Abeltshauser Leads Germans Back to World Juniors
Mooseheads' Abeltshauser earned top defenseman and a birth for Germany at the 2013 World Juniors (photo credit: Richard Lafortune)
Abeltshauser, the German captain, was named the tournament’s Best Defenceman and led the blueliner stats with seven points (1+6) and a +10 rating. The German rearguard’s only goal of the tournament couldn’t have come at a better time.
Late in their final game, Germany found themselves trailing Norway 3-2. The Junior Germans need to earn a single point from the game to qualify for the 2013 World Junior invite, but a loss to the Norwegian team would mean the Scandanavian nation would be in Ufa, Russia next Christmas. Abeltshauser got the tying goal with just under four minutes left to play and was on the ice for two late powerplay goals that put the game away for the Germans.
The victory has to be very meaningful for Abeltshauser in that he was able to lead is nation to an important victory on homeice. He will now liklely spend the holidays at home in germany before rejoining the Mooseheads. He will be a welcome addition back into the Halifax lineup as the teams’ defense core has missed the big German as well as Steve Gillard, who has been out with a concussion for some time.
The earliest we could see Abeltshauser back is the Mooseheads game against the PEI Rocket on December 27th.
