zuber will support him as assistants.

Arriving on Sunday, the team, led by U20 national coach Tobias Abstrater, will begin an intense week of training in Alberta, including two friendlies against Slovakia (Thursday, 4 August) and Latvia (Friday, 5 August). On Tuesday, August 9 (4 p.m. German time, Magenta-Sport), the DEB youth selection will play their first game against the defending champions of the United States. As the tournament progresses to Group A of the preliminary round, the German U20 national team will take on Austria (10 August), Switzerland (13 August) and Sweden (15 August, every 4 pm) at Rogers Place.

U20 national coach Toby Abkamfer: “From my point of view, the preparation went well. We now have six days of training and have completed important ice units here in Füssen. Now, of course, it’s important to adapt to the smaller North American ice cream as soon as possible. It will be a big challenge because the way ice hockey is played there is different. When we decided on the final squad, we had to shortlist two more players. It’s never a good and easy situation, but it’s part of it. People worked really hard and gave their all. At the end of the day, it was a close decision. As a coaching team, we feel we have prepared the best team for the tournament. Of course, we would like to take this opportunity to thank the players we had to send home. It was a great time and I’m sure if they do well, they have a good chance of being recommended for the next World Championships in December.”

Defender Maximilian Glotzl: “We worked particularly hard on the defensive, and generally on getting the formations back. It was important that we come back to that point and internalize our system, as well as again as a team grow together. The mood in the team is definitely great before departure. We are really looking forward to flying now and finally playing this World Cup. Of course we also want to be successful and to achieve this We will do everything.”

Magenta-Sport live shows all group matches of the German U20 national team, as well as the knockout stages from the quarterfinals.

Teams for the U20 World Cup in Edmonton:

Goalkeepers: Florian Bugl (Straubing Tigers), Nikita Lunemann (Cologne Hai), Nikita Kwapp (Eisberen Berlin).

Defenders: Arkadiusz Dizambor (Adler Mannheim / Heilbronner Falcons), Nils Elton (Iserlohn Roosters / Herner EV), Luka Munzenberger (University of Vermont), Corbinian Gebel (Eisberen Berlin / Lausitzer Fox), Maximilian Glonert Helz (Straub Adrien Kleimann) Tigers/EV Landshut), Maximilian Zuber (EHC Red Bull Munich), Leon van der Linde (ESV Kaufberen).

Forwards: Alexander Blanc (Düsseldorfer EG), Ryan Del Monte (Barry Colts), Josef Ehm (Düsseldorfer EG), Luka Hoff (Edmonton Oil Kings), Nicholas Heigl (Red Bull Hockey Academy), Thomas Heigl (Red Bull Hockey Academy), Haakon Henelt (Olympique de Gatineau), Danzo Leonhart (Nuremberg Ice Tigers), Yannick Proske (Spokane Chiefs/Iserlohn Roosters), Bennett Rosmi (Eisberen Berlin), Maciej Rutkowski (Iserlohn Roosters), Joshua Samansky (Straubing Tigers) ESV Kaufbeuren), Justin Volek (Augsburg Panther).