Mature test for the German ice hockey cracks

The German ice hockey team has achieved the minimum goal at the World Championship in Finland. They made it into the quarter-finals in style. Toni Söderholm’s team can now play with complete freedom. Even though they have nothing left to lose, the German skaters want to take home a medal now, too.

We would not make a general prediction on a Czech victory before the quarter-final between Germany and the Czech Republic.

It’s not only exciting on the ice. The Czechs are coached by Kari Jalonen, a long-time companion of Toni Söderholm, who has already acted as an advisor to the German team and its Finnish coach at the 2019 World Cup. From the point of view of the two coaches, this will certainly be a very special play-offs match, especially as it will be played in Finland of all places.

We don’t think the German team is without a chance. In the preliminary round, they did very well against Canada and Switzerland and we think the DHB men can do the same on Thursday. We can certainly imagine placing a bet on a German victory in the match between Germany and the Czech Republic, perhaps even in regulation time.

Germany – Statistics & current form

Germany really played a very strong preliminary round and presented themselves in Helsinki in a top condition. Of course, there are pillars in the team, but overall Toni Söderholm has assembled a homogeneous selection in Finland that defends extremely compactly and is always capable of acting quickly and creatively offensively

Successful preliminary round

The German team could perhaps win its first World Cup medal since 1953 in Finland. First, however, they have to make it to the semifinals. After five wins and only one defeat in the penalty shootout against Switzerland, Germany is unbeaten in the regular season for six games. Therefore, we do not expect to be successful with the odds on a Czech victory in the duel between Germany and the Czech Republic.

There is a lot of euphoria in Toni Söderholm’s team after the winning streak in the group phase. Perhaps the mood is somewhat comparable to that at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, when Germany only narrowly missed out on the gold medal under Marco Sturm. The German team even came close to winning the group in the preliminary round of the current World Cup.

With a win against the Swiss ice team, they would have climbed to the top of the table. In an evenly matched game, however, the Swiss prevailed in the end after a penalty shoot-out. It suits Toni Söderholm that he was angry about this missed chance – possibly also about the fact that Tim Stützle will unfortunately no longer be an option in the playoffs due to injury.

The Germany squad:
Goal: Strahlmeier, Grubauer, Niederberger
Defence: Bittner, Holzer, Wissmann, Wagner, J. Müller, Seider, Zimmermann, M. Müller, Gawanke
Attack: Kastner, Jentzsch, Loibl, Plachta, Schmölz, Soramies, Ehl, Ehliz, Michaelis, Fischbuch, Pföderl, Karachun, Reichel
Head Coach: Söderholm

Czech Republic – Statistics & current form

Czech Republic coach Kari Jalonen has fielded a strong team at the World Cup in his homeland. Ten players are under contract in North America. In addition, the Czechs have a good mix of veterans (Roman Cervenka), top middle-aged stars (David Pastrnak) and outstanding talents (David Jiricek).

Problems in the group phase

In the group phase, however, the Czech selection certainly had its problems. It has to be said that the pool with Finland, Sweden and the USA was probably a bit stronger. The first problems arose for the Czechs when they lost to Sweden. This obviously had an effect, because afterwards Kari Jalonen’s team sensationally lost to Austria after a penalty shoot-out.

Only after that did the Czech team get into better swing and secured their place in the quarter-finals with victories over Latvia, Norway and the United States. On Tuesday, the group stage came to an end with a clash against the Olympic champions from Finland. The hosts took an early 3-0 lead and left the Czechs little room to develop.

As the third-placed team in the group, they will now play the German team. The results in the preliminary round do not really allow one to predict a Czech victory between Germany and the Czech Republic. Goalie Lukas Dostal will miss the quarter-finals due to injury. Attacker Dominik Simon will not be available to his team on Thursday for personal reasons.

The Czech Republic squad:
Goal: Dostal, Vejmelka, Langhamer
Defence: Jiricek, Kempny, Sklenicka, Hronek, Scotka, Jordan, Simek, Kundratek
Attack: Cervenka, Cernoch, Vrana, Flek, Zohorna, Stransky, Krejci, Hertl, Spacek, Kämpf, Smejkal, Pastrnak, Simon, Blümel
Head Coach: Jalonen

Germany – Czech Republic Direct Comparison / H2H-Balance

To date, the selection teams from Germany and the Czech Republic have faced each other in 26 games. In the direct comparison, it looks almost devastating for the German team. After victories, the Czech Republic leads by a clear 21:4 margin, while another duel ended in a draw. The last German victory at a World Cup dates back to May 2007.

However, the difference between these two ice hockey nations has become smaller and smaller in recent years. After seven Czech victories, the last direct duel went to the German team. In mid-April, Germany won a test match 2:0, but both teams were far from having their World Cup squads together in this preparatory match.

Germany – Czech Republic tip

The most important realisation after the preliminary round should be that Germany have performed so strongly that they definitely have a chance of winning their first World Cup medal in 69 years. On Thursday, Toni Söderholm’s team are only underdogs against the Czech Republic, but we think a surprise is in the air.

The Czechs have a strong squad, but got their pace on the ice far too rarely at the World Cup in Finland. The German team, on the other hand, is playing at a consistently high level and is capable of making it to the semifinals.

But of course the Czechs also have the qualities to prevail. Therefore, we expect a very close match that might not be over after 60 minutes. It will depend on the little things. In the end, however, we decided to place a bet on the German team advancing in the quarter-final between Germany and the Czech Republic.