For the second straight year, the Deutschland Cup has successfully featured two four-team tournaments in Landshut for men’s and women’s national teams respectively.

Also for the second year in a row, the men’s group consisted of Central European contestants Austria, Denmark, Slovakia, and host Germany, all of whom will participate in the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden and Herning, Denmark.

Slovak men come out on top

The men’s tournament (7 to 10 November) ended up welcoming over 20,000 visitors over five game days.

In the 35th all-time edition, Slovakia prevailed with two regulation wins and a shootout victory, being the only side to go undefeated. Particularly convincing was the 6-2 victory over second-place Germany, which ended the host nation’s hopes of top spot. In that rout, forward Samuel Takac stepped up with two goals and an assist. All in all, 15 Slovak players got on the scoresheet over their three games.

All was not lost for the hosts. Despite a 6-5 shootout loss to Denmark and then the blowout loss to Slovakia, coach Harold Kreis’s German squad finished things off in style with a 6-0 thrashing of archrival Austria. Austria’s opening 1-0 loss to Slovakia was a strong effort and the 3-2 win over Denmark was a highlight, but the gas was out of the tank to finish things off.

After upsetting Germany and then losing twice by just one goal, including a 3-2 shootout defeat against Slovakia, Denmark wound up in last place. Still, the Danes could take pride in having the tourney’s top scorer in Nick Olesen (Motor Ceske Budejovice), who tallied five goals and one assist.

“This was our fourth overall appearance at the Deutschland Cup, and it's quite an honour to be invited to this traditional tournament and face these great opponents,” said Claus Fonnesbech Christensen, the General Manager of the Danish Ice Hockey Federation (DIU). “For Danish hockey, it’s been a rather eventful 2024-2025 season so far with us hosting the final Olympic qualification and qualifying for the 2026 Olympics. We want to build on this momentum with the Deutschland Cup.

“This was our third straight year participating in this event, and we felt the addition of the women’s edition last year was a great enhancement. We are proud of the performance we put in here, and hope that both our men’s and women’s teams will be invited again to next year’s event.”

German women delight home fans

The women’s tournament (6 to 9 November) featured Germany up against three new opponents: France, Hungary, and Slovakia. The tournament was particularly important to the Germans and the Hungarians, as each was looking to use it as a preparation tool for the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships in Ceske Budejovice, Czechia.

The Germans defeated Hungary 3-1 in the final game to take the crown. Emily Nix and Nicola Hadraschak Eisenschmid scored a goal and an assist apiece for the winners.

“We want to use this tournament to grow as a team and play at a high level because a lot of our players don’t necessarily get a chance to do that during the regular season,” said Hungarian head coach Pat Cortina, who has also coached the German and Italian men’s national teams. “At the same time, we don’t have a full roster here and this can be a good thing too. It gives us a chance to look at some other players. The ladies further down the depth chart not only get a chance to play at a higher level but can also make a case for themselves down the line.”

Hungary earned a nice second-place finish after a 4-3 win over Slovakia and 4-3 overtime victory over France. These were all surely important experiences for the Hungarians.

Both the French and Slovakian sides certainly showed themselves to be highly competitive as well. The Slovaks lost three straight games, but only had a -4 goal difference despite zero points. France even featured the tourney’s two top scorers as Clara Rozier led the way with five goals and eight points. Estelle Duvin was second with six assists.

When all was said and done, Germany’s goaltenders Sandra Abstreiter and Lisa Hemmerle combined for three victories and just three goals against, clearly paving the way to the championship.

“This is the best reward for years of work,” explained an elated Daria Gleissner, captain of Team Germany, to the DEB press. “Here’s a big thank you to Landshut for letting us present our game here. It was a wonderful feeling celebrating this victory in front of so many fans. This was a great start towards the Olympic qualifiers.“

A special product with unique importance

The Deutschland Cup’s value for Germany’s women’s team is enhanced by a few more factors. Ronja Jenike, a former national team player and the current Head of Women’s Hockey Germany, sees the event as pivotal for the national team’s upcoming tasks.

“This is a critical tournament for the women's program, which not only uses it to prepare for the Women’s Worlds next spring, but also as a final test before the Olympic qualifiers taking place in Bremerhaven, Germany in February,” Jenike said. “Having eight teams, featuring both men and women, makes for a very unique tournament with surplus value. For our women’s team, this is not just about being on this bigger stage, but it further underlines the federation’s desire to keep German ice hockey moving together in the same, upward direction.” 

What has become clear is that the format featuring men’s and women’s teams has proven to be a clear-cut winner for the German Federation on the whole.

“We have added value for the fans,” Jenike said. “The game times for the women’s games have been family-friendly. It also introduces the female players to a different group of fans than usual, many who’d have come primarily to see the men’s team. Parents also have even more incentive to bring their children, particularly their daughters, to see women playing. They could very well end up being role models for future generations. And then you get to see a [German] men’s team that has won silver medals at recent Olympics and World Championship.”

With all this in mind, you can expect to see the Deutschland Cup next season at the same time and place – with the same successful format.