As I'm watching the last period of the U18 game against Slovakia, I'll try to share my thoughts on yesterday’s game as far as I can remember (I only watched the 2nd and 3rd periods) and my thoughts on today’s game.
The first one was a bad line change that led to a breakaway (2-1). The second one was a weak goal conceded by our goalie Oswald (4-2), and the third one was a bad pass from Penkin that resulted in a two-on-one situation.
Based on the second and third periods alone, Germany’s game was quite solid and more or less evenly matched. In my opinion, the best players were the entire Kose-Schneider-Schäfer line, Willhöft, and Penkin.
Especially Penkin stood out at times—he really has huge potential. However, he also made a couple of bad passes and poor decisions, but that’s completely normal for a 15-year-old.
Overall, the most noticeable player was Willhöft. There was no one on the ice who could catch up to him, especially in terms of skating.
Defense was the weak spot, with only Rolsing and, at times, Kose (mostly offensively) showing strong performances.
I'm by no means an expert on goalies, but I didn’t really like Oswald’s overall performance.
Once again, the Kose-Schneider-Schäfer line played well, scoring the only goal, and—once again—Willhöft stood out, earning the "Best Player" award from Team Germany.
To be honest, it was kind of unfortunate. Once again, we were at least on par with the Slovaks—maybe even a little bit better overall. We hit the crossbar with a shot from Späth and the post with one from Willhöft at a time when the game was still really close.
I also have to admit that the referees were pretty bad. I can recall at least four or five clear tripping incidents that were not called.
With Griva not in the lineup, the coach shuffled the lines throughout the game (except for the Kose-Schneider-Schäfer line), which made it difficult for the boys to find their rhythm. Our powerplay also should have been better.
There isn’t much else to say compared to yesterday’s game. Penkin was more or less invisible today, but again, that’s totally normal for a kid playing against mostly 17-year-olds.
Result of yesterday’s game: Slovakia - Germany 5-2
In the end, Germany beat themselves by making three major mistakes that led to goals.The first one was a bad line change that led to a breakaway (2-1). The second one was a weak goal conceded by our goalie Oswald (4-2), and the third one was a bad pass from Penkin that resulted in a two-on-one situation.
Based on the second and third periods alone, Germany’s game was quite solid and more or less evenly matched. In my opinion, the best players were the entire Kose-Schneider-Schäfer line, Willhöft, and Penkin.
Especially Penkin stood out at times—he really has huge potential. However, he also made a couple of bad passes and poor decisions, but that’s completely normal for a 15-year-old.
Overall, the most noticeable player was Willhöft. There was no one on the ice who could catch up to him, especially in terms of skating.
Defense was the weak spot, with only Rolsing and, at times, Kose (mostly offensively) showing strong performances.
I'm by no means an expert on goalies, but I didn’t really like Oswald’s overall performance.
Result of today’s game: Slovakia - Germany 5-1
Germany played two really good periods, but unfortunately, they fell apart in the last one.Once again, the Kose-Schneider-Schäfer line played well, scoring the only goal, and—once again—Willhöft stood out, earning the "Best Player" award from Team Germany.
To be honest, it was kind of unfortunate. Once again, we were at least on par with the Slovaks—maybe even a little bit better overall. We hit the crossbar with a shot from Späth and the post with one from Willhöft at a time when the game was still really close.
I also have to admit that the referees were pretty bad. I can recall at least four or five clear tripping incidents that were not called.
With Griva not in the lineup, the coach shuffled the lines throughout the game (except for the Kose-Schneider-Schäfer line), which made it difficult for the boys to find their rhythm. Our powerplay also should have been better.
There isn’t much else to say compared to yesterday’s game. Penkin was more or less invisible today, but again, that’s totally normal for a kid playing against mostly 17-year-olds.
