The two-time Stanley Cup winner is fighting for his return to the NHL after his serious shoulder injury in the AHL and dreams of the Olympics DEB-Team
by Stefan Herget @NHLde / NHL.com/de
There have been better times for Tom Kühnhackl in North America, but also worse. The successful years were those with the two Stanley Cup victories in 2016 and 2017 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Before that, the 29-year-old from Landshut had to endure tough years before he was able to celebrate his NHL debut on January 9, 2016 at the age of almost 24. Kühnhackl stuck to it, while many others in his situation would have thrown in the towel early and returned home.
The striker now needs these qualities again, because a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery suffered in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs came at an inopportune time because his contract with the New York Islanders expired at the end of the season. Kühnhackl was allowed to train with the Islanders in January with a trial contract, but there he was only under the wing of compatriot Dennis Seidenberg, who looks after the Islanders' convalescents and supplementary players.
The AHL has been playing since February 4th and Kühnhackl joined the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Islanders' farm team. From there he wants to make his way back to the NHL, as he said in an interview with NHL.com/de revealed.
Is your injury fully recovered and how are you feeling?
Tom Kühnhackl: "I don't feel 100 percent yet. It was a fairly large operation. Unfortunately, it took longer than we all thought. Luckily, I had a little more time to recover properly and now I'm just happy that I can play ice hockey again."
How satisfied are you with your first games?
Kühnhackl: "Of course, you expect more from yourself offensively. But over the last few years I have developed a different position in the team, where I am more defensively oriented and help the team in other situations, such as when playing shorthanded or in our own zone just before the end. I try to do that as well as I can here too. It is difficult, of course, because we have lost a few games in a row. But now we have to make sure that we turn things around and go in the other direction again, which means winning a few games in a row."
You've only had two wins so far. What needs to be improved?
Kühnhackl: "We have to make sure that we play the full 60 minutes. I think we completely dominated the first third of every game and then played well in the second third, but in the third third, I don't know. It's like we're not as strong mentally. We always fall apart a bit and then we concede three goals, and if you concede three goals in the last third, then it's obviously difficult to win the game. We haven't done much offensively, especially in the last few games. As I said, we have to play the full 60 minutes, then we can celebrate more victories."
How does it feel for you to be one of the seniors on the team now?
Kühnhackl: (laughs) "I knew exactly that this question would come. Yes, it is something new of course. At the beginning, when I was there for the first week, I wasn't really aware of it. But over the weeks you get to know each other better. Then you realise that you are part of the older part, which I wasn't used to in previous years. But it is also nice when you can show the younger players the right way and help them as best as you can."
Why do you think signing with the Islanders didn't work out?
Kühnhackl: "There were a lot of long discussions. But with my shoulder there were a lot of question marks as to whether I would ever be able to play ice hockey again, because it was the same shoulder that I had already had an injury to. It was a major operation and it wasn't clear whether it would even last. I'm just happy to be playing again and hope that my body will hold out for a few more years and that I can continue to play the sport actively for a long time."
What is your future career plan?
Kühnhackl: "I'm concentrating on this season. With all this Corona nonsense, it has to finally stop and come to an end, so that normality can return to everyday life. We're just going to try to finish this season as well as possible. We don't know yet whether there will be playoffs in the AHL. Then comes the World Cup and next year the Olympics. I want to play as well as I can and help the team. Then I'll just see how it goes."
How does your experience help you, since you also had to fight for a long time to get to this point before your NHL debut?
Kühnhackl: "I've experienced everything in my career. From the East Coast to the AHL and then the NHL, injuries, trades. I've seen everything. So I know how to deal with the situation. Of course, it's getting more and more difficult, but you have to stay positive and work on yourself. That's what I'm doing right now. Of course, I hope that one day I can play in the NHL again."
How realistic is it that we will see you in the DEL next season?
Kühnhackl: "That's not a question for me at the moment. I'm just 100 percent sure that I'll end my career in Germany at some point."
What do you think of Leon Draisaitl's success last season, which he has continued almost seamlessly this season?
Kühnhackl: "It's phenomenal what Leon delivers. When you used to think about Edmonton, you only focused on Connor McDavid, but what Leon has shown over the last two years is indescribable. They are both on the same level. When the two are on the ice, the opponent just has to make sure that they keep the puck as far away from their own goal as possible. The two always do something out of nowhere. We saw that just a few evenings ago when Leon scored three goals and five points. It's indescribable."
How do you see Tim Stützle, who is well on his way to following in the same footsteps?
Kühnhackl: "He will achieve a lot. There's no question about that. If you look at him, he has the full package. He's brutally good with the stick, he's agile, he can skate. He can shoot, which he's shown. He's also one of the best in penalty shootouts, I think he's two out of two. As I said, he's got a lot planned in the league."
The German national team recently celebrated its third silver medal win. You weren't there, but you played a big part in the success with your winning goal in the last qualifying game in Latvia. How much fun would it be for you to play in a national team with Draisaitl, Stützle and the other great talents and maybe win a medal yourself?
Kühnhackl: "That would of course be a huge experience. Of course, we were all there for the qualification and would have loved to be at the Olympics themselves. Unfortunately, that wasn't meant to be. Everyone wants to be there. You don't experience that every year and maybe only once in your life. If I could be there, that would be great and I would give everything for the team. And of course, if you have players like Tim, Dominik Kahun, Leon, Philipp Grubauer or Tobias Rieder in the team, then I would love to be there too."