WC: May 5 GDT - Germany vs. Switzerland

[danista]

Germany wasn't that bad in the first two periods, the game was evenly matched there but after the 3-1 the Germans gave themselves up and played a horrible last period.
I think this WC shows that there still is not enough depth in german hockey. We're not able to replace players like Sturm, Ustorf and Lüdemann. Also i think poss didn't prepared the team will (powerplay).

 

[Strizzi]

I couldn't see the game, they broadcasted Canada vs. US. Could someone tell me how this could happen. Was there at least someone on the German team that looked good?

The Hecht-Goc-Kreutzer line was quite dangerous at times, especially Kreutzer. The rest of the team was quite bad though. As a Sharks fan, I was especially disappointed with Ehrhoff, who let the puck to over the blue line a couple of times in playoffs and was dragged out of position before the second Swiss goal.

 

[Sanderson]

I don't agree regarding Benda. Although he obviously never intended to slash Conne in the face, that was exactly the kind of careless play that should be dealt with.

Concerning the disallowed goal, Streit barely touched Martinec and he made no effort to leave the crease, so in my opinion that was a good call as well.

That said, you may have a point regarding officiating. Switzerland made many dumb fouls, and the ref, trying to call an equal number of penalties against both teams, made some questionnable calls against Germany.

Still, Switzerland was way better tonight. The german defensemen's lack of puckhandling skills led to way too many missed passes, and the swiss players constantly outworked the germans in one on one battles.

Actually, I agreed that the call against Benda was correct

If it only were the defence, the whole team was horrendous in their puckhandling "tries". I haven't seen a team lose so many pucks or make so many bad passes in a long time. And that says a lot, because my hometeam had some really bad games, and I mean really, really bad...

Germany rarely got into great scoring positions, the forwards were never fast enough to run past the defensemen, so they had to go to the boards.
If they somehow managed to have an odd-man rush they mishandled it. After being shut out by Gerber last year, they should know that you can't just shove the puck at the side of the net, you either go five hole or aim high, because it's not like you come in good shooting positions that often...

 

[ts11]

Well, I don't think the Swiss or other "medicore" hockey countries have a much superior depth. And this team should have been strong enough for a battle for the next round instead the relegation round. But the system and the way they lined up is just bs IMO. The German strenght was their D, their will and power. The Siwss are for sure the better puckhandler, better skater and this year we tried to play like them. Sad but true, we're not ready, yet. The best game up to now was the Cze-Ger game, where they played like they did in the past. So, back to the roots?

Oh, congratulations to the Swiss and good luck against the bigger ones

 

[stv11]

Well, I don't think the Swiss or other "medicore" hockey countries have a much superior depth.

I think that Switzerland has a better player depth than Germany, thanks to the four import players limit in the swiss league which makes it easier for swiss players to get ice time. On the other hand, the fact that german players have a hard way to earn their ice time helps them to reach their full potential and to eventually make it to the NHL.

 

[Hellström]

Guess what? I miss Zach. Yeah, we only played Defense but at least the players showed more will, more... I don't know, spirtit? Something's really missing .

I second that....just pissed about the lack of system and determination and that wouldn´t have happened under Zach...
Jonas has been awful, really awful, but congrats to the (way) better team - Switzerland.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

The Swiss team is simply more experienced right now. No question about it.

They unfortunately have to face the US in the next round - a big task!

As for the Germans, for cryin' out loud, they have 5 Dmen under 24 and several forwards younger as well playing their first international tournament.

It shouldn't be such a surprise that this particular troop is having problems. The Germans have been thoroughly unentertaining thus far and their lack of precise passing and of any PP whatsoever has been infuriating.

Tough game tomorrow against the hometown Austrians after this disappointing loss and surely a night of sleeplessness.

 

[ALF AmericanLionsFan]

Disappointing loss today Hopefully they can pull it together somehow tomorrow against Austria. I'm not feeling too good about that either. Wow 3 games and only 2 goals

 

[ts11]

The Swiss team is simply more experienced right now. No question about it.

They unfortunately have to face the US in the next round - a big task!

As for the Germans, for cryin' out loud, they have 5 Dmen under 24 and several forwards younger as well playing their first international tournament.

It shouldn't be such a surprise that this particular troop is having problems. The Germans have been thoroughly unentertaining thus far and their lack of precise passing and of any PP whatsoever has been infuriating.

Tough game tomorrow against the hometown Austrians after this disappointing loss and surely a night of sleeplessness.

Well,one of my problems is, that soo many German players had a career high or confirmed a career high in the DEL this season. So their performance is very disappointing, speaking of Lewandowski, Kreutzer, Boos, ... Ehrhoff also played beyond his abilities, so did Kopitz and Jonas. And it's not like it's the first time we have a young team and like we have no core. Many of our young forwards played at least their second big world championship, so did Ehrhoff, Retzer, Renz.
And my bigger problem is the lack of a convincing system. Poss wanne play like we're the Swiss, but too many players lacks the speed, the puckhandling, the passing abilities. And it's funny, when they played the old D-first style they played really well, just missed the goal.
It's not alone that they have to go to the relegation round, that can happen. That could also happen with Zach. It's more the way they got in this situation. They showed more enthusiasm, more power in the past, so the games were closer.

Well, lets look forward to the next game today, I hope they finally can win.

 

[Strizzi]

They unfortunately have to face the US in the next round - a big task!

No, we won't.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

No, we won't.

You're right. I misunderstood the qualifying round. Sorry about that!

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Well,one of my problems is, that soo many German players had a career high or confirmed a career high in the DEL this season. So their performance is very disappointing, speaking of Lewandowski, Kreutzer, Boos, ... Ehrhoff also played beyond his abilities, so did Kopitz and Jonas. And it's not like it's the first time we have a young team and like we have no core. Many of our young forwards played at least their second big world championship, so did Ehrhoff, Retzer, Renz.
And my bigger problem is the lack of a convincing system. Poss wanne play like we're the Swiss, but too many players lacks the speed, the puckhandling, the passing abilities. And it's funny, when they played the old D-first style they played really well, just missed the goal.
It's not alone that they have to go to the relegation round, that can happen. That could also happen with Zach. It's more the way they got in this situation. They showed more enthusiasm, more power in the past, so the games were closer.

Well, lets look forward to the next game today, I hope they finally can win.

I agree. The Germans have no business trying to play as though they can run and gun. They don't have the skill. They can only sit back, defend, be rough, and score on counterattacks. Anything other than that is being unrealistic. That's how they have to do it. In addition, it's obvious that they haven't replaced what a guy like Soccio brought a couple of years ago. There's really no standout playmaker.

Now they have to take it to the teams in the relegation round. Damn, beating Denmark or even Austria after playing last night ain't gonna be easy!

 

[Sanderson]

I think Germany can play an offensive style, just not with this roster.

Add Schubert, Seidenberg, Lüdemann, Ustorf, Sturm and Hackert to this roster and it could work. A Kölzig at his best or even a Seliger from 2-3 years ago would really help as well.

It seems like the success of 2001 and 2002 hurt our chances a bit. We lost the leaders because they retired and we lost the talents, because they left for North America.