COLOGNE – The German national team will have to play without Patrick Hager and Korbinian Holzer in the bronze medal game against Sweden.

Hager suffered a hand injury (broken metacarpus) in the game against Switzerland, and Holzer left the ice yesterday after a check to the boards from Nikolai Kulemin left him symptoms of a slight concussion. He felt better shortly afterwards, but will not play as a precautionary measure.

After Robert Zepp played in net yesterday against Russia, Dennis Endras, the hero in the 1-0 quarterfinal victory over Switzerland, will be back in the net today.

Sven Felski announced that he intends to retire from international competition, and the bronze medal game against Sweden will be his last match with the German national team.

The 35-year-old winger, who has spent his whole career with Eisbären Berlin / Dynamo Berlin, is participating in his tenth World Championship (including eight in the top division), and represented his country in two Olympic Winter Games. He will end his international career today with his 146th game for the men’s national team, for which he tallied 20 goals and 27 assists.