After the crushing 6-1 defeat against Sweden, German national coach Harry Kreis (65) appeared composed on the outside. But back at the team hotel, things took a dramatic turn. Kreis gave the team a serious dressing-down. Enough is enough!
The team didn’t call it a night immediately after arriving at the hotel on Monday evening around 11:30 PM. Instead, there was a tense team meeting with a visibly frustrated national coach. The loss needed to be thoroughly analyzed.
Kreis stated, “We allowed thirty-five shots in forty minutes. That’s way too much. We need to focus on our strengths and virtues now, which are fighting spirit and commitment. Against Sweden, we lost too many one-on-one battles in the first two periods. We also have a psychologist with us, but I don’t need him; I’m the coach.”
The players were also self-critical following the disaster against Sweden.
Jonas Müller (Eisbären Berlin) admitted, “We weren’t ready from the start, always a step too slow, and we lost the one-on-one battles. We should have taken more shots on goal. If you don’t work hard enough, the opponent will punish you.”
Captain Moritz Müller (Kölner Haie) added, “We’re all playing a bit inhibited, carrying the baggage from last year. We’re allowing too many shots and need to come together as a group. We also need to approach it with more fun. It wasn’t due to a lack of effort, I can promise that.”
Mo. Müller further explained, “We go to the locker room and everyone drinks water first. A day before the game, beer doesn’t make sense.”
However, there was a positive outlook: “Guys, the World Championship starts NOW.”
A win against Latvia on Wednesday (4:20 PM, ProSieben, MagentaSport, Deutschland.TV) is now a must. Ideally, the team should aim for four wins from the remaining four games against Latvia, Kazakhstan, Poland, and France. Three wins might also be enough to reach the quarterfinals.
