After the Deutschland Cup and the women's Olympic qualification is before the Young Talent World Championships and before the Olympics. It's sporty DEB There's a lot going on in ice hockey's super season. Speaks in the interview DEB-Sports director Christian Künast about the sovereign success at Deutschland Cup, looks ahead to the 2022 Winter Olympics – and explains why he believes refereeing needs to be put more on the agenda.
Christian, der Deutschland Cup 2021 is over. The German men's national ice hockey team achieved a fantastic victory. Can you give a brief conclusion?
Christian Künast: It was sporty Deutschland Cup 2021 a complete success. The team won the tournament very confidently, probably more confidently than ever before. It's great fun to watch the team. We had a few absences in the team, but you can see - no matter who is in the squad - we have a greater breadth in German ice hockey. The atmosphere in the Krefeld YAYLA Arena was also good. It was very nice for the spectators and those involved to finally have an international tournament again Fans to experience in the stadium. Of course it would have been nice to have even more spectators. But in the current Corona situation, we have to understand that viewers are cautious and cautious. I also have to say that almost one of the most important things for me was that we didn't have any Corona cases in the team and that all the players returned to their clubs healthy.
Unfortunately, the women's national team's Olympic qualification was not successful. What is your conclusion here?
Christian Künast: It's very bitter that we didn't qualify for the Olympics. A lot depends on it, for the team, for the players, for him DEB. It is the second time that the women's qualification did not work out. We have to work through the results with the coaches and the team: What can we do better in the future? What steps are necessary for us to improve? I was in the dressing room after the game and met a few players in front of the stadium. It hurts because all the players invested a lot and put a lot of heart and soul into it. But that’s how competitive sport is. Now it's time to work on it and do it better next time.
With the men's national team he has DEB a national team at the start of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. Let's take a look at the Olympic schedule. Which tasks are at the top of the to-do list?
Christian Künast: Logistics has been underway for a while: all material from clothing to mouthguards has to go to Beijing. Planning is also underway for the flight times of the players and coaches. Will the coaches fly to Beijing in advance? When will the kit be given out? When will the NHL players fly? These logistical and organizational issues are ongoing in the background. And then of course we still have to wait for the decision of the NHL, which will announce on January 10th whether or not it will interrupt its season for the Olympic Games. But I am very confident that we will also see the NHL players in Beijing. Toni Söderholm and I will also fly to the USA and Canada in December and meet German NHL players.
What are you planning on your trip? What is the agenda?
Christian Künast: Toni Söderholm is flying at the end of November, I'm flying on December 6th - as of today. We'll attend a few games with German players together and talk to the players afterwards. But we'll also play a few games separately. I'm staying in Canada and traveling directly to Edmonton for the IIHF Men's U20 World Championship.
You stay right in Edmonton. The U20 men will then fly to the World Cup on December 15th. How do you look at the tournament, what are your expectations?
Christian Künast: Last year was of course overshadowed by the positive corona cases. But we are all looking forward to playing a world championship this year in the motherland of ice hockey in front of spectators (also: as of today). Our sporting goal is clear: We don't want to be relegated, that's our number one premise. This is also a realistic goal for the German young talent. We're not ready to say after the U20 quarter-finals once: We want to get to the quarter-finals every year. We have an ambitious coach in Tobias Abstreiter and we will also have a very powerful team. And we'll see everything else on site.
You won't get bored of sports in the next few months. What topics are on the agenda besides ice cream? DEB?
Christian Künast: There's a lot coming up. Basically, we want to move forward together with the leagues – Young Talent, Oberliga, Women, DEL. We also want to optimize communication with the regional associations and get some topics started. But these are also medium-term issues that crop up again and again in our daily work, but accompany us over a longer period of time. A very important topic for me is refereeing. We want to try to reorganize the refereeing system and attract young talent. It is important that we do not have a young talent problem in the future. Because without a referee there will be no ice hockey game.