International: German Junior National Teams

[Chapin Landvogt]

Some interesting choices but decent overall. They’ll struggle. But there are few players who don’t belong.

It's naturally a real hit that Bicker is injured. He's one of the few who skates like a bunch of the young men from other nations.

Unfortunately, the majority of the players who are in North America just now aren't getting much done, although it's been nice to see Lewandowski adjust to the Dub so quickly.

After his Hlinka Gretzky Cup performance, I have hard time thinking anyone else here can bring Willhöft's level of creativity to the table. As such, it's a bummer to see he's not part of the camp. I guess size was the main factor here.

Otherwise, an interesting group.

Just gotta hope Sümpf and Pul are enough of an international punch up the middle, to give this team a shot against Lativia and perhaps Kazahkstan.

Looks like there'll be a nice physical presence up front though.

 

[pgfan66]

It's naturally a real hit that Bicker is injured. He's one of the few who skates like a bunch of the young men from other nations.

Unfortunately, the majority of the players who are in North America just now aren't getting much done, although it's been nice to see Lewandowski adjust to the Dub so quickly.

After his Hlinka Gretzky Cup performance, I have hard time thinking anyone else here can bring Willhöft's level of creativity to the table. As such, it's a bummer to see he's not part of the camp. I guess size was the main factor here.

Otherwise, an interesting group.

Just gotta hope Sümpf and Pul are enough of an international punch up the middle, to give this team a shot against Lativia and perhaps Kazahkstan.

Looks like there'll be a nice physical presence up front though.

Agreed, except for the Willhöft part. I wouldn't have brought him either.

Lineup-wise, here's my best guess:

Pul - Sumpf - Vinzens
Lewandowski - Samanski - Münzenberger
Sager - Brandl - Ruckdäschel
Schwarz - Seidl - Maul
Schäfer - Kose - Boos

Niehus - Tropmann
Mayer - Panocha
Kaiser - Händel
Hense - Kühnhauser

Pertuch
Hümer
Vieillard

I don't mind the top line and could see Pul and Sumpf having a strong tournament. The rest is almost interchangeable. No high-end players will be an issue and nobody should be surprised if the games vs. USA and Canada are double-digit blowouts. That said, it should be enough to beat Latvia or Kazakhstan.

As to the odd man out aka potential injury callup, I'd guess it'll be one of Schäfer, Kose and Boos, with my money being on Boos. He wasn't great in the games against Finland recently and is a small 06. Based on what we know about the DEB, they'll favour the big guys in Schäfer and Kose, who have DEL/DEL2 experience, even if that means bringing two additional 07s. It could easily hit one of those two too, though.

 

[Maverick41]

Agreed, except for the Willhöft part. I wouldn't have brought him either.

Lineup-wise, here's my best guess:

Pul - Sumpf - Vinzens
Lewandowski - Samanski - Münzenberger
Sager - Brandl - Ruckdäschel
Schwarz - Seidl - Maul
Schäfer - Kose - Boos

Niehus - Tropmann
Mayer - Panocha
Kaiser - Händel
Hense - Kühnhauser

Pertuch
Hümer
Vieillard

I don't mind the top line and could see Pul and Sumpf having a strong tournament. The rest is almost interchangeable. No high-end players will be an issue and nobody should be surprised if the games vs. USA and Canada are double-digit blowouts. That said, it should be enough to beat Latvia or Kazakhstan.

As to the odd man out aka potential injury callup, I'd guess it'll be one of Schäfer, Kose and Boos, with my money being on Boos. He wasn't great in the games against Finland recently and is a small 06. Based on what we know about the DEB, they'll favour the big guys in Schäfer and Kose, who have DEL/DEL2 experience, even if that means bringing two additional 07s. It could easily hit one of those two too, though.

Gotta agree to disagree on Willhöft (kind of). That guy seems to always elevate his game when he is with the national team and when the competition gets stronger. Something that cannot be said for most of the guys here. On the other hand it's not like he would by improve the forward group so much that it would really make a huge difference. I am sure he will be there next year at whichever level they'll be playing and be the best forward on our team.

