Winning the runner-up world championship is a great success for the German men's national team, the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (Deutscher Eishockey-Bund eV (DEB) but also for the entire sport.
A success story like this always has several faces. A man who is directly linked to sporting success is DEB-Sports director Christian Künast. He is always close to the team and the coaching staff to support the chosen path or adapt it if necessary.
A few days apart: What is the perception of the tournament and what will remain of its success?
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: It was a very successful tournament for us, we impressed in terms of play, combat and, above all, as a unit. What remains is a silver medal and the runner-up title in the world championships, even if it still hurts me a little personally.
What were the key moments on the way to silver?
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: That we did not allow ourselves to be influenced in advance by outside voices. The team always stuck to itself, focused on its own strengths and acted as a unit. We won the big games and the team always continued on its path.
What made the team and the team around the team special?
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: A group that had a common goal and always stood together - every player and every staff member, always as a unit. The atmosphere was consistently positive from the start.
Overall, how should a World Cup preparation be assessed with the phases?
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: We had a good preparation period, where we managed to select a good team for the World Cup, integrate new people into the staff and a completely new coaching team. Harry Kreis has played his part from the beginning and has played a major role in the whole thing. The length of the preparation period is also important in order to find our way as a team and internalize the structure and tactics.
Keyword: The team has to find itself in order to achieve the optimal result in a tournament?
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: Yes, that's the case at every tournament, there are always key moments in which little things decide whether you win or lose and therefore the course of the tournament. We remained calm at every stage and were aware of our strengths. This begins from day one of preparation to develop your own strength and belief in it.
All sporting goals were achieved, including Olympic qualification: What does this planning security mean for the DEB?
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: This is a very big step and provides security, but at the same time there is also the challenge of drawing the right conclusions for the future.
How should the current fifth place in the world rankings be assessed?
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: It's a snapshot, a beautiful one, but just a moment. We have to work hard in all areas to maintain this and invest now in the future and young talent.
What significance does success have for him? DEB in total?
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: This has an impact on funding decisions, recruitment and acceptance in the sports landscape in general. Now it depends on what we ourselves make of it all. Direct Olympic qualification is very important for us.
What effect does this have on young talent work, what needs to happen here? DEB-View do or can DEB contribute structurally yourself?
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: We should use the pull of the medal to generate even more young talent. Here we are still a long way from fifth place in the world. We saw with our U18 national team that we still have a lot of work to do. We can win a medal at the top, but definitely not at the U18 level at the moment. With our U20 team, where we have always reached the quarter-finals in the last few times, it is still possible that we will be relegated again. It is the task of all of us to continue to invest in young talent in Germany and to continue to improve. Try to narrow the gap to the top nations. But everyone involved in ice hockey Germany has to help together to achieve this.