TheIHLC.com is debuting a new recurring feature, highlighting detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history – that are not, however, part of the IHLC timeline – “Non-IHLC Classics.” Today, in honour of German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit), and in anticipation of Veltins-Arena hosting the 2027 IIHF World Championship opener in May, we feature when Germany hosted the largest attendance in hockey history at that point, a world record crowd of nearly 78,000 in Gelsenkirchen.

🇩🇪 Germany 2-1 United States 🇺🇸
World Championship Preliminary Round
Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen 🇩🇪
Friday, 07 May 2010

What a way to start the 2010 World Championship for the host country.

With a loud and boisterous world record crowd of 77,803 looking on at Veltins-Arena, Felix Schütz tipped a shot into the USA net 21 seconds into overtime to give to Germany a 2-1 victory in the opening game of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s annual showcase event on Friday.
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