Germany soared to great heights by winning the silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, then came back down to earth with a rather disappointing performance at that year’s World Championship in a fresh start with a young team.
They would like to contend for a medal again, but at the same time know that they don’t have the talent to match a lot of the world’s top hockey countries. Therefore, Germany is relying heavily on its domestic league, the DEL, to stock its roster with only four players coming from elsewhere.
Goal
As was the case last year, all three of Germany’s goalies are from the DEL. Niklas Treutle of the Nuremberg Ice Tigers was the starter last year and probably will be again, with Mathias Niederberger of Dusseldorfer EG backing him up. On a World Championship roster for the first time is Dustin Strahlmeier of the Schwenninger Wild Wings.
Notably absent is Olympic silver medallist Danny aus den Birken of Red Bull Munich, who was this year’s DEL MVP. There is a possibility that Philipp Grubauer could join the team if the Colorado Avalanche are eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Defence
Whereas the goalies are all under 30, the defence is a veteran group with a fair bit of international experience, led by 35-year-old Yannic Seidenberg, who will be playing in his 10th World Championship. Seidenberg, Moritz Muller and Jonas Muller (unrelated) were all members of last year’s Olympic silver medal team. The only NHLer in the group is Korbinian Holzer of the Anaheim Ducks, who’s senior international debut was the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Moritz Seider, who was captain of the German U20 team that won the Division I Group A championship and gained promotion to the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, and was also a member of the DEL champion Adler Mannheim, is on the roster as an 18-year-old.
Forwards
Germany’s group of forwards are collectively younger than the defence, but still have the experience of Frank Mauer, Patrick Hager, Gerrit Hauser, Marcel Noebels, Yasin Ehliz and Mathias Plachta, who were all on the Olympic silver-medal team and have 29 previous World Championship appearances between them. Another member of the Olympic team is Czech-born 23-year-old Dominik Kahun, who is just coming off a fine rookie campaign with the Chicago Blackhawks. But of course, the big gun on the team is another 23-year-old NHLer, Leon Draisaitl, who hit 50 goals and 105 points with the Edmonton Oilers.
Dominik Bokk, last year’s first round draft pick by the St. Louis Blues, looked good in some pre-tournament games but was ultimately left off the roster. One young player who is on the team, however, is 20-year-old Lean Bergmann, who has been a scoring machine with nine goals in 11 games for the German national team so far this season.
Coaching
Last season, Marco Sturm coached the Germans to a silver medal in the Olympics and then a 10th-place finish in the Worlds before taking the job of assistant coach for the Los Angeles Kings. The new head coach of the German national team is Toni Soderholm, a 41-year-old Finn who is only three years removed from playing. He finished his playing career with Red Bull Munich and then immediately became a development coach for the team, while also coaching minor league team SC Riessersee and the German U20 national team, which just earned promotion to the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship at the top division. This will be Soderholm’s first test at the international senior level, though. His decision to go with the DEL players he’s been working with all season says that he’ll be relying on the team’s chemistry and preparedness against some more talented teams that have been thrown together more hastily.
Projected results
After exceeding all expectations by winning silver at the Winter Olympics last year, the World Championship in Denmark was a disappointment, finishing sixth in their group. The Germans will try to bounce back into the quarter-finals, where they appeared the two previous seasons. To do that, they’ll likely be battling with host Slovakia for the fourth playoff berth in Group A, and cannot afford to drop points against any of the “lesser” teams in the group. Their last three group-stage games are against Canada, the USA and Finland, so the Germans can ill-afford to start to start slowly.
They would like to contend for a medal again, but at the same time know that they don’t have the talent to match a lot of the world’s top hockey countries. Therefore, Germany is relying heavily on its domestic league, the DEL, to stock its roster with only four players coming from elsewhere.
Goal
As was the case last year, all three of Germany’s goalies are from the DEL. Niklas Treutle of the Nuremberg Ice Tigers was the starter last year and probably will be again, with Mathias Niederberger of Dusseldorfer EG backing him up. On a World Championship roster for the first time is Dustin Strahlmeier of the Schwenninger Wild Wings.
Notably absent is Olympic silver medallist Danny aus den Birken of Red Bull Munich, who was this year’s DEL MVP. There is a possibility that Philipp Grubauer could join the team if the Colorado Avalanche are eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Defence
Whereas the goalies are all under 30, the defence is a veteran group with a fair bit of international experience, led by 35-year-old Yannic Seidenberg, who will be playing in his 10th World Championship. Seidenberg, Moritz Muller and Jonas Muller (unrelated) were all members of last year’s Olympic silver medal team. The only NHLer in the group is Korbinian Holzer of the Anaheim Ducks, who’s senior international debut was the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Moritz Seider, who was captain of the German U20 team that won the Division I Group A championship and gained promotion to the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, and was also a member of the DEL champion Adler Mannheim, is on the roster as an 18-year-old.
Forwards
Germany’s group of forwards are collectively younger than the defence, but still have the experience of Frank Mauer, Patrick Hager, Gerrit Hauser, Marcel Noebels, Yasin Ehliz and Mathias Plachta, who were all on the Olympic silver-medal team and have 29 previous World Championship appearances between them. Another member of the Olympic team is Czech-born 23-year-old Dominik Kahun, who is just coming off a fine rookie campaign with the Chicago Blackhawks. But of course, the big gun on the team is another 23-year-old NHLer, Leon Draisaitl, who hit 50 goals and 105 points with the Edmonton Oilers.
Dominik Bokk, last year’s first round draft pick by the St. Louis Blues, looked good in some pre-tournament games but was ultimately left off the roster. One young player who is on the team, however, is 20-year-old Lean Bergmann, who has been a scoring machine with nine goals in 11 games for the German national team so far this season.
Coaching
Last season, Marco Sturm coached the Germans to a silver medal in the Olympics and then a 10th-place finish in the Worlds before taking the job of assistant coach for the Los Angeles Kings. The new head coach of the German national team is Toni Soderholm, a 41-year-old Finn who is only three years removed from playing. He finished his playing career with Red Bull Munich and then immediately became a development coach for the team, while also coaching minor league team SC Riessersee and the German U20 national team, which just earned promotion to the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship at the top division. This will be Soderholm’s first test at the international senior level, though. His decision to go with the DEL players he’s been working with all season says that he’ll be relying on the team’s chemistry and preparedness against some more talented teams that have been thrown together more hastily.
Projected results
After exceeding all expectations by winning silver at the Winter Olympics last year, the World Championship in Denmark was a disappointment, finishing sixth in their group. The Germans will try to bounce back into the quarter-finals, where they appeared the two previous seasons. To do that, they’ll likely be battling with host Slovakia for the fourth playoff berth in Group A, and cannot afford to drop points against any of the “lesser” teams in the group. Their last three group-stage games are against Canada, the USA and Finland, so the Germans can ill-afford to start to start slowly.