In the final minutes, Franz Reindl got in the way of the honorable Olympic protocol. The DEB-President was feverish, worried and hoping in the stands of the Gangneung Hockey Center with the German national ice hockey team, his nerves literally tense to breaking point in this thriller for gold against the Russian team. Then a delegation from the organizers called him to Pyoengchang to prepare for the medal ceremony. “They picked me up five minutes before the end, that was terrible. Then you have to go through the catacombs and you can’t watch the game,” remembers the 66-year-old, three years after the historic events at the 2018 Winter Games.
Reindl, IIHF President Rene Fasel and Russia's President Vladislaw Tretjak were led into a small room. There was a TV there, but of course that didn't make up for it. When the procedure for handing over the medals was explained to them, the three of them couldn't stand it anymore and spontaneously looked for a way into the hall and stood directly at the plexiglass behind a goal. When Reindl looked up, it was visible on the video cube that the... DEB-Selection is in the majority and - like every ice hockey -Fan white – at this point shortly before the end they were leading 3-2 after Jonas Müller’s goal. “Tretjak was exhausted next to me, sweating and I was charged up and thought we could do it now,” says Reindl in an interview with Magenta Sport and Patrick Ehelechner.
But then that unfortunate chain of events followed, combined with the clever tactical move by Russia coach Oleg Snarok, who, despite being outnumbered, replaced the goalkeeper with an additional field player. Russia pushed the German team into their own third and in this situation Yannic Seidenberg lost his helmet in front of the goal and had to go to the bench in accordance with the rules. “At that moment the relationship changed – and everything was open again,” says Reindl.
The rest is history and as that DEB-President met the players after the 3:4 in overtime and hung the silver medals around their necks, the disappointment slowly gave way to pride in the greatest success ever in German ice hockey. “Then a smile flashed across the players’ faces again and I was just grateful that I was able to wear the medal. “That was the greatest thing, being able to be there,” Reindl describes these special moments and adds: “This great success has changed an incredible amount. Since then, ice hockey in Germany has no longer been what it was before.”
Reindl, who as a player in 1976 was part of the bronze team led by coach Xaver Unsinn with Erich Kühnhackl, Lorenz Funk and Alois Schloder, remembers the silver heroes as a close-knit unit that could move mountains with their solidarity. “The atmosphere that you felt near the arena, near the dressing room. “It was an energy that you can’t imagine,” he says. Every single player wrote their story in these weeks before and during the Winter Games in South Korea: “These seven games shaped and shaped the team. When you saw how the boys gave everything for each other. Indescribable.”
Led by Marco Sturm (Reindl: “He had the right style, it just fit, you can’t learn or plan that.”) with his coaching team, it sparked DEB-Selection generated unprecedented enthusiasm, over five million spectators watched the final in Germany in the early hours of the morning, and the team was greeted with great euphoria upon its return. And the events of that February 2018 are still having an impact today. "The clubs and athletes believed in themselves and Powerplay 26, and it became clear that we were on the right path. Everyone saw that the players' development was taking effect," says Reindl.
Sinan Akdağ, Danny aus den Birken, Daryl Boyle, Yasin Ehliz, Christian Ehrhoff, Dennis Endras, Marcel Goc, Gerrit Fauser, Patrick Hager, Frank Hördler, Dominik Kahun, Marcus Kink, Björn Krupp, Brooks Macek, Frank Mauer, Jonas Müller, Moritz Müller, Marcel Noebels, Leonhard Pföderl, Timo Pielmeier, Matthias Plachta, Patrick Reimer, Felix Schütz, Yannic Seidenberg, David Wolf –
Head coach: Marco Sturm / Photo: Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF Images
Social acceptance has grown enormously, plus Leon Draisaitl's successes in the NHL, and top talents such as Tim Stützle, Moritz Seider, Lukas Reichel and JJ Peterka appeared on the big stage. “It gave us a shine that was previously unknown. Ice hockey was suddenly in, national and international recognition changed dramatically. The German player is no longer an exotic phenomenon in North America,” says Reindl and hopes for continued positive development despite the great difficulties that the corona pandemic is causing throughout sports in Germany: “I hope that we stay on the path. Clubs are increasingly recognizing that the German player is an asset and not just an appendage. There are so many German players who can do that, who have the quality.”
The training of the players remains the most important thing, and by 2026, according to Reindl's suggestion, it should be possible to "further reduce the number of players requiring transfer cards - while at the same time developing the German players." There are already many who can play key roles today. “I really believe in our players. It will be younger, faster, more attractive and, in my opinion, cheaper in the end,” says Reindl, who is already thinking about the next step: “I believe that in the medium term more German coaches will find a place and be able to prove themselves. This is the next level, that we can move forward there.” So that such a great Olympic moment might be repeated again.
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