National ice hockey team humbled by Germany at worlds

Daniel Spivak took an early penalty, and at the 1:04 mark, Germany scored on a power play.

By LIONEL GAFFEN
hockey israel 88 (photo credit: )
hockey israel 88
(photo credit: )
Israel opened its campaign to remain in Division I of the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships with an 11-2 loss to powerhouse Germany on Monday in Amiens, France. The early stages of the game belonged to Germany, as it took a 6-0 lead in the opening period. It started off badly for Israel, as Daniel Spivak took an early penalty, and at the 1:04 mark, Germany scored on a power play. During that frame, Israel took an additional two penalties but was able to defend against the power play. Goalie Evgeny Gussin was swamped, facing 32 shots in the first period alone, and a total of 56 before being replaced by Boris Amromin for the final frame. "The first period was awful," said coach Jean Perron, who spoke to The Jerusalem Post from France. "Our guys were tired and didn't have skating legs to stay with the Germans." "It was unfortunate for us that we had no teams to train against during our training camp in the Czech Republic last week, and our lack of preparation showed in the opening period. "The German club is so good that any small mistake we made and the puck wound up in our net." In the second period, Germany fired in an additional three goals, and Israel finally got on the scoreboard in the final frame. At 42:44, Oren Eisenman tallied, assisted by his brother, Alon Eisenman, and Daniel Bochner, and at 43:04, Alon Eisenman fired one home, assisted by Oren. Germany scored the final two goals, including one by Marco Sturm, who plays for the NHL's Boston Bruins. Amromin faced 24 shots in the final frame, as the Germans outshot Israel 80-17. "We got our team together in the third period, and the team played much better," said Perron. "Tomorrow's game against Hungary will be a real challenge for us. We're not deep on defense, as we have only four real defensemen, and we really need to have seven. We're going to have to do a lot of forechecking. "The level here is very high, that every game is going to be a real struggle. In order for us to stay in this division, we're going to have to steal a game." Israel will face Japan on Thursday, France on Saturday and Great Britain on Sunday.