EISENSCHMID PLEASED WITH WORLD JR. EXPERIENCE
COURTESY: Darren Steinke, Medicine Hat News
Markus Eisenschmid knew he would encounter a unique experience playing at the world junior hockey championships, but he didn’t expect it would come with an added surprise.
The 18-year-old Medicine Hat Tigers centre couldn’t believe it when he was named captain of Germany’s team. He thought the coaches would place that honour on a 19-year-old.
“It was pretty sweet,” said Eisenschmid. “World juniors is always a great experience, especially when I was the captain.
“It was an honour to me too.”
Eisenschmid returned to Medicine Hat from Malmo, Sweden, last Thursday. He helped Germany post a 1-3 round robin record and win a best-of-three series 2-1 against Norway to avoid relegation.
He said one of the biggest highlights was Germany’s 3-0 round robin win over the Czech Republic team, which included Tigers teammate Marek Langhamer. Langhamer made 31 saves taking the loss that night in the Czech net.
“It was our best game by far in the tournament,” said Eisenschmid. “It was pretty sweet to beat Marek (Langhamer) too. That game was a lot of fun.”
Eisenschmid was happy Germany won the relegation series. Norway took the first game 3-0, but Germany responded with 4-3 and 3-1 wins in the next two games. The centre said his team didn’t have the right mindset in the first game, but was pleased his squad bounced back.
“We changed our attitude then for the next two games,” said Eisenschmid. “We wanted them.
“We deserved it, so it was good for us too.”
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