WC: Team Germany 2019

[ebergeist]

DEB will hold a press conference today about the NHL players, let‘s keep our fingers grossed.

 

[kalle wirsch]

Pos	Nr.	Name	Vorname	Geburts.	Team	LS
		Torhüter
T	31	TREUTLE	Niklas	29.04.1991	Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers	24
T	32	STRAHLMEIER	Dustin	17.05.1992	Wild Wings Schwenningen	5
T	35	NIEDERBERGER	Mathias	26.11.1992	Düsseldorfer EG	28
		Verteidiger
V	5	HOLZER	Korbinian	16.02.1988	Anaheim Ducks	52
V	11	NOWAK	Marco	23.07.1990	Düsseldorfer EG	18
V	13	DASCHNER	Stephan	05.08.1988	Straubing Tigers	28
V	19	SCHOPPER	Benedikt	18.02.1985	Straubing Tigers	15
V	38	WAGNER	Fabio	17.09.1995	ERC Ingolstadt	14
V	41	MÜLLER	Jonas	19.11.1995	Eisbären Berlin	33
V	53	SEZEMSKY	Simon	28.06.1993	Augsburger Panther	7
V	91	MÜLLER	Moritz	19.11.1986	Kölner Haie	140
		Stürmer
S	15	LOIBL	Stefan	24.06.1996	Straubing Tigers	19
S	18	PFOHL	Fabio	18.10.1995	Kölner Haie	5
S	26	BOKK	Dominik	03.02.2000	Växjö Lakers	4
S	29	DRAISAITL	Leon	27.10.1995	Edmonton Oilers	45
S	39	ELSNER	David	22.03.1992	ERC Ingolstadt	6
S	43	FAUSER	Gerrit	13.07.1989	Grizzlys Wolfsburg	42
S	54	BERGMANN	Lean	04.10.1998	Iserlohn Roosters	9
S	59	WOHLGEMUTH	Tim	22.07.1999	ERC Ingolstadt	4
S	65	MICHAELIS	Marc	31.07.1995	Minnesota State Univ	19
S	72	KAHUN	Dominik	02.07.1995	Chicago Blackhawks	51
S	83	PFÖDERL	Leo	01.09.1993	Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers	31
S	92	NOEBELS	Marcel	14.03.1992	Eisbären Berlin	67
S	95	TIFFELS	Frederik	20.05.1995	Kölner Haie	30

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[kalle wirsch]

Nothing new on Rieder

 

[Maverick41]

Can't say I agree with cutting Tuomie at this point, and also thought Ziegler played pretty well.
But that is still a pretty good roster for now.

 

[ebergeist]

Can't say I agree with cutting Tuomie at this point, and also thought Ziegler played pretty well.
But that is still a pretty good roster for now.

I was surprised with this as well, he was quite good with Michaelis and Bokk.

 

[Maverick41]

I was surprised with this as well, he was quite good with Michaelis and Bokk.

Yes, and I was surprised, when Söderholm split those three up and played Bokk and Tuomie with Loibl and Michaelis alongside Pföderl and Bergmann.

I am a little surprised that Tim Wohlgemuth is still there, but it should be a nice experience for him, though I don't think he will make the next cut.

 

[kalle wirsch]

From the forwards only Fauser and Elsner are older than 25.The future looks good

 

[Retroglyphs]

So, Söderholm's team now has entered phase 3 of the WHC preparation, anticipating the arrival of our three NHL dudes Leon "Dr. Drai" Draisaitl, Dominik Kahún and Korbinian Holzer in training camp on Easter Monday.
Also joining will be defenders Moritz Müller & Simon Sezemsky, and forwards Frederik Tiffels and Fabio Pfohl from the DEL-teams Cologne Sharks and Augsburg Panthers.

The eight players not making the cut were Dominik Bittner (D), Kai Wissmann (D), Marcus Weber (D), Sven Ziegler (RW), Parker Tuomie (RW), Marcel Kurth (RW) and surprisingly silver medalist Björn Krupp (D) and Mirko Höfflin (C) who both were part of last year's national team in Herning.