Bicker missing does hurt quite a bit, but even without him and Willhöft this forward group is alright. Not great but decent. Sumpf and Pul will have to do the heavy lifting, and hopefully Lewandowski and maybe Schwarz and Seidl can contribute a little offense as well, while the rest just do their job, which is something Ruckdäschel, Sager and Maul for example are usually really good at.

The defence worries me. I have seen a little from Niehus and he looked much better than last year. I have not seen Tropmann, Mayer or Panocha, so these guys really worry me, because the last times I did see them, they were not looking good. Hopefully they have recovered.
Händel is playing well, by most accounts, even if he has slowed down a bit. So, I don't think he will be able to be a difference maker, but I hope this will help with his development.
I have also only seen a few minutes of play from Kaiser this season, but he looked like the same player as last year and I had hoped for more improvement from him than what I saw, but since the sample size was so small, I can't really judge his development fairly.

There isn't really a stand-out goalie in this group. We can only hope one or two of them manage to play his/their best game when it matters most to avoid relegation.

Before I forget, does anyone know why Samanski is playing in the BCHL now instead of the WHL? Was he released by his team, or did he decide to leave to get more ice time or something?

EDIT: My wildcard is Marco Münzenberger. He has really grown on me last season and I liked most of what I have seen from him this season so far.

 

[pgfan66]

Gotta agree to disagree on Willhöft (kind of). That guy seems to always elevate his game when he is with the national team and when the competition gets stronger. Something that cannot be said for most of the guys here. On the other hand it's not like he would by improve the forward group so much that it would really make a huge difference. I am sure he will be there next year at whichever level they'll be playing and be the best forward on our team.

Bicker missing does hurt quite a bit, but even without him and Willhöft this forward group is alright. Not great but decent. Sumpf and Pul will have to do the heavy lifting, and hopefully Lewandowski and maybe Schwarz and Seidl can contribute a little offense as well, while the rest just do their job, which is something Ruckdäschel, Sager and Maul for example are usually really good at.

The defence worries me. I have seen a little from Niehus and he looked much better than last year. I have not seen Tropmann, Mayer or Panocha, so these guys really worry me, because the last times I did see them, they were not looking good. Hopefully they have recovered.
Händel is playing well, by most accounts, even if he has slowed down a bit. So, I don't think he will be able to be a difference maker, but I hope this will help with his development.
I have also only seen a few minutes of play from Kaiser this season, but he looked like the same player as last year and I had hoped for more improvement from him than what I saw, but since the sample size was so small, I can't really judge his development fairly.

There isn't really a stand-out goalie in this group. We can only hope one or two of them manage to play his/their best game when it matters most to avoid relegation.

Before I forget, does anyone know why Samanski is playing in the BCHL now instead of the WHL? Was he released by his team, or did he decide to leave to get more ice time or something?

EDIT: My wildcard is Marco Münzenberger. He has really grown on me last season and I liked most of what I have seen from him this season so far.

The Samanski thing is weird. His departure makes sense because he wasn’t great. But Wenatchee never announced anything, only Powell River announced they signed him. He might just be there as an affiliated player, with the option to call him back up to Wenatchee when needed.

Regarding the D group, I share your concern. Panocha should be the #1 guy here, but after being dropped by Chicoutimi, he was also cut after three games in Prince Albert, didn’t get picked up by any other CHL team and is now a meh player in Green Bay. Very discouraging.

 

[Maverick41]

The Samanski thing is weird. His departure makes sense because he wasn’t great. But Wenatchee never announced anything, only Powell River announced they signed him. He might just be there as an affiliated player, with the option to call him back up to Wenatchee when needed.

Regarding the D group, I share your concern. Panocha should be the #1 guy here, but after being dropped by Chicoutimi, he was also cut after three games in Prince Albert, didn’t get picked up by any other CHL team and is now a meh player in Green Bay. Very discouraging.

That's interesting, I wasn't aware that there might be an affiliation between teams in the WHL and the BCHL that would allow players to move between both leagues. But whatever his specific situation is, I had hoped he would stick in the WHL. I really need to look into how the various junior leagues below the CHL are linked.

