Stecher: "We should have self-confidence!"

The managing director of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) looks ahead to the Men's World Cup in Finland with confidence

"We want to attack again and reach the semi-finals," says Stecher - DEB team nominated on Friday

After the disappointing quarter-final defeat against Switzerland at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing in February, the German national ice hockey team wants to attack again at the World Cup in Finland from May 13 to 29. "We want to reach the semi-finals. We should have this self-confidence," said DEB managing director Christian Künast on Tuesday at a media round table in Munich. On Friday, national coach Toni Söderholm will announce his squad for the tournament.

Künast emphasized that the DEB team wants to show a different face than at the Winter Games: "We can play better. We have to improve our defensive behavior, but also our game with the puck and in the offensive area." Team manager Stefan Schaidnagel added: "We have great players. Now we have to become a team again."

Söderholm had already nominated preliminary squad in early April, which will now be reduced to 25 players on Friday. Künast and Schaidnagel named Moritz Seider, Tim Stützle and Leon Draisaitl as possible candidates for the captaincy.

The DEB team will start the preparation for the World Cup with a training camp in Füssen from May 2nd to 6th. The first test match will be played in Ingolstadt on May 7th against Latvia. Further friendlies will follow against Austria (May 10th in Vienna) and Switzerland (May 13th in Kloten).

In the preliminary round of the World Cup, Germany will meet Canada, the USA, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark, Kazakhstan and Italy in Group B.