This leaves us currently with:

Offense (locked spots: 9/13, if the Islanders get eliminated in round 2 of the NHL POs and Kühnhackl joins as well, with 11 players vying for the remaining 4 spots) :

Centre
#29 Leon Draisaitl (C) -L- RS: 82GP - 50G - 55A - 105P - 52PM - +2
#72 Dominik Kahún (C) -L- RS: 82GP - 13G - 24A - 37P - 6PM - -2
#50 Patrick Hager (C) -L- RS: 37GP - 6G - 14A - 20P - 82PM - +5 ; 15GP - 2G - 6A - 8P - 41PM - -3
#43 Gerrit Fauser (C) -L- RS: 38GP - 7G - 12A - 19P - 10PM - -6
...
#65 Marc Michaelis (C) -L- RS: 42GP - 19G - 23A - 42P - 25PM - +20
#15 Stefan Loibl (C) -L- RS: 52GP - 21G - 17A - 38P - 4PM - +10 ; PO: 2G - 0G - 1A - 1 P - 0PM - -2
#17 Nico Sturm (C) -L- RS: 41GP - 14G - 31A - 45P - 29PM - +23 (apparently not joining due to college duties)
...
#18 Fabio Pfohl (C) -L- RS: 46GP - 8G - 27A - 35P - 24PM - -7 ; PO: 9G - 1G - 3 A - 4P - 18PM - -1

Leftwing
#42 Yasin Ehliz (LW/RW) -L- RS: 39GP - 10G - 5A - 15P - 38PM - +3 ; PO: 15G - 2G - 5A - 7P - 12PM - +1
#92 Marcel Noebels (LW/C) -L- RS: 49GP - 9G - 25A - 34P - 24PM - -1 ; PO: 8GP - 2G - 4A - 6P - 8PM - +2
...
#89 David Wolf (LW/RW) -L- RS: 45GP - 15G - 20A - 35P - 70PM - +20 ; PO: 11G - 2G - 2A - 4P - 20PM - +1
#95 Frederik Tiffels (LW) -L- RS: 27GP - 6G - 16A - 22P - 14PM - +/-0 ; PO: 11G - 4G - 5A - 9P - 6PM - +/-0
#54 Lean Bergmann (LW/RW) -L- RS: 50GP - 20G - 9A - 29P - 87PM - -8
...
#59 Tim Wohlgemuth - (LW/C) -L- RS: 42GP - 2G - 3A - 5P - 12PM - -1 ; PO: 7GP - 3G - 1A - 0PM - +2

Rightwing
#58 Markus Eisenschmid (RW/C) -R- RS: 50GP - 20G - 22A - 42P - 30PM - +12 ; PO: 11GP - 8G - 3A - 11P - +3
#26 Dominik Bokk (RW/LW) -R- RS: 47GP - 8G - 15A - 23P - 10PM - -1 ; PO: 6GP - 2G - 1A - 3P - 0PM - +/-0
#14 Tom Kühnhackl (RW/LW) -L- RS: 37GP - 6G - 6A - 12P - 10PM - +4 ; PO: 4GP - 0G - 2A - 2P - 2PM - +1
...
#83 Leonhard Pföderl (RW/LW) -R- RS: 51GP - 17G - 17A - 34P - 18PM - +1 ; PO: 8GP - 2G - 0A - 2P - 2PM - -7
#22 Matthias Plachta (RW/C) -L- RS: 40GP - 16G - 16A - 32P - 18PM - +22 ; PO: 11GP - 2G - 6A - 8P - 10PM - +1
#28 Frank Mauer (RW) -R- RS: 52GP - 15G - 16A - 31P - 18PM - +18 ; PO: 15GP - 4G - 2A - 6P - 4PM - +6
...
#39 David Elsner (RW) -R- RS: 50GP - 15G - 14A - 29P - 18PM - +5 ; PO: 7GP - 3G - 1A - 4P - 2PM - +/-0
...
#12 Brooks Macek (RW/C) -R- RS: 64GP - 26G - 34A - 60P - 12PM - +22 (since March: hand/wrist injury)
#8 Tobias Rieder (RW/LW) -L- RS: 67GP - 0G - 11A - 11P - 8PM - -8 (awaiting decision)
#59 Manuel Wiederer (RW/C) -R- RS: 39GP - 9G - 7A - 16P -16PM - +7 (Calder Cup POs, unclear why omitted so far)

