Sports Director Roger Bader takes stock of the U20 World Cham­pi­onship

Roger, four World Championship appearances over the past three years. How would you place the U20 World Championship 2023 in that context?
Roger Bader: “You cannot compare these World Championships, if only because there was no relegated team or, consequently, no promotion and relegation before due to COVID. What can be said is that we have once again learned a great deal. What matters now is what we make of it. The players have seen how good you can be at this age. They need to work even harder to reach a higher athletic and technical level. They have seen what the very best players in this age group are capable of. That should motivate them.”

The World Championship began with three heavy defeats against the three leading nations, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Canada, and an aggregate score of 0:31. Was such a clear outcome to be expected, and is there an explanation for it?
Roger Bader: “We have to honestly say that we had absolutely no chance against the leading nations and were, at times, two levels below them. At times, we were simply outclassed. The gap was bigger and more pronounced than expected. It was no surprise that we could not match the leading nations. However, it became apparent that the top five have pulled away from the other five nations. One explanation could be that we had very few players in the squad playing abroad, and that the team is not used to this high pace and intensity. Perhaps they were caught off guard by the wave that came rolling towards them.”

Could another explanation be that the team was very young, consisting predominantly of 18-year-olds as well as two 17-year-olds?
Roger Bader: “It has to be said that we have virtually no other option. To be able to put together the best team, we need the best players from three age groups. A difference of one or two years certainly makes a difference in terms of size and physicality, but I do not see that as an explanation for the gap to the other nations at this World Championship.”

The first goal of the tournament finally came against Germany, and the team also put up a strong fight against Latvia. A glimmer of hope?
Roger Bader: “In those three games, we saw that we can compete at this level. Each time, we were still just missing something to come away with the win in the end, but we came close. If everything goes right, we can beat these opponents. The final game against Latvia in particular deserves to be highlighted. It was a very good performance; we were the better team. We would have deserved the win and the decider.”

What positives can be taken home from Canada?
Roger Bader: “It was great to see the character the team showed in the second game against Latvia after the first defeat, fighting until the very end. The more often we play good opponents, the better we become accustomed to the intensity and the pressure to perform and make decisions quickly. Our strategy is to play as many games as possible against the best possible opponents with all our national teams. The more a player is challenged at this level, the more accustomed they become to it.”

In December, the team will compete in Division IA for the first time in four years. What can already be said today about the tournament in eleven months’ time?
Roger Bader: “We want to return to the Top Division as quickly as possible. The experiences of recent years have left us wanting more. However, it will be a difficult task against Denmark, France, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Japan. Where we will play remains open; that will be decided at the IIHF Congress in Tampere in May.”

Finally, a question about the atmosphere: How were you received by the Canadians?
Roger Bader: “When their own team is not playing, Canadians support the underdog. That was the case in every game, including ours, and it was great to see. In general, the atmosphere in the arena was always fantastic. Canada organised a perfect World Championship and proved to be a great host. Nothing else was to be expected.”