Full throttle into the quarter-finals

You have to be honest enough to say that the German men’s ice hockey team might have had the much easier group at the World Cup in Finland. The quarter-finals were the minimum goal and probably Toni Söderholm’s team will not need any more points to enter the play-offs. But if there are still doubts, they could be wiped off the table on matchday six against Kazakhstan.

The German team is currently even fighting for the first three places. As a rule, the better you do in the preliminary round, the easier your opponents will be in the playoffs. Perhaps there is still room for improvement, especially since the Germans still have the group final against the strong Swiss ahead of them after the match against the Kazakhs.

Germany currently has a strong twelve points from five games. That means four wins in the regular season. However, it is still not quite clear whether this is due to Germany’s strength or the quality of their opponents. Nevertheless, this record indicates that one must make a clear prediction for a victory for the DEB men in the duel between Germany and Kazakhstan.

The Kazakhs will have nothing to do with qualifying for the quarter-finals. For Yuri Mikhailis’ team, the only thing that matters is staying in the league. Every point along the way is good, but all that really matters is the match against Italy on Monday.

Germany – statistics & current form

Whether Germany now belongs to the elite in ice hockey is difficult to answer, but Toni Söderholm is well on his way to leading the German team there. Up to this point, the performances at the World Cup in Finland have all been worth watching. Even in the 3:5 against World Champion Canada, the German skaters had very good phases, which prove that they don’t have to hide in the playoffs against the favourites.

Great series of the German team

After that loss to the defending champions, Germany made it four wins in a row and are on course to have the best preliminary round at a World Cup in the federation’s history. In 2019, they had 15 points after seven matches. With an expected win against Kazakhstan and a point win afterwards against Switzerland, they would have surpassed that mark in Helsinki.

The match against Italy on Friday was a lot of fun, but you have to bear in mind that the Squadra Azzura consists mainly of players who don’t earn their living exclusively from ice hockey. Therefore, the 9:4 victory of the DEB men must perhaps be put into perspective. Nevertheless, the joy of playing became clear.

In the current condition, a lot is still possible. First of all, it’s off to the quarter-finals and what happens then will depend from game to game. What is clear, however, is that the German team, with the additions of Leon Gawanke and Lukas Reichel, has gained in quality across the board. That’s why we only look at the odds that have something to do with a German victory before the duel between Germany and Kazakhstan.

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

Kazakhstan – Statistics & current form

The Kazakhs travelled to Finland to keep the class. That’s all you could really expect from them. Yet Yuri Mikhailis’ team does not have a bad squad. Although there are no professionals from the NHL available, all players play in the KHL, which is not the worst proof of quality.

Series of defeats in Finland

At the World Cup in Finland, however, the Kazakhs only ever show this in phases. Except for the opening defeat against Denmark, when they went down 1:9, they always kept up well, also against the strong team from Switzerland and even against world champion Canada, the team from Kazakhstan was even ahead twice before they had to admit defeat with 3:6.

On Friday, they also never let themselves be shaken off against the higher-rated Slovaks, but in the end conceded a narrow 3:4 defeat. Sure, Kazakhstan has lost all five games at the World Cup, but they have usually shown themselves to be serious opponents who are not easily swept off the ice. The German team should therefore be warned.

Nevertheless, the prediction in the duel between Germany and Kazakhstan must go to a victory for the DEB men. However, one should not be so presumptuous as to expect another shooting match, even if the Kazakhs are certainly already focusing on the final group game against Italy, in which it will be a question of whether they stay in the group or are relegated.

The Kazakhstan squad:
Goal: Kudryavtsev, Rumyantsev, Shutov
Defence: Shalapov, Metalnikov, Blacker, Orekhov, Dietz, Svedberg, Daniyar, Beketayev
Attack: Mikhailis, Valk, Petukhov, Akolzin, Panyukov, Rakhmanov, Starchenko, Shestakov, Hurkov, Daniyar, Savitski, Sagadeyev, Shevchenko, Asetov
Head Coach: Mikhailis

Germany – Kazakhstan Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

Only five times to date have the teams from Germany and Kazakhstan crossed paths. Anyone who doubted that it would be close on Sunday should take a look at the direct comparison. After wins, the German skaters are just 3:2 ahead. All five games were very close.

The last German victory against the Kazakhs was seven years ago. The last encounter, however, was at the World Championships in Latvia last year. Kazakhstan just missed the quarter-finals in fifth place and were even level on points with the eventual world champions from Canada. Among other things, they beat Germany 3:2.

Germany – Kazakhstan Tip

Once again, the team from Kazakhstan is not as bad as the five defeats from the five World Cup games so far seem to indicate. It was very close against Canada, Switzerland and Slovakia. Therefore, Yuri Mikhailis’ team should not be underestimated. But if Germany delivers a concentrated performance, a victory should be possible.

After all, Toni Söderholm’s team has improved over the course of the tournament and after four wins in a row, they now have the self-confidence to make it through to the quarter-finals on Sunday.

We don’t expect a very clear German victory, though. After all, the Kazakhs won against the German team last year at the World Cup in Latvia. So it’s about time to make up for that. We have decided to play the betting odds on a narrow German handicap win (-1.5) in the match between Germany and Kazakhstan.