The Team
The team is not considered to be as elite as Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden or the United States, but they are ranked 8th in the world by the IIHF. Since re-unification, their best recent results include finishing 6th place at the 2003 World Championships where they lost a close quarter-final match in overtime to Canada, and 4th at the 2010 World Championships where they lost to Sweden in the bronze medal game. Previously, they finished third in the European Group and qualified for the quarter-finals at the 1996 World Cup after a surprising 7–1 victory against the Czech Republic. In the 1992 Olympics, they lost to Canada 4–3 in an overtime shoot-out in the quarter-finals.
Germany has never won an international competition, and their most recent medal was bronze in the 1976 Olympic Winter Games. This was their best result as well as a silver medal at the 1930 World Championships.
There are 25,934 registered players in Germany (0.03% of its population).
In December 2005 Uwe Krupp became head coach.
Team Germany finished in 4th place at the 2010 IIHF World Championship, their best placement since 1953.
Read more about this topic: Germany Men's National Ice Hockey Team
Famous quotes containing the word team:
“They’re two good old friends of mine. I call them Constitution and The Bill of Rights. A most dependable team for long journeys. Then I’ve got another one called Missouri Compromise. And a Supreme Court—a fine, dignified horse, though you have to push him on every now and then.”
—Dan Totheroh (1895–1976)
“I doubt if men ever made a trade of heroism. In the days of Achilles, even, they delighted in big barns, and perchance in pressed hay, and he who possessed the most valuable team was the best fellow.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)