Dhe dream of another Olympic medal for the national ice hockey team has burst. The team ended unexpectedly early in Beijing: The Germans lost 4-0 to Slovakia (1-0, 2-0, 1-0) and were eliminated in the qualifying round for the quarter-finals without a hitch. It was the third defeat in the fourth game of the competition, which is now entering its decisive phase without them. The Slovaks meet the United States this Wednesday, while the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB), headed by national coach Toni Söderholm, has to pack its bags for the journey home in the Olympic Village. Four years ago in Pyeongchang, the Germans had won silver.
At the National Indoor Stadium on Tuesday, they didn’t get the start they had hoped for. And it never became real. There was almost non-stop traffic in front of goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger, who had returned between the posts. The Germans, who won a test match against the Slovaks 5:3 after arriving in China last week, hardly got a chance to attack. Niederberger clarified quickly against Peter Zuzin (6th minute). The keeper also had no chance to defend himself when defender Jonas Müller deflected a brilliant cross into an untenable manner (12′). The goal to make it 0:1 was credited to Libor Hudacek, because the ice hockey regulations do not recognize own goals.
Until the middle of the first third, the shy Germans fired only one noteworthy shot at the Slovakian goal, but Nicolas Krämmer aimed over it (10′); all in all they only had a measly 21 shots on goal later on. In the fourth match on the unfamiliar small ice surface, their running paths didn’t seem coordinated, there were repeated icing actions that resulted in a face-off in their own third – and conjured up new dangers. The Slovaks, who are mostly not used to the cramped conditions, which are based on the dimensions of the NHL, were much more skilful.
At noon in Beijing, only Niederberger left a wide awake impression in the middle section – in contrast to many teammates. On several occasions, which almost inevitably came about as a result of the opponent’s superiority in play, the keeper intervened to clarify. Matthias Plachta destroyed the advantage of the first majority situation after only 18 seconds; the attacker lost the disc in forward gear and then tripped an approaching Slovak. His mishap resulted in a 2-minute suspension, which in turn was punished 18 seconds later: Peter Cehlarik scored the 0:2 (28th). And things immediately got worse for Söderholm’s team: Michael Kristof went on to make it 3-0 (29′), and Niederberger couldn’t hold back there either.
With that, the duel, which according to the national coach should have been one of equals, but in which the Germans had to give in early on in all respects, was over – even though not even half of the season was over. The faces of the men in black, red and gold on the bench reflected sheer horror. They, who openly talked about wanting to completely leave the competition behind at this tournament, really hadn’t imagined their stay in Asia to be this way. But even if they then struggled to avert defeat with discernible zeal, they had to accept the truth, please. They tried to bang their heads through the wall too often, which gave the Slovakians, who defended attentively, little trouble to keep the lead. Instead, Marek Hrivik followed up with an emty net goal to clear the final score (58th).
