As a professional, Christian Künast experienced the home World Cup in 2001, which became an important moment in German ice hockey, was at the 2002 Olympic Games and was a goalkeeper in the DEL for many years. After that, the coaching profession shaped his life and almost six years ago the Landshut native joined the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund as coach of the U20 national team, where he coached the women's national team from 2019. His crowning achievement so far was the historic silver medal at the 2018 Olympics, when he was part of the coaching team led by Marco Sturm. Künast has been acting as interim sports director for several months DEB. Before his 50th birthday on Sunday, we spoke to him about stages in his career and his current work.
deb-online.de: Christian, the 50th birthday is often described as the center of life. Do you feel like you're in the middle of life, at the zenith of your work, so to speak?
Christian Künast: Based purely on the numbers, I'm probably over it. But the way I feel, I'm not even halfway there yet, there's still lots and lots of space and lots and lots of time. I haven't thought about it that much either. I know I'm turning 50, reaching that point is big for some. But thanks to my work and my workload, I don't have that much time to think about it.
deb-online.de: Is the 50th birthday a special turning point, a special day, if you think about it now?
Künast: No, you get the same question in your 30s and 40s. Maybe I look a little older now, but I have absolutely no problem with it. I'm healthy, I enjoy my work and I don't get up on Sunday and say: Wow, I'm 50 now. It just keeps going.
deb-online.de: Big celebrations aren't possible anyway, but are you treating yourself to something special on the day?
Künast: I'm generally glad that there isn't a big celebration that day, I prefer to be in a small circle with my wife, who is a huge and very important support to me. I know that my children will come in rotation. I just became a grandfather, my grandchild is coming to our house for the first time, that's something special and that's enough for me. My parents stop by at some point during the day. I like it quiet and that's how the day will go.
deb-online.de: How many years of these 50 were dominated by ice hockey?
Künast: 44. I was just six years old when I went to EV Landshut came. I still remember today when they said to me: We have enough outfield players, but we need a goalkeeper. So I went into goal and despite school, vocational training and the armed forces, I always stayed connected to ice hockey somewhere. And it will stay that way until retirement and beyond.
deb-online.de: Christian Künast without ice hockey is unimaginable...
Künast: Not possible.
deb-online.de: What are your particularly fond memories of the Young Talent era?
Künast: I come from a relatively simple background and my parents gave me everything they could. And I am eternally grateful to them for that. But through ice hockey, I gained something that other children might not have had, with trips abroad, with tournaments, with this special camaraderie. I'm still in touch with people I played ice hockey with when I was six. This is something special and I can only recommend a team sport to everyone, it brings people together. It was so carefree, you rode your bike to the stadium as a seven-year-old, there was no telephone like there is today. There was always a group together, on the ice and in our free time, and that stuck. That's what made it unique.
deb-online.de: Is there a station from your professional career that is particularly dear to you?
Künast: I am of course connected to my hometown club EV Landshut, it will always be like this, it's completely normal. I've had many wonderful experiences and, like everyone else, I've also had negative experiences in my life. But if there is one station that particularly sticks, and I say this again and again, then it was the two years in Hamburg. That was one of the best times – regardless of the sport. It was a great city, I got along very well with the mentality of the people and I said if there was a city in Germany that I could imagine living outside of Bayerns, outside of Landshut, then it would be Hamburg.
deb-online.de: The Freezers were a hit in Hamburg.
Künast: The enthusiasm was incredible. I know we started with twelve away games and then the Color Line Arena was ready for the first home game. Everything collapsed, the telephone line for ticket requests for example, there was an incredible hype in the media too. It was so fun, the city was so grateful for another sport besides football. It's a shame that it's no longer there in this context.
deb-online.de: What is the most special memory of the national team, is it the home World Cup in 2001?
Künast: That's relatively easy, as a player there wasn't that much that would come into question, and it's clearly the opening game at the home World Cup against Switzerland, when we won 3-1. I can even still see individual scenes in my mind.
deb-online.de: You also experienced the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in 2002 as a professional...
Künast: In terms of sport, it wasn't that successful for me, it was rather mixed, as you can see from my statistics. (laughs) But it was an incredible experience to come to the Olympics as an athlete. At the time, I had a piece of paper in my wallet with three goals: one of them was to come to the Olympics as an athlete. That was a milestone for me. But this game at the 2001 home World Cup in Cologne will always be memorable and memorable.
deb-online.de: Does the coach Christian Künast also have the player's attributes in his work?
