Michaelis cries out in joy following the World Cup win.

Michaelis erupts into tears upon winning the World Cup.

Germany's ice hockey team has been generating excitement about a potential repeat of their coup from last year with their initial World Championship win against Slovakia. They'll now be facing the title favorites USA and Sweden. One player in particular finds the World Cup opener especially powerful.

The journey was rough during preparation, but the first World Championship match was even more thrilling and emotional: Germany's ice hockey stars put on an incredible display against Slovakia and walked away with a 6:4 (0:0, 3:2, 3:2) victory. "Let's not kid ourselves, that was important," remarked the exhausted veteran Moritz Müller in an interview to MagentaSport: "We had a great start, and we managed to counter every Slovakian goal." 348 days after the silver medal win in Finland, the determined and efficient team of coach Harold Kreis began their campaign in Ostrava, Czech Republic, with a flawless start.

The World Championship opener was a memorable afternoon for Marc Michaelis, who had tears in his eyes after his return. During last year's historic triumph, this 28-year-old was struggling with the end of his career. After dealing with a thrombosis in his collarbone vein and undergoing three surgeries, it was questionable if he would ever be able to play hockey again. "It was a challenging time for me," admitted the forward who, after ten years in North America and Switzerland, is moving back to his hometown of Mannheim for the upcoming season.

Scoring at the optimum moments

Michaelis also contributed significantly in terms of performance. His setup for Jonas Müller's 2:0 during a power play, followed by his crucial 4:2, which marked the decisive score, was especially impressive. This trio of Michaelis, Yasin Ehliz from Munich, and Leo Pföderl from Berlin was responsible for three goals and prevented any on their end. Michaelis's dominance in face-offs was also remarkable, as he won 71 percent of them. The excitement lives on as they play on Saturday night against the USA, a team packed with NHL stars but who suffered a humbling 2:5 loss against their fellow contenders, Sweden. Lukas Reichel could potentially join in the second game. This 21-year-old Chicago Blackhawks forward was seen at the Ostrava airport on Friday evening.

"The game was both up and down," said an elated Kreis. "We scored at the right moments during the 60 minutes." Grubauer, the NHL star goaltender, who was named MVP of the match and blocked 35 shots from the Slovaks, acknowledged there was room for improvement. "We have to be smarter in the last ten minutes," said the Seattle Kraken player on Pro7.

The video evidence supported the Germans on two notable occasions. First, the Slovaks were ruled for a goalkeeper obstruction when Kahun successfully scored the 1:0. However, the referees, without a clear justification, decided to give the momentous goal to the Germans. In the final third, Kreis requested a video review: as the Olympic silver medalists were about to score their 3:4, the German staff sensed an infringement - the video evidence confirmed it, resulting in the original goal being disallowed. "Those are the moments that gave us newfound momentum and dampened their spirits," said Kreis, "we were right, they were wrong, that was a significant turn of events."

A fierce battle from the get-go

The DEB team had two challenges - 22 Slovak players on the ice and 8,000 fans in the stands who traversed the border and transformed the Ostravar Arena into a home ground. It was a tough start for the Germans. Buffalo Sabres' NHL forward JJ Peterka, voted the best forward at the 2023 World Championships, aimed for the Slovakian goalkeeper's net just a few seconds into the game, with Frederik Tiffels collecting the rebound, but the puck fell short of the line.

Six minutes into the match, Lukas Kälble only managed to hit the post, and with time running out for the first period, Grubauer was fortunate to avoid giving up a goal when Tomas Tatar also hit the post (20th). The Slovaks gained determination in the middle period, but Germany scored their first goals. As the score leveled at 1:1, Kahun notched their long-awaited goal in the 5:3 extra-time, culminating in Müller's shot into the corner.

An unlucky Grubauer deflected the puck into his own goal with his shoulder, and Slovakia equalized to make it 2:2. Just before the final siren, Kälble put the DEB team that had lost in the Olympic quarter-finals to the Slovanians back in control of the game. Michaelis then bolstered the lead by scoring early in the final period, increasing it to 4:2. The quick response goal by the Slovaks to make it 4:3, who started the game with five NHL participants, including former number one pick Juraj Slafkovsky, was disallowed due to offside, and Hudacek reignited the game. However, Pföderl and Eder sealed the sixth consecutive victory against Slovakia.

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In light of their initial World Championship win against Slovakia, Michaelis reflects on his emotional return to ice hockey, having faced career-threatening health issues and undergone multiple surgeries. This triumph came 348 days after the silver medal win in Finland and was crucial in kickstarting Germany's World Cup campaign in the DEL (Deutsche Eishockey Liga). With Michaelis dominating face-offs and contributing to crucial goals, the team faced title favorites USA and Sweden, hoping to repeat their historic triumph from last year in Prague, which hosts the NHL's World Championships.

Source: www.ntv.de