Germans Blitz Canada in Olympic Semi-Final
Looking on the bright side of the situation, there's a whole lotta hockey dudes who are enjoying an Olympic experience they thought they'd never have.
The absence of NHL players at the Pyeongchang Olympics has definitely created a different sorta tournament.
Notably, the usual hockey powers haven't shown enough depth to separate themselves from those who are normally satisfied with receiving their lovely parting gifts.
In fact, it wouldn't have surprised anyone to see Iceland actually make a prophet outta the Mighty Ducks movies.
They didn't get outta the preliminary qualification rounds, but the Germans did:
Being real, that was achievement enough in the minds of most.
Germany's only won two Olympic medals in its hockey history, both of which were bronze:
- 1932 in Lake Placid, and
- 1976 in Innsbruck.
Their top-tier domestic league used to be one of Europe's strongest, but it was built on import players. As a result, local talent was smothered at the top levels and ultimately the decline set in.
Dudes are by no means back, but they're showing signs of life. That's down to the absence of NHL players here, of course, and the disciplined structure implemented by former NHLer Marco Sturm.
His club started getting his system in the preliminaries, where they had so-so but encouraging results. They were hanging in games like a terrier on a postman's butt, and soon started breaking through in bracket play:
- They edged Switzerland, 2-1, in the opening round, and then
- Raised eyebrows by upsetting Sweden, 4-3, in overtime.
And then came a second stunner.
Against Canada, whom Germany's never beaten. They're 0-12 against the Great White North.
No matter what happens in the gold medal game against that Kinda Russia team, dudes have guaranteed themselves a silver medal.
Will this run create a re-ignition of hockey fever in a country with the manpower and resources to make something like that happen?
Dunno, says Sturm, who rightly pointed out a fact of life:
In Germany, there's soccer and then there's nothing and then maybe hockey.
Sounds like the Underpants Gnomes.
If they ever get that second phase sorted, Germany could be on the way to rejoining the game's elites.
And if they don't, they'll still be partying about this Olympic run for years to come.