Panocha is really a weird case. He looked pretty good 2-3 years ago, and since he moved to North America I have not really seen him play except when he was at the Sabres camp, when I caught some scrimmages or pre-season games. In his first rookie camp he looked actually pretty good for a 7th round pick and when he then joined Chicoutimi he seemed to have a good start, but then things completely fell apart.
The next time I saw him (with the German U20 team) he looked like an entirely different player. He made mistakes I had never seen from him before (like his head wasn't in the game), and looked like he lost all of his confidence. And every time I have seen him since it was the same thing. No idea what happened, but I really hope he finds a way to turn it around at some point.
A career in the NHL is pretty much out of the question at this point (it was always a long shot anyway), but maybe he can salvage a decent pro career in Germany. Who knows, maybe the tournament can be a turning point for him.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

EDIT: My wildcard is Marco Münzenberger. He has really grown on me last season and I liked most of what I have seen from him this season so far.

Yes, very interesting rise this year. He didn't look out of place at the 3-game exhibition tourney last month in Finland. Seeing a famed Finnish coach keep him in the DEL is pretty interesting as well.

More importantly, he seems ready and willing to play a physical game.

Regarding the D group, I share your concern. Panocha should be the #1 guy here, but after being dropped by Chicoutimi, he was also cut after three games in Prince Albert, didn’t get picked up by any other CHL team and is now a meh player in Green Bay. Very discouraging.

Agreed! Very much so.

Right on up to the first 10 games or so that he played for Chicoutimi, he looked so good. Even at the Sabres prospect camp after being drafted.

It looks like more than a confidence issue. And he was not particularly good at the WJC last year either.

I sure hope there hasn't been anything dubious going on - like away from the rink.

 

[Maverick41]

So, the first pre-tournament game is done, and they did alright against a Slovakian team that was still missing most of their offense.

I watched most of the game (skipped a bit of the first period, because I was trying to catch up to the live game), and these are my positives and negatives from the game.

Positives:

• Timo Ruckdäschel looked great. He was challenging Sumpf for the title of best forward (and best player). Good two-way game, often moving the puck from our end to the offensive zone. Battling hard along the boards and getting in front of the net for screens and rebounds.
• Julius Sumpf played pretty much as expected and I wish he would have had more help. He was particularly strong on the power play even if it went mostly unrewarded.
• Edwin Tropmann had a decent game, also in particular on the power play, where he had nice little two-man-game going with Sumpf. His puck movement looked good and his shot looked much improved. He even scored the only goal with a wrister from the point on the power play. Defensively he was not too bad either, though there were some rough moments, too.
• Norwin Panocha looked so much better than the last time I saw him. Still not fully back to his old self, and I still have some concerns (not just about him) I'll address in the negatives, but finally I saw a bit of the transition game, that made him so strong a couple of years ago. And he was one of the more solid defensemen in their own zone. I think I will call his game encouraging.
• Effort. The effort was great, blocking shots and other hustle plays from almost everyone in the line up.

Negatives:

• Lack of speed. This team is slow, and I don't just mean that there aren't many fast skaters on the team, I mean they process the game rather slowly. There are some exception, but on average everything they do or are trying to do is taking too long. Against the real big boys or a Slovak team at full strength they would get obliterated, playing at this speed.
• Lack of awareness (combined with the lack of speed). Several times they had control of the puck in their own zone and were surveying the ice in front of them for the right pass, completely unaware that there were one or two Slovaks behind them who would then go on to pick their pocket and were all alone in front of the goalie.
• It's maybe a little mean, but Kaiser and Kühnhauser stood out a bit more than the other defensemen in a negative way. They provided little to no offense, and had some rough moments on defense.
• Dumb penalties. Most of the penalties the team took were unnecessary. For example Niehus, who was invisible on offense, but pretty good dfensively, took a really stupid penalty in the third, by kicking a loose stick away from the Slovak player who was trying to pick it up.
• Too few offensive threats. There is Sumpf and Ruckdäschel, Lewandowski showed a little bit and so did Händel who played as a bit of a rover at couple of times, Pul wasn't bad, but I expected more.

Mixed bag:

• They don't really fit in as positives or negatives, but the 07s were a bit of both. Lewandowski and Händel undoubtedly belong on this team, but it's not like they are able to dominate already. Their youth clearly showed, as it did with Schäfer, who I barely noticed, and Kose who showed maybe a glimpse here and there, but I don't think either one of them will be able to contribute much.
• Nico Pertuch in goal looked a bit shaky when the Slovaks moved the puck quickly, but as long as the defense in front of him took away cross-ice passes he was mostly solid. Not sure I trust his ability to track the puck, but he is a big kid and takes away a lot of net (if he stays in it).

