The plight of injuries in the German national ice hockey team just before the start of the World Cup continues. The new national coach Harold Kreis now has to do without the experienced striker Yasin Ehliz from the German champions EHC Red Bull Munich. This was announced by the German Ice Hockey Federation. This means that the national team is now missing almost 15 top performers at the World Cup in Finland and Latvia, which begins on Friday.
“Everyone wanted to be here. But it is how it is. Our focus is now on the squad that is here,” said DEB sports director Christian Künast of the German Press Agency about the many cancellations due to injuries.
Reinforcements from North America?
However, Künast held out the prospect of AHL defenders Kai Wissmann and Leon Gawanke participating in the World Cup: “It looks very positive. However, there are still details to be clarified.” Both players were eliminated with their teams in the playoffs of the second-rate North American professional league.
In addition to Ehliz, Patrick Hager and Matthias Plachta, two other Olympic silver medalists from 2018, had already canceled due to injuries. In addition, there are the NHL top players Moritz Seider and Tim Stützle as well as the former NHL professionals Korbinian Holzer, Tom Kühnhackl and Tobias Rieder, who are not at the World Cup this time.
Nevertheless, Künast is convinced of a good World Cup performance. “We have a very good squad. Everyone is doing very well. The intensity and quality is very high. We’re looking forward to the World Cup,” said Künast.
