Augsburger is in the Wild squad for the restart – “They saw that I can play in the NHL”
Nico Storm has pushed back his personal boundaries for the NHL restart. “I trained harder than ever before,” says the Augsburg native. Whether it was high-intensity exercises in his own gym or privately rented ice time in the evenings, the 25-year-old did everything to earn a place on the team Minnesota Wild to work out. “I wanted to give myself the best opportunity to play. If it doesn't work out, I'll still be in top condition and then the planning will start for the new season, and I'll be keeping an eye on that."
Things get serious for Minnesota in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers from Sunday when head coach Dean Evason's team meets the Vancouver Canucks in best-of-five mode. Will Sturm be on the ice in Leon Draisaitl's home in Edmonton - the NHL bubble of the Western Conference? “There are not suddenly more places than in March,” says the center, and he is realistic about his prospects for the rest of this unusual season. On the other hand, the season up to the corona-related interruption in March showed that Sturm is very close and definitely has prospects. “In Minnesota the feedback was that they saw that I could play in the NHL,” he emphasizes.
Regardless of whether his hour in the NHL comes now or in the future: the storm is on so far eight NHL appearances and produced 32 points scorer in 55 games in the AHL, is one of the rising stars in German ice hockey. With an impressive development during his college years at the Clarkson University He has played his way into the orbit of the national team and would most likely have made World Cup appearances if he hadn't first put all his effort into getting his university degree. “School has always been very important to me, especially since I like to really concentrate on one thing. I think the results always showed that,” says Sturm.
It was undoubtedly not easy for him to forego the “tempting” opportunity to play his first international matches for the senior national team. “It is difficult to make compromises,” he admits. What made it easier for him was that he always received support from the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund for his journey. “Nico wanted to finish his university years with strong grades. He achieved that and we were happy for him,” says national coach Toni Söderholm, for the Sturm “in the next few years 100% an important component of the national team”.
The DEBSturm, who is neither related nor related by marriage to former national coach Marco Sturm (“In North America, people sometimes just assumed that he was my father.”), last wore the jersey over five and a half years ago at the U20 World Cup in Canada alongside Dominik Kahun and Markus Eisenschmid in the strong 1995 vintage. It wasn't foreseeable back then that he would become an NHL candidate; it wasn't until he was in college that Sturm really caught on. “When I saw the possibilities, the ambition shot through the roof. At the end of the first year, Winnipeg issued its first invitation to a development camp. When you put on the training jersey, you get a taste for it,” he says.
If there as a teenager the step to North America This was different, he was attracted by the adventure, the chance of a top education and the prospect of a formative life experience. At that time, just getting a place at college was not a sure-fire success and required perseverance. “Now German players are valued in a completely different way than they were seven or eight years ago,” says Sturm, who played in Young Talent first at Augsburger EV and then at ESV Kaufbeuren played.
He also makes one for his now steep path to the top Maturation process responsible. “When I was younger, I already had a lot of talent, then puberty came, it started earlier for other people, and talent no longer meant so much. The lead was gone at some point, I didn't understand it the way I understand it today," recalls Sturm, describing how his now impressive work attitude only developed gradually. “Now,” says Söderholm about Sturm, “he has a high level of quality. Nico is a very, very reliable and clever player, and also very mentally advanced.”
All of this makes the native Swabian one of the... DEB-Beacon of hope. And he himself has a great desire to help shape the positive development in German ice hockey. “We may soon have a line-up with three or four NHL lines, something that couldn't have been imagined a while ago. “Hopefully the time will come when we’re constantly competing for medals, that’s where we all want to be,” says Sturm. But first for him it's about establishing himself in the world's best league: "People believe that I can have an influence in Minnesota, that's very important to me. I hope that this is reflected in a new contract for the future.” He now wants to do his best self-promotion.
Stanley Cup Qualifiers (best of five):
Eastern Conference in Toronto
Carolina Hurricanes – New York Rangers (1st game on Saturday, August 1st)
New York Islanders (with Thomas Greiss and Tom Kühnhackl) – Florida Panthers (1st game on Saturday, August 1st)
Pittsburgh Penguins – Montreal Canadiens (1st game on Saturday, August 1st)
Toronto Maple Leafs – Columbus Blue Jackets (1st game on Sunday, August 2nd)
Western Conference in Edmonton
Edmonton Oilers (with Leon Draisaitl) – Chicago Blackhawks (1st game on Saturday, August 1st)
Calgary Flames (with Tobias Rieder) – Winnipeg Jets (1st game on Saturday, August 1st)
Nashville Predators (with Korbinian Holzer) – Arizona Coyotes (1st game on Sunday, August 2nd)
Vancouver Canucks – Minnesota Wild (with Nico Sturm) (1st game on Sunday, August 2nd)
Round Robin of the best teams in the main round
Eastern Conference
Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals
Western Conference
Colorado Avalanche (with Philipp Grubauer), St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars
Our media partner Sport1/Sport1+ will be showing numerous games from the NHL in the coming days:
Saturday, August 1th:
Sport1+
Carolina Hurricanes - New York Rangers (18 p.m.); Edmonton Oilers - Chicago Blackhawks (21 p.m.)
Monday, August 3th:
Sport1
Carolina Hurricanes – New York Rangers (18 p.m.), Calgary Flames – Winnipeg Jets (live entry from 20.45:XNUMX p.m.)
Tuesday, August 4th:
Sport1
New York Islanders – Florida Panthers (18 p.m.), Nashville Predators – Arizona Coyotes (live start at 20.45:XNUMX p.m.)
Wednesday, August 5th:
Sport1
Florida Panthers – New York Islanders (18 p.m.), Arizona Coyotes – Nashville Predators (live start at 20.45:XNUMX p.m.)
Thursday, August 6st:
Sport1+
Chicago Blackhawks - Edmonton Oilers (4.30:XNUMX p.m.)
Photos: Minnesota Wild/Bruce Kluckhohn