Defense (locked spots 4/8, if Yannic Seidenberg is still available for the national team, with 8 players vying for the remaining 4 spots):

#5 Korbinian Holzer (RD) -R- RS: 34GP - 3G - 6A - 9P - 12PM - +12
#36 Yannic Seidenberg (LD) -L- RS: 52GP - 10G - 17A - 27P -38PM - +18 ; PO: 14GP - 0G - 3A - 3P - 20PM - -3
#91 Moritz Müller (LD) -L- RS: 35GP - 1G - 9A - 10P - 38PM - +1 ; PO: 10GP - 0G - 2A - 2P - 20PM - -1
#53 Moritz Seider (RD) -R- RS: 29GP - 2G - 4A - 6P - 8PM - +2 ; PO: 11GP - 0G - 3A - 3P - 0PM - +4
...
#82 Sinan Akdag (LD) -L- RS: 52GP - 3G - 24A - 27P - 36PM - +28 ; PO: 11GP - 0G - 2A - 2P - 12PM - +11
#41 Jonas Müller (LD) -L- RS: 37GP - 5G - 5A - 10P - 34PM - -8 ; PO: 10GP - 0G - 0A - 0P - 10PM - +/-0
#7 Daryl Boyle (RD) -R- RS: 45GP - 4G - 9A - 13P - 12PM - +9 ; PO: 15GP - 1G - 2A - 3P - 2PM - +2
#53 Simon Sezemsky (RD) -R- RS: 49GP - 10G - 15A - 25P - 20PM - +5 ; PO: 14GP - 3G - 4A - 7P -6PM - +3
#13 Stephan Daschner (LD) -R- RS: 45 - 3G - 16A - 19P - 22PM - +12 ; PO: 2GP - 1G - 0A - 1P - 0PM - -1
#11 Marco Nowak (RD) -R- RS: 51GP - 4G - 15A - 19P - 24PM - +1 ; PO: 7GP - 0G - 2A - 2P 6PM 12PM -6
...
#19 Benedikt Schopper (RD) -R-RS: 47GP - 1G - 7A - 8P - 53PM - +2 ; PO: 2GP - 0G - 0A - 0P - 2PM - -2
#38 Fabio Wagner (LD) -L- RS: 52G - 2G - 8A - 10P - 28PM - +1 ; 4GP - 0G - 0A - 0P - 0PM - +/-0

Goal (locked spots 3/3, depending on Islanders/Avs progress in the NHL POs, one or two goalies out of the quartet Niederberger, aus den Birken, Endras and Strahlmeier would join the team):

#1 Thomas Greiss (G) -CL- RS: 43GP - 2.28GAA - SVS% 92,4%
#30 Philipp Grubauer (G) -CL- RS: 35GP - 2.35GAA - SVS% 91,7% ; PO: 5GP - 1.89GAA - SVS% 93,9%
#31 Niklas Treutle (G) -CL- RS: 35GP - 2.85GAA - SVS% 91,1% ; PO: 7GP - 3.49GAA - SVS% 90,4%
...
#35 Mathias Niederberger (G) -CL- RS: 33GP - 2.19GAA - SVS% 92,9% ; PO: 7GP - 3.15GAA - SVS% 88,5%
#33 Danny aus den Birken (G) -CL- RS: 37GP - 1.91GAA - SVS% 92,6% ; PO: 15GP - 1.62GAA - SVS% 93,6%
#44 Dennis Endras (G) -CL- RS: 30GP - 2.25GAA - SVS% 90,1% ; PO: 11GP - 1.58GAA - SVS% 92,7%
...
#32 Dustin Strahlmeier (G) -CL- RS: 45GP - 2.78GAA - SVS% 91,4%

This team looks much stronger than our equipe in 2018. That is mostly due to more offensive options at centre and rightwing, while our defense looks less experienced than during the years before, but sees the arrival of a young potential elite defender in Moritz Seider. In goal we need to be lucky as always, and hope that one of our NHL guys is able to join.

At centre, we have both - quality and good depth, as reliable fourth-liner Gerrit Fauser returns to the lineup, and young players like Marc Michaelis and Stefan Loibl are likely to make the final roster.

