Silver at the Ice Hockey World Championships: Germany has shaken the hierarchy

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Germany defended itself against Canada with all its might

Photo: IMAGO/Jari Pestelacci / IMAGO/Just Pictures

Finland is the land of a thousand lakes. One of them lay in front of the hotel of the German ice hockey team in Tampere, and he had his share in this story, which is unprecedented for the national team: they were runners-up in the world championship. Moritz Seider, the young defender, selected to the tournament's All-Star team, had the silver medal hanging around his neck and, despite the 2-5 final defeat against Canada, had a smile on his face: "We defeated the lake."

It was as cold as waters are in northern Europe in May, but the German players (Seider: "Three Quarters") went in regularly, even after the semi-final victory against the USA, which secured the first World Cup medal in 70 years. "We were a really awesome family and a cool gang with our ice bath," Seider said.

Germany has not been able to overturn the hierarchy of world ice hockey, although the day of the finals in Finland had begun with the sensation that Latvia, a slightly smaller central nation than Germany, had defeated the USA in the bronze medal match, 4-3 after extra time. It was the first medal for the former Soviet state after more than three decades of independence.

Hardly anyone can get past the great powers

Afterwards, the Germans went into the final with the self-confidence of being able to defeat Canada. National coach Harold Kreis's team shot their way into the lead twice, through John-Jason Peterka and Daniel Fischbuch. But the opponent equalised twice and, when he was in front for the first time from the 38th minute, built up a defensive bar, made small German mistakes, countered to make it 4-2 and made it 5-2 with an "empty net goal" in the penultimate minute - in the end, Canada was 28-time world champions, and this number already shows that the annual World Cup follows the power of habit. However, Germany was able to venture as far as Switzerland did in 2013 and 2018, when it also took second place.

But at the top of the list is the establishment from Canada, Scandinavia or Eastern Europe, which is currently decimated by Russia's exclusion.

Nevertheless, the German national team finds its place, in the new world ranking of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) it will be the fifth, it sets its record. Over the past five years, the team has achieved good results in strongly changing line-ups. Olympic silver in 2018 was the initial spark, followed by World Cup quarter-finals in 2019 and 22, the semi-finals in 2021 and now the final for the first time. Only the 2022 Olympics in Beijing failed.

Germany is also convincing in terms of play

Moritz Müller, the captain, 36 years old, has been through it all, he is one of four silver players from Pyeongchang and thinks "that it felt like a similar team to 2018". The difference: "The current team is not only about fight and passion, but is also world-class in terms of play."

The Cologne native took a look at the statistics collected at the World Cup: "In terms of passing and game shares, we won even against the top nations." That's why he believes "that we had all the means to beat the Canadians – and we felt it." For Moritz Seider, it was a positive realization "that we gave away the victory through careless mistakes, because it wasn't as if Canada was better. Sometimes we ran over them so that they didn't know where the back and the front were." For him, it has been decided "that it was not the last time that we will be in such a position". Nico Sturm formulates the aspiration that a German team must have in the future: "To be ripped off. It can't always be a miracle when we go far. It has to be because we're the better team."

"It can't always be a miracle when we go far. It has to be because we're the better team."

Nico Sturm

Nico Sturm was at the age of 28 for the first time at a World Cup, previously he had not been able to do so due to study commitments and his surprisingly developing career in the National Hockey League (NHL); he made his international debut a month ago. "For years, I've only observed it from the outside and heard that everyone is having brutal fun and is happy to come. Now I understand why. It's a special feeling that develops, and it's very rare for teams."

National team defies adverse circumstances

And this is probably also the history of the German national ice hockey team, which began under national coach Marco Sturm (not related to Nico Sturm) in 2015 and continues under his successors Toni Söderholm and now Harold Kreis: It stands above what the structures allow.

German ice hockey is certainly not in fifth place in the world, the association comes out of difficult years after fundamental internal disputes and is not exactly considered to be economically strong. In the professional league DEL, many clubs still rely on a strong block of players imported from abroad, and there is little ice time for junior players despite a protection regulation for under-23s. And the upcoming junior age groups do not promise any new stars of the class of Moritz Seider or John-Jason Peterka, who strengthened the national team at the World Cup.

But the selection team worked once again and achieved the goals they had set for themselves. "At the end of the tournament, we wanted to say: the tank is empty, we've given it our all. That was the case," said national coach Kreis, summing up the first World Cup for which he was responsible. Moritz Müller philosophized: "We wanted to be so good as a group that we don't want it to end and we have to separate."

But a tournament and a season always come to an end, and on Monday morning the group broke up in Finland, the team's booked flights went to Munich, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg.

The World Cup quickly becomes a memory: Tampere, the arena, the hotel, the cold lake. Everyone is on vacation, no one wants to go to the ice bath without the others.