Germany captain Daria Gleißner discusses the performance of her team, finishing atop Group B as they close the gap on the world. Daria Gleißner, captain of Germany, plays at the 2024 IIHF World Championships in Utica, New York. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA1NzE5Nzc5NTYwOTI0NjEz/img_3349.jpg] Daria Gleißner, captain of Germany, plays at the 2024 IIHF World Championships in Utica, New York. No one expected Germany to win Group B at the IIHF World Championships. No one expected them to take Czechia to the final seconds of a quarterfinal resulting in a 1-0 loss. After all of that, no one expected Germany to lose to Switzerland in the placement game either. It was a tournament of unexpected results for Germany, but one that captain Daria Gleißner believes shows the steps her nation has taken. "We're getting closer," she said of Germany's performance. If not for the Group A and Group B structure, Gleißner believes her team would be surprising more teams more often, but spoke on how difficult it is to win Group B, and then earn a place in Group A the way things are. Still, she's proud of her nation, which opened the eyes of many at the tournament. "I'm pretty proud of my team, every game we worked hard and battled hard," said Gleißner. "Right now it's tough and emotional because we had a pretty good game." Germany held the play for much of the game against Switzerland, and had a puck on the goal line in overtime that they just couldn't push across, but ended up falling 3-2 to Switzerland, who entered as the third ranked team in the world. Germany entered the tournament as the ninth ranked team in the world, but their sixth place finish should help that process.
