MArcel Nobles was already cheering. But no, that wasn’t there either, the disc just fell off the crossbar. Nobles did not want to admit it, so he threw up his arms, but even that did not change the opinion of the referee in the second third of the World Cup quarter-finals in Helsinki.
It was supposed to be an important day for the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB). Reaching the round of four in the world championships, as was the case last year. But this did not work out – because the Czechs, who were by no means outstanding, mastered one thing perfectly: the match of the majority.
They scored three times with another player on the ice, and that was enough to win 4-1. Instead of continuing with a trip to Tampere this last weekend, the Germans went home on Friday.
Czech Republic with NHL top scorer
In the end, what was true three years ago in the World Cup Slovakia: historically good preliminary rounds, high ambitions at the start of the knockout stage, against the Czech Republic. At the time it was 1:5, a match that national coach Söderholm didn’t leave for long, as he felt there could have been more.
Beginning of the end: The Czech national team celebrates a goal to make it 1-0.
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Photo: dpa
So now is the opportunity to make corrections, and Soderholm saw his team a step further than they had at the time, they now have “more patience”. This was not the only reason why the Germans did not see themselves as outsiders at all, but also due to the enemy. Of course, the Czechs are among the top six in world hockey, but they are no longer on a par with Canada, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
Especially when it comes to breadth, which is always especially important during the World Cup because not all the stars are available. They were all even happier that NHL top scorer David Pasternak traveled to Boston after the playoff game.
Perfect DEB Team
It was said before that it should be stopped. What didn’t happen even for two and a half minutes, then Pasternak shot with a majority to make the score 1-0. Seven minutes later it was: second majority, second goal. And what a thing: after three straight passes, the disc landed on Roman Cervenica, who completed the most beautiful combination of the day with a score of 2-0. And what about the Germans?
It seemed unimaginative, he hadn’t shot on target until that point because there was almost nothing that would work. Here a disc jumped, and there was a very inaccurate pass, here someone chose the wrong path, and someone else lost a duel. Ten minutes passed before the first opportunity. After that things improved a little, even Lukas Reichel hit the post, but the score did not change in the first half.
czech finnish compact
The second period had the same ingredients: poor start, fewer goals, bad luck with a hard hit, few chances. It was because of old Söderholm coach Kari Jallonen. He’s been coaching the Czechs since the spring, and since then they don’t have much of their old-fashioned flair anymore, instead they seem compact and Finnish.
It’s rarely amazing, but it gets results. Against the Germans, the Czechs were enough with their three goals to steer the match in the right direction. Little happened at five to five. The only German goal came in the third half because Soderholm sent goalkeeper Philipp Grobauer in favor of a sixth player on the field.
Moritz Seider hit the bar to make it 1:3, then Reichel hit the bar again. No, that wasn’t the day the DEB was chosen. When Grubauer fell again, the Czechs went on to score the empty goal, and shortly afterwards the Germans’ 2022 Ice Hockey World Championships ended.
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