Künast: As a player I was a worker, I was never a super talent and there is a statement from George Kingston, who was the national coach in the 90s and he took me to the 1996 World Cup in Vienna as the third goalkeeper: He said that maybe I wouldn't was the best for the position, but I was the hardest worker of all the candidates. This is something that further sets me apart. It doesn't matter whether I was a young talent trainer at club level or a national young talent trainer or a national women's trainer or now in my current position. I do everything with passion and fire, I don't leave anything behind, that's disgusting to me. I have to do my work, otherwise I won't find peace. That's what I was like as a player and even more so now.
deb-online.de: It's been a few months now in the position as interim sports director, how do you look back on this time?
Künast: A lot has happened and I think it's like everything. You start on day than thought. There is a lot, a lot outside of the sport, but that was clear to me. I still try not to give up on sport. The task fills you up, it's a lot of fun and something new comes your way every day.
deb-online.de: What are the current priorities?
Künast: We have three world championships to prepare under these difficult conditions. We are on the right track there. The contact with the major league, the cooperation with the state ice sports associations, the intensive cooperation with the professional leagues, that is also going on. And then it's very important: Where do we want to go in terms of sport? Powerplay 26 exists, Powerplay 26 2.0 is coming – no matter what it’s called. It's about us knowing: where should German ice hockey go? You have to think long-term, that means eight to ten years in Young Talent and my ideas are already heading in this direction and I would also like to know: Where is ice hockey Germany in 2030?
deb-online.de: You have already made it known that you would like to continue in the position beyond the season. What motivation drives you, what would be your plan?
Künast: No matter what sport, success can always be a distraction and then developments occur that no one wants and that go in the wrong direction. We had the silver medal in 2018 and tremendous hype, yes. But so much more is possible, even if it may take a step backwards. But if you turn the right wheels and screws, so much more is possible - everywhere, in every area and especially in sport. If we manage to position the Young Talent even better, to make it even more broad, we will produce so many German Young Talent players that no one can get past them. Once we have achieved this, we will be the absolute best in the world.
deb-online.de: Would that be something you would describe as a vision for yourself – to see Germany become one of the absolute best in the world?
Künast: We are not away from the top of the world, but what is the absolute top of the world? That means constantly competing for medals every year or being mentioned in advance as a candidate for one. We are one step ahead and this mentality has to come, now we move on, now we want the quarter-finals more than regularly, now we want to get to the semi-finals or the big one. This is the next step that should come. That is also possible. It will take even longer until you can consistently say: you are there. But that would be such a vision if you want to talk about it. You should set yourself high goals, but they also have to be achievable. And I think it's achievable, maybe a little further away, but achievable.
deb-online.de: Is developing this mentality something that also connects you with your brother-in-law Marco Sturm?
Künast: As far as the drive is concerned, they are two worlds. Marco is an incredibly ambitious person when it comes to sport. Absolutely lovely on the outside, but when it comes to sports: always win. Not by all means, that's not him, but he has had a lot more drive throughout his entire life as an athlete. It was a long time ago that we played a tennis doubles game on vacation, where he was my opponent and they lost that doubles game and the losers had to serve the winners all evening. He didn't say a word to me the whole evening, even though it was our vacation. This mentality: quarter-finals and beyond, that's exactly him, that came from him. And Toni Söderholm is now sitting there DEB in the house who thinks exactly the same way. He also says there are no big opponents anymore, they are all the same.
deb-online.de: Did the personal relationship with Marco Sturm make the 2018 Olympic silver medal even more emotional for you, if that was even possible?
Künast: When I worked for him, it was very professional and he almost demanded more from me because he never wanted to give the impression that I was only there because of him. There is only 100 percent professionalism in the working relationship. That's a point. But there were very emotional moments when the two of us were in the dressing room after the successes. That was between us and it will remain between us. We're connected forever anyway and maybe even more so because of that.
deb-online.de: Finally asked: What has ice hockey taught you in life?
Künast: That you can really, really achieve a lot if you believe in it and work hard for it. I took that with me. If someone had told me as a ten-year-old: I'm at the Olympics as a player, I'm at the Olympics as a coach, I'm going to win a medal, then I would have thought they were crazy at that age. Faith and hard work can achieve a lot, I took that with me and that's how I raised my children.