STOCKHOLM – If Olympic qualifying were to be decided today, Germany would be on its way to Sochi, no questions asked. But it isn’t. There is still one more tournament left to play, the most important one. By qualifying for the quarter-final round in Stockholm, the Germans could book their hotel rooms in Sochi. By finishing fifth or lower, their fate wouldn’t be so rosy.

For the first time since 2005 a coach other than Uwe Krupp will be leading Germany to a senior men’s event. His replacement is Jakob Kölliker, for more than a decade the coach of Switzerland’s U20 team. His job is as simple to describe as it is difficult to carry out – get the team to Sochi. Krupp has developed a talent pool that is capable of the task, but Kölliker must do the work to finish the job.

Goal

Dennis Endras, who had such a great tournament two years ago, is back as the number-one man for Germany. Endras was tournament MVP when the Worlds were held in Germany in 2010, and last year he played six of the team’s seven games. Veteran Dimitri Pätzold and 30-year-old Dimitrij Kotschnew (who played in the 1999 U18) will compete for time in the backup role.

Defence

Christoph Schubert is hands down the veteran of the blue line on the team, but there are several other interesting storylines to follow here. Justin Krueger, son of longtime Swiss national coach, Ralph, is with the team as he tries to establish a foothold in the NHL with Carolina. The team has several players who have come up through the country’s U18 and U20 program including Sinan Akdag, Christopher Fischer, Florian Ondruschka, and Tim Schule. As well, Canadian-born Kevin Lavallee, who made his debut with Germany at the 2011 WM, is back.

Forward

The Germans have been making small but impressive inroads into the NHL the last decade, and this is reflected in part by the superb play of Marcel Goc of the Florida Panthers. He’ll be joined by veterans including Philip Gogulla and Alexander Barta, but again a big part of the story is the development through the system of some younger players. Martin Buchwieser, Jerome Flaake, and Frank Mauer have all come through the junior program under Krupp to develop into top-level players.

No player at the tournament is more intriguing, however, than Evan Kaufmann. An American who attended the University of Minnesota, he is better known for being Jewish and choosing to move to Germany in 2008 to obtain citizenship and play hockey. His great-great-grandparents were Holocaust victims. (See feature on Kaufmann.) John Tripp and Kai Hospelt are other familiar names, but Kölliker has to get the team to capitalize on its scoring chances, especially the power play, if it is going to win, not lose, the close, defensive games that have marked the team’s play (less so under Krupp).

Projected Results

Russia, Sweden, and the Czech Republic are virtual locks to claim three of the top four quarter-finals spots in the Stockholm half, leaving Germany to fight likely contenders Norway and Denmark for that critical final place. But German goaltending is strong and the young talent is, indeed, skilled, and should be able to grab the necessary victories to accomplish its pre-tournament mission.

ANDREW PODNIEKS