Our rightwing looks stronger than ever with red-hot playmaking forwards Markus Eisenschmid and Dominik Bokk (both right-handed shots), and power forward Leo Pföderl returning from injury. It seems likely we'll have more rightwings than leftwings, as proven internationals Matthias Plachta and Frank Mauer, who've played a strong season with Mannheim, will make their case for another WHC participation.

On the leftwing Frederik Tiffels and Lean Bergmann will fight with routinier and silver medalist David Wolf for possibly only one (third) roster spot, assuming that Marcel Noebels is a lock like Yasin Ehliz.

Our defense doesn't look as bad as I initially thought, as I had been wrongly supposing that Yannic Seidenberg had quit playing for the national team. Apparently he hasn't: Neuer Eishockey-Bundestrainer: Yannic Seidenberg ist Fan von Toni Söderholm
I'm convinced that projected top draft pick Moritz Seider will be a lock, which leaves 4 spots open at the blueline. The first 3 could be taken by Jonas Müller, Sinan Akdag and possibly Simon Sezemsky, who then would be the third right-handed defender on the team, and a guy providing some offense. 8th defender could be one out the duo from Düsseldorfer EG - Marco Nowak or Stephan Daschner, who both scored during the exhibition games vs. SVK and CZE, or Pyeongchang silver medalist Daryl Boyle, if he gets an invitation.

In goal, a lot depends on the progress (or rather decline) of the NY Islanders and Colorado Avalanche in the NHL playoffs. Fortunately, they'll both meet strong opposition very soon (likely the Caps and the Golden Knights), and I think at least one of them won't make it to the Conference Finals (preferably the Isles, because then we'll likely add 2 NHL'ers).
In that best case-scenario, Niklas Treutle, who is our current No.1, would then be a decent backup. If no NHL-goalie becomes available, I'd definitely prefer one out of the very experienced duo of Danny aus den Birken and Dennis Endras as the third goalie alongside Treutle and Niederberger.
To be honest, Dustin Strahlmeier hasn't convinced me during the exhibition games - I expect him to get scratched after the matches vs. Team Austria.

 

[Albatros]

Tuomie and Sturm have university duties and aren't coming because of that.

 

[kalle wirsch]

Macek and Wiederer are still in the PO.Both didn't play the last weeks.I guess they have serious injuries.Kühnhackl ,apart from still in the PO, is in the same situation like Rieder .I would be surprised if he comes.Greiss won't come for political reasons.
I think Dennis Reul is a serious alternative for the defence.Freddy Tiffels and Frank Mauer will be in team for sure.

 

[KahunWOW]

Anyone else liking the odds on Germany to win the World Championships (+6000; 60/1; 61)? Of course it is unlikely that they are going to win, but semi-finals are possible with this line-up imo (+hopefully Grubauer).

 

[Retroglyphs]

Macek and Wiederer are still in the PO.Both didn't play the last weeks.I guess they have serious injuries.Kühnhackl ,apart from still in the PO, is in the same situation like Rieder .I would be surprised if he comes.Greiss won't come for political reasons.
I think Dennis Reul is a serious alternative for the defence.Freddy Tiffels and Frank Mauer will be in team for sure.

Yeah, I don't expect Macek and Wiederer to join the team.
On Kühnhackl being in the same situation as Rieder, I beg to disagree. Other than Rieder, Kühnhackl plays a good role on his team, and is part of the success. He's actually one of the best role players in the league, and will very likely sign a new NHL contract.

 

[ebergeist]

I find it strange that Rieder believes that he has a better change of getting an NHL deal without playing in the tournament, good showing in the tournament would probably land him a better deal.

Maybe he is still worried about getting injured or something.

 

[Albatros]

I suppose Rieder is not going to get a dream deal regardless as there's nothing really unique about a versatile depth guy, can understand him playing it safe and not losing the few offers he's going to have on the table now because of an injury.

 

[Maverick41]

I think Bokk has a very good chance, but I still don't think he is a lock, though close to it.
And I would be very surprised if Seider made the team. Yes, he is incredibly talented, but this was/is a long season for him and he was already injured twice. And there are other players who are, right now, just as good or even better than he is.

Another forward who could be an alternative, if Hershey gets eliminated from the playoffs, is Maxi Kammerer.

I would probably use Kahun on the wing and take Michaelis to play center.

