He put on the German national team jersey 124 times. The Bad Muskau native has nine world championships in his international career, including fourth place at the home World Cup in 2010, two Olympic qualification tournaments and the silver medal in 2018 in Pyeongchang. In the interview he talks about the excitement of the Olympics and the anticipation of being part of the Winter Olympics as an athlete and reveals what he would like to do again now.
The Olympics are just around the corner, so of course we ask ourselves, where does Frank Hördler keep his silver medal?
Frank Hördler (laughs): I'll put it this way, she's in a safe place. I don't want to reveal where exactly.
Let's look back at the last Winter Olympics. How did you perceive the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang as an athlete?
Frank Hördler: First and foremost, of course, it was the first Olympics for me. It was really a huge event. After the away game Eisbären Berlin are we BerlinHe drove to Füssen in a rental car and met up with the other boys there. Even there, everyone could feel the excitement and anticipation. We took our time as a team, flew to Korea relatively early and were able to take everything with us. Since we didn't play until later, we were able to see a lot of things in Pyeongchang. I can say at this point that the 2018 Olympics was an all-round successful event for us and for me as an athlete.
You have already achieved many milestones in your career. You were the best defender in the 2014/15 DEL season, won the European Trophy in 2010 and won your eighth championship with the XNUMX/XNUMX season Eisbären Berlin fetched. How do you classify participating in the Olympics and winning the silver medal?
Frank Hördler: That's a really, really good question. Of course, due to our success and the fact that we then won silver, the importance is at the top of the category. I don't want to diminish any championships or other achievements. The Olympics are certainly an extra highlight because I've only experienced it once and it's the Olympic silver medal, so that's right at the top.
And what does a medal like that actually taste like?
Frank Hördler (laughs): It's difficult to say, I don't have my own teeth anymore, so I can't really say how hard the metal is. The more I think about it, the more special it is what we achieved as a team. Not just the players, but the whole group that was there. There was great character in the team, the physios, supervisors and coaches. We were a tight-knit group. It was just fun and really great.
Marcel Goc told us that you were guests at the Deutsches Haus quite often and shared one of his anecdotes with us. What funny moment do you remember clearly?
Frank Hördler: Oh, there are really many and we actually went to the Deutsches Haus often. It was always the most fun there because everyone could really party. Despite all this, I still have to smile about Yannick Seidenberg. He had his few minutes where he ripped off everyone's pocket at the top of their shirt. At some point the bobsledders came in. They were bigger and stronger guys and he just wanted to grab one of them. But he just looked askance and said, “Don’t do it.” That was really a funny scene to watch.
You are still active in the DEL and with Noebels, Pföderl and Müller you also have guys on the team who were at the 2018 Olympics. Do you still talk about the time four years ago?
Frank Hördler: Absolutely! There are always moments when we come back to it and remember it and say “Do you remember?” The nicest thing would of course be if we had some kind of revival after 10 or 15 years, where the whole group would see each other again and we would spend a nice evening together.
The German men's national team performed well at the last World Cup in Riga and the Deutschland Cup Strongly presented in 2021. What do you think the team in Beijing can do?
Frank Hördler: I have a lot of confidence in the team. I also believe that there has been a continuous increase in recent years. The ice hockey that the German national team plays is really nice to watch. Lots of control with the puck. Lots of technically skilled players and good runners. Somehow every game is on equal terms and always possible to win. The team does that really well and that's why anything is possible at the Olympics. I think the way Toni Söderholm has set up the boys and the way he lets them play, they give themselves the opportunity to win in every game. If you add the feeling of the Olympics and the motivation, you can always surpass yourself.
Let's leave it at that and say thank you very much to Frank Hördler for the interview!