Deutsche Para National ice hockey team dreams of the Para2018 Olympics in South Korea / qualification tournament in Östersund
The German Para The national ice hockey team is currently fighting in Östersund, Sweden to qualify for the ParaOlympics next year in South Korea. After taking part in 2006, it would only be the second time taking part in the event ParaOlympic Winter Games at all.
From October 9th to 14th, head coach Andreas Pokorny's team will play in a 5-nation tournament for one of the top three places. The opponents are the Czech Republic, Sweden, Japan and Slovakia. The first game against Japan was lost 2:6, but the German team still has every chance. In today's game against Slovakia, which lost its first game 0-5 against the Czech Republic, a win is now essential to have a chance of winning Parato maintain the 2018 Olympics.
The fact that they missed out on direct qualification for the World Cup this spring no longer hurts team manager Ian Wood's team. They would like to focus more on Östersund in order to make participation there perfect. According to head coach Pokorny, the field of participants is quite balanced. Only the Czechs entered the tournament as slight favorites.
Successful qualification for PyeongChang would also be an important step in further increasing the popularity of the sport. As much attention as in 2006 is very rare in the sport, says Pokorny.
The German squad:
Simon Kunst (31 / SC Langenhagen)
Klaus Brzoska (45 / Weserstars Bremen)
Mathias Albanus (38 / Weserstars Bremen)
Stefan Deuschl (50 / River Pirates Augsburg)
Sebastian Disveld (41 / Weserstars Bremen)
Torsten Ellmer (42 / SC Langenhagen)
Christian Jaster (32 / Wiehl Penguins)
Ingo Kuhli-Lauenstein (25 / Wiehl Penguins)
Christian Pilz (34 / ESC Dresden Cardinals)
Hugo Rädler (38 / ESV Dachau Woodpeckers)
Felix Schrader (20 / SC Langenhagen)
Udo Segreff (44 / SC Langenhagen)
Lucas Sklorz (21 / Barbarians Kamen)
Jörg Wedde (52 / SC Langenhagen)
Jacob Wolff (39 / Weserstars Bremen)