National ice hockey team: DEB selection loses opening thriller at the Germany Cup

The national ice hockey team botched the start of the Germany Cup. The team of national coach Harold Kreis lost to Denmark in Landshut after a penalty shootout with 5:6 (4:3, 1:1, 0:1). In the first match, Slovakia, Germany’s next opponent on Saturday (6 p.m./MagentaSport), won 1-0 against Austria.

Almost five months after the World Cup defeat against Switzerland, the German Ice Hockey Association’s selection was extremely flawed, especially in defense. Andreas Eder curiously gave Denmark the lead with an own goal. The Munich player missed the puck just in front of his own goal and keeper Maximilian Franzreb was no longer able to intervene (3rd minute). When Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup made it 0-2, the Bremerhaven goalkeeper didn’t cut a good figure (9th).

No experiments in Landshut

In view of the few test options before the 2026 Olympics, Kreis decided not to experiment. With the two-time Stanley Cup champion and native of Landshut Tom Kühnhackl (Adler Mannheim) and Patrick Hager (EHC Red Bull Munich), two veterans made their comeback after more than two years of absence from DEB. In the early stages, the two leaders didn’t make any mistakes either.

An individual performance from Cologne’s Justin Schütz brought the district team back into the game in front of 2,238 spectators (9th). Denmark scored again just ten seconds later, after which the Germans dominated. Daniel Schmölz from ERC Ingolstadt scored two goals (12th/18th) to make it 3-3. Captain Hager was responsible for the first lead in the first half (19th).

As strong as the Germans were on the offensive, they remained vulnerable in front of their own goal. Nick Olesen scored far too easily to make it 4:4 (24th). Lean Bergmann, who was the only one of numerous top performers from Meister Eisbären Berlin to travel to Landshut, not only received a 5-minute penalty after a check, but was also excluded from the game. When outnumbered, Stefan Loibl from Mannheim was successful after Kühnhackl’s assist (33rd).

After Olesen equalized again for the upcoming World Cup hosts to make it 5:5 (46th), the Dane also decided the penalty shootout.