 

[Retroglyphs]

I think Bokk has a very good chance, but I still don't think he is a lock, though close to it.
And I would be very surprised if Seider made the team. Yes, he is incredibly talented, but this was/is a long season for him and he was already injured twice. And there are other players who are, right now, just as good or even better than he is.

Another forward who could be an alternative, if Hershey gets eliminated from the playoffs, is Maxi Kammerer.

I would probably use Kahun on the wing and take Michaelis to play center.

Yes, I think it's likely that Michaelis again makes the team, and that he might centre a line.
However, given that Michaelis has shown great chemistry with Bokk so far, I think those two will stay together and possibly form a line together with a more physical player on the other wing (Hager? Ehliz? Bergmann?), and not another dangler like Kahún.

On Seider, you're right - playing in the top three pairings might be still a too big task to shoulder for him. But who knows... maybe Söderholm likes to have him as the 8th defender on the team, allowing him to play limited minutes in order to advance his development. A bit like Grönborg used Dahlin at the Olympics. Also, he's a big body, and a right-handed shot - another two good arguments to have him on the team.

But Maxi Kammerer? Didn't he play an awful season? I doubt he'll get a call.

 

[ebergeist]

Kammerer has been a healthy scratch most of the season, I would be surprised if he got a call.

 

[Maverick41]

Kammerer has been a healthy scratch most of the season, I would be surprised if he got a call.

Yet, last year Freddy Tiffels played most of the time in the ECHL and played only 12 games in the AHL, but he still made the team. But of course he had shown the year before that he could play at that level, which certainly helped him because Sturm knew what Tiffels had to offer.

What I don't get about Kammerer's season is why he did not get to play more.
When he played, he played very limited minutes and struggled with that apparently. Towards the end of the season he got a few chances to play more minutes and even got a shot on the power play and then he had 4 points in 6 games.

It seems likely that he will return to Düsseldorf after the season. Allegedly he was never told why he wasn't playing or what he should do or work on in order to play more. Similar to what Yasin Ehliz experienced.

Whether he gets a call or not, I would not be surprised either way. I think if he had been available right away, he would have been invited just so Söderholm could see what he got with him, but it is definitely less likely that he will be given a spot now that the tournament is getting really close and there aren't many exhibition games left. But I think it is really too bad how things went for him, because I like his game a lot.

 

[Retroglyphs]

@Maverick41
Kammerer and Ehliz are two of my favourite players, and undoubtedly elite players in the DEL and at the european level. But in spite of the fact that both had a tough time in the AHL (and particularly Ehliz would have deserved a closer look by the Stockton Heat), I think they would never have made it to the NHL. Same category as David Wolf, Matthias Plachta, Philip Gogulla and Marcel Müller. So, expect Maxi Kammerer to develop into a force in the DEL.

 

[Eye of Ra]

If Barta wanted to play he would be 2C ?

 

[Retroglyphs]

If Barta wanted to play he would be 2C ?

He's retired. I think he'd be our 4th line centre at best (after Drai, Kahún, Hager) in the hypothetic case that the team needed his services. But the thing is - we have already our perfect guy for the 4th line -Gerrit Fauser- and lots of younger centres who are ahead of him (Michaelis, Loibl, N.Sturm, Pfohl).

 

[ebergeist]

Söderholm just confirmed that Rieder and Sturm are not coming. They are keeping the door open for Grubauer, Greiss and Kühnhackl. If the isles are dropped Dennis Seidenberg has expressed his desire to play for germany but Söderholm said it is problematic since he hasnt played this season.

 

[Retroglyphs]

Rieder and Sturm as anticipated.
Interesting that Dennis Seidenberg offered to play for Team Germany, but yeah, totally unrealistic.
Waiting with bated breath for the missing pieces now.

 

[Albatros]

I wouldn't mind Seidenberg providing depth and leadership as 8D, but as he still has an NHL contract running it can be that the insurance is somewhat more costly.

 

[Retroglyphs]

Adler Mannheim's highly-touted rookie defender Moritz Seider with another 2 assists in today's 4-0 victory in the DEL Finals vs. defending champion EHC Red Bull Munich (Mannheim now leading 3-1 in the series). He's got the 2nd-most points of all defenders on his team now with 5 assists in 13 matches, +7, and 9 shots, playing only 12:09 per game.
This kid has the WHC in the back of his mind, and he'll make it to the tournament.