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Danny is surprisingly birch there
After a rather poor season at EHC Munich, Aus den Birken should be hovering in third place this year only behind Matthias Niederberger of Izbren Berlin and Felix Brockmann of Adler Mannheim. The silver medalist from Pyeongchang had recently lost his regular spot in Munich and had not been nominated by Söderholm since the end of 2018.
On the other hand, ERC Ingolstadt’s Pietta: Krefeld’s home was also out of the important leagues under Söderholm and most recently participated in the World Championships in 2018 under then-national coach Marco Sturm. Pieta never went to the Olympics.
The Olympic team is led by Captain Moritz Muller of Kolner Hey. The 35-year-old was part of the Silver Team four years ago and is one of three candidates this year to carry the German flag at the opening ceremony on February 4. The ice hockey tournament begins in Beijing on February 9, with Germany starting a day later against joint favorites Canada.
Söderholm relies on cohesion and identity
“Since we knew we would be in Beijing, I imagined a championship team defined by cohesion and identity and operating in this way,” Soderholm said when the squad was announced. “Now we are at a stage where we as a team have the experience we need and at the same time we have the right players in the dressing room. This is a good starting point for our journey to the Beijing Olympics.”
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