Is the Nati now mature enough for the German derby?

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In the seventh game of the World Cup, the Nati conceded their first defeat to Latvia (3:4 aet). While the hosts fight for the point they need to reach the quarter-finals with a knife between their teeth, national coach Patrick Fischer drops NHL forwards Nico Hischier, Nino Niederreiter and Denis Malgin as well as ZSC defender Dean Kukan and gives the Biel- goalie Joren van Pottelberghe makes his World Cup debut. After all, the Swiss had already secured the group victory. So there is no lack of commitment, but there is consistency and concentration.

About six hours before the game it was already clear who the Nati would compete in the quarterfinals: Germany. Once more. Like two years ago, when the Swiss – who also played in Riga – led 2-0, then lost courage, conceded the equalizer at the last minute and lost in a shoot-out.

Failed entrance exam

Blick wrote about an entrance exam for that derby. The national team failed to do so at the time. Now she will have to prove that she has matured enough in those two years and that she can bravely play her game when she has something to lose.

Since that sobering bankruptcy, the Nati had not let anything burn in group matches until yesterday and they also defeated the Germans a year ago (see box on the right). But then in Helsinki it wasn’t all or nothing in the neighborhood duel, it was all about winning the group and prestige. Two days later, the Swiss lost in the quarterfinals to the USA (0:3).

“In my entire past as a player and coach, I have more good than bad memories of the games against Germany,” says Fischer. “Two years ago we gave up the game. That hurts. Since then we have grown and so have you. We respect them. But they also know that we play good hockey.”

German NHL power

Just like the Swiss, who have three of the most prominent World Cup players on board with Hischier, Kevin Fiala (scored for the first time yesterday) and Niederreiter, the Germans can count on top players from the NHL, even if superstar Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton ) and Tim Stützle (Ottawa) and Seattle goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer are missing.

On the one hand, there is defender Moritz Seider. The 22-year-old from the Detroit Red Wings plays with incredible coolness and nonchalance. He sharpens the game. And if you’re not paying attention, don’t be surprised if the six-foot-tall star hits you with a diamond on the seat of your pants.

In 2021, while playing for Rögle, he was voted the best defender in the Swedish league and the World Cup. The following season, he was awarded the Calder Trophy for the NHL’s top freshman. Many experts were amazed when Detroit had already drawn him in sixth place in the NHL draft in 2019.

Seider had initially canceled for the World Cup. However, after a month’s break, he felt “completely healthy” again and reported that he needed to “scrape the rust off a bit” and get back to work.

In addition to Seider, two other NHL reinforcements shape the game with strikers JJ Peterka (Buffalo) and Nico Sturm (San Jose), the latter of whom won the Stanley Cup with Colorado.

Three unfortunate defeats

Unlike the Swiss, it was not the victories that boosted confidence, as Seider stressed. It was rather the three unfortunate defeats against the top teams Sweden (0:1), Finland (3:4) and USA (2:3) at the start. After that, the Germans, in Seider’s words, “had the gun to their chest”, because they had to win all the games. After winning the key game against Denmark, Austria, Hungary and France were also beaten despite faltering defenses.

As with the Swiss, whose demands and goals grew organically after the World Cup finals in 2013 and 2018, the Germans have also been aiming for the big coup since the 2018 Olympic silver medal when they knocked out the national team. The goal was the quarterfinals. Sturm had already said before his first World Cup: “It can also be more if it’s up to me.” Of course, NHL players don’t just extend their seasons to play the group games and quarterfinals. The Germans are no different from the Swiss.

“Internally, we have said with the team that we want maximum success – no matter what it looks like,” said German-Canadian national coach Harold Kreis (64). The two-time Swiss champion coach (2006 Lugano, 2008 ZSC Lions) took over mid-season when Toni Söderholm left for Bern.

The Germans, who rarely start the race with an inferiority complex anyway, are very confident after four wins in a row. Striker Marcel Noebels says: “We have completed the mandatory task. But our journey has only just begun. We played really well and improved from game to game. Today we can have a broad chest.” And he shot a poisoned arrow in the direction of the neighbor: “I’m looking forward to the game and I think the Swiss are not looking forward to it either.”

It remains to be seen who will end the journey on Thursday and who will compete for the medals in Tampere.

Source : Blick