U18 women's national coach Franziska Busch will be the head coach of the German women's national team at the upcoming IIHF Women's World Championship in Canada. The 35-year-old is representing women's national coach Christian Künast, who is currently acting as interim sports director, at the tournament in Halifax and Truro, which was postponed by the IIHF on Thursday to May 6-16. The season highlight was originally scheduled to take place from April 7-17, but due to the pandemic, the organizer requested a postponement by a few weeks. The coaching team is completed by Norbert Weber and U16 national coach Thomas Schädler as assistant coaches, as well as goalkeeping coach Jan Kamenik and athletics coach Florian Klausner.
Germany will face Japan, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Hungary in Group B in Truro, with the top three teams reaching the quarter-finals. The start of the World Cup preparation is for the DEB-Selection planned for the week starting March 22nd. After a week at home, another training phase will follow from April 4th/5th to April 7th/8th. After another week of home training, the hot phase of World Cup preparation begins in Füssen. From April 16th, the team and staff will go into a so-called "bubble" with an accompanying test system due to corona. The flight to Canada will then follow on April 23rd, followed by an eight-day individual quarantine. From May 1st, the DEB-Get the team into World Cup shape on the ice on site.
Interim sports director Christian Künast: “I’m happy for the team that they can prove themselves at a big event. Everyone has worked well over the last few months and now has the chance to compete with the best teams. Franziska Busch, Thomas Schädler and the entire support team around the team will prepare the team optimally.”
U18 women’s national coach Franziska Busch: “I am of course pleased that I can take on this task. But I see us as a coaching team with the ice trainers and the athletics coach. The collaboration with the entire staff goes very well and is a lot of fun. We are in the process of adapting to all the requirements surrounding the World Cup and have adapted our preparation phases accordingly. Of course, the strict quarantine regulations in particular have an impact, but we are well positioned and ultimately the same rules apply to all nations. We can certainly benefit a little from the U20’s experience. In terms of sport, the World Cup is difficult to assess in advance due to the few comparisons, but we will be well prepared and are very happy.”
Further information about the Women's World Cup can be found here: https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2021/ww/news/24733/women_s_worlds_moved_to_may