Stanley Cup winner for the first time with the national team
With fresh forces, a current Stanley Cup winner and lots of enthusiasm, the German national ice hockey team is starting its week-long training camp in Füssen (July 20th - 26th) after the summer break. National coach Marco Sturm welcomed 28 players at the meeting point in the evening, including three goalkeepers, ten defenders and fifteen strikers.
"We want to use this opportunity shortly before the official start of training in the clubs to lay the foundation for the second phase of preparation for the qualifying tournament in Riga," Sturm announced a few days ago. This means that a total of seven ice sessions are scheduled until next Tuesday. There will also be off-ice exercises and a performance test tomorrow, Thursday.
It is clear that Sturm wants to leave no stone unturned to prepare his team as best as possible before the Olympic qualification from September 01st to 04th in Riga (Latvia). "We will also use the days to work on our game system," said Sturm, who emphasized that although the sessions are intensive, the strain should be limited. "After all, the boys will have to really sweat in their clubs from next week. So we won't necessarily push ourselves to the limit."
In addition to the units, the fun shouldn't be neglected either. As is well known, Sturm attaches great importance to team building measures. Also to see the new faces like Konrad Abeltshauser (EHC Red Bull München) and of course Stanley Cup winner Tom Kühnhackl (Pittsburgh Penguins) into the team as quickly as possible. "I am delighted that the national coach has nominated me. It is an honour to be able to be here," said Kühnhackl at the press conference in Füssen this afternoon.
In addition to Kühnhackl, overseas stars Tobias Rieder (most recently Arizona Coyotes), Christian Ehrhoff (most recently Chicago Blackhawks) and Korbinian Holzer (Anaheim Ducks) are also on board. New Jersey Devils assistant coach Geoff Ward will be in Füssen, as he was at the last two World Championships. In addition to the 18 World Cup participants from Russia, Sturm can also rely on veterans such as Dennis Endrass (Alder Mannheim), Justin Krueger (SC Bern), Kai Hospelt (Kölner Haie), Yasin Ehliz (Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers) and Matthias Plachta (Adler Mannheim) to count.