Silver lining for Germany after hockey thriller

GANGNEUNG: Germany coach Marco Sturm smiled when asked if coming within 55 seconds of stunning the juggernaut Russians in the Pyeongchang Olympic men’s hockey final qualified as Germany’s “Miracle on Ice.”

“Absolutely,” Sturm said. “This is one in a lifetime. These guys are so fun. They didn’t get the gold but they came pretty far and they have the silver medal.” The Olympic Athletes from Russia escaped with a 4-3 over-time victory but the “Wunder auf Eis” nearly matched the 1980 US Olympic shocker when an amateur squad upset the Soviet Union dynasty squad.

“It hurts a little now. It’s going to feel better and better,” German captain Marcel Goc said. “We played great. Disappointed to lose the game but losing the gold-medal game to the Russians in over-time, I think we can be really proud.” It’s a German league all-star squad that wasn’t expected to come close to the stars of Russia’s two top teams, much less lead them on Jonas Muller’s goal with 3:16 remaining in regulation time and have a power-play edge.

But Nikita Gusev swatted in an equaliser 55 seconds from full time and Kirill Kaprizov netted the sudden-death winner 9:40 into over-time to end the Germans’ golden dreams.

“It was an amazing game and an amazing tournament. We have to be happy with that,” German forward Brooks Macek said. “It definitely stings but in the end we’re bringing a medal back to Germany and it feels really good. “If you had told me at the beginning of the tournament we would have been in over-time of the gold medal game against the Russians, I might have doubted you.”

After dropping openers to Finland and Sweden, Germany edged Norway 2-1, beat Switzerland and Sweden in over-time, then stunned two-time defending champion Canada 4-3 in the semi-finals.

Felix Schutz, who equalised for Germany at 1-1 in the second period, noted: “We were close, 55 seconds, but it’s hockey and every second counts.” Goc admitted that even with the silver medal around his neck, “it still seems a little unreal.” “Once we get home and get off the plane, we’re going to realize what happened. We took a step forward after each game. We just believed. The guys came together. It was like a family.