Anyway, those were my thoughts on the game.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

So, the first pre-tournament game is done, and they did alright against a Slovakian team that was still missing most of their offense.

I watched most of the game (skipped a bit of the first period, because I was trying to catch up to the live game), and these are my positives and negatives from the game.

Positives:

• Timo Ruckdäschel looked great. He was challenging Sumpf for the title of best forward (and best player). Good two-way game, often moving the puck from our end to the offensive zone. Battling hard along the boards and getting in front of the net for screens and rebounds.
• Julius Sumpf played pretty much as expected and I wish he would have had more help. He was particularly strong on the power play even if it went mostly unrewarded.
• Edwin Tropmann had a decent game, also in particular on the power play, where he had nice little two-man-game going with Sumpf. His puck movement looked good and his shot looked much improved. He even scored the only goal with a wrister from the point on the power play. Defensively he was not too bad either, though there were some rough moments, too.
• Norwin Panocha looked so much better than the last time I saw him. Still not fully back to his old self, and I still have some concerns (not just about him) I'll address in the negatives, but finally I saw a bit of the transition game, that made him so strong a couple of years ago. And he was one of the more solid defensemen in their own zone. I think I will call his game encouraging.
• Effort. The effort was great, blocking shots and other hustle plays from almost everyone in the line up.

Negatives:

• Lack of speed. This team is slow, and I don't just mean that there aren't many fast skaters on the team, I mean they process the game rather slowly. There are some exception, but on average everything they do or are trying to do is taking too long. Against the real big boys or a Slovak team at full strength they would get obliterated, playing at this speed.
• Lack of awareness (combined with the lack of speed). Several times they had control of the puck in their own zone and were surveying the ice in front of them for the right pass, completely unaware that there were one or two Slovaks behind them who would then go on to pick their pocket and were all alone in front of the goalie.
• It's maybe a little mean, but Kaiser and Kühnhauser stood out a bit more than the other defensemen in a negative way. They provided little to no offense, and had some rough moments on defense.
• Dumb penalties. Most of the penalties the team took were unnecessary. For example Niehus, who was invisible on offense, but pretty good dfensively, took a really stupid penalty in the third, by kicking a loose stick away from the Slovak player who was trying to pick it up.
• Too few offensive threats. There is Sumpf and Ruckdäschel, Lewandowski showed a little bit and so did Händel who played as a bit of a rover at couple of times, Pul wasn't bad, but I expected more.

Mixed bag:

• They don't really fit in as positives or negatives, but the 07s were a bit of both. Lewandowski and Händel undoubtedly belong on this team, but it's not like they are able to dominate already. Their youth clearly showed, as it did with Schäfer, who I barely noticed, and Kose who showed maybe a glimpse here and there, but I don't think either one of them will be able to contribute much.
• Nico Pertuch in goal looked a bit shaky when the Slovaks moved the puck quickly, but as long as the defense in front of him took away cross-ice passes he was mostly solid. Not sure I trust his ability to track the puck, but he is a big kid and takes away a lot of net (if he stays in it).

Anyway, those were my thoughts on the game.

Great recap. Thanks so much!

 

[Jason80]

Considering the overall skill level I was a bit disappointed from both sides. But I'm sure this will improve over the next matches and training sessions. The slovaks had problems with scoring too but they we're a bit lucky with those penaltys which led to a 5 on 3. The first one against Schäfer was questionable in my eyes

I also realized the lack of speed on our side except for Sumpf, Händel and Ruckdäschel. Boos was almost invisible and I hope that Abstreiter will give Kose more ice time and play Brandl together with Seidl and Schwarz next time.

My biggest concern: Some players really have problems with their skating. There were several situations where someone stumbled and fell down without any opponent close to him.

 

[Maverick41]

The second pre-tournament game (vs. Slovakia again) is coming up this evening 7pm CET.
I don't know if it's going to be geo-blocked anywhere, but here is the link.