Patrick Reimer is the new national coach of the German U18 national team. From May 1, 2024, the 41-year-old will officially take over as coach of the U18 men.
Since the beginning of the 2023/24 season, the former national player and DEL record goalscorer has been working as a development coach for the male young talent and temporary assistant coach of the U18 national team. Reimer will now take on the position of U18 national coach full-time. The U105 team will now be able to benefit from his experience from 1.000 international matches and over 18 first division games as an active player in training measures, international matches and world championships. The knowledge he has already gained about the association's internal structures and processes will make it easier for the silver medalist from Pyeongchang to take on his new position.
This year's Hlinka Gretzky Cup will be Patrick Reimer's first time as head coach. It will take place from August 5 to 10, 2024 in Edmonton (Canada) and will mark the start of the upcoming 18/2024 season for the U25 men.
The Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (DEB) would like to draw even more heavily on the expertise of former national players in the young talent area in the future. As young trainers, they should... DEB be given the opportunity to develop further and be entrusted with appropriate responsibility.
The DEB would like to thank André Rankel, who looked after the team last season as U18 honorary national coach with a lot of passion and commitment and wishes him all the best for the future. In addition to his full-time work at the Eisbären Berlin, he did excellent development work with the U18 national team and constantly developed the team further. The association would also like to reach out to the... Eisbären Berlin thank the Rankel for his efforts DEB regularly released.
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: “We are pleased that we were able to win Patrick Reimer, such a successful former player and up-and-coming young coach, for this position with our U18 national team. Patrick has already made great contributions to German ice hockey during his active career and we are happy that he will now contribute his experience to the training and further education of our young ice hockey talent. For the DEB It is always a great benefit to get renowned personalities interested in the young talent work in the association.”
Future U18 national coach Patrick Reimer: “I'm really looking forward to the new task, which is a nice but also a big challenge for me personally. Last season I was able to be an assistant coach for the U18 national team several times, including the U18 World Cup and the promotion to the top division. Of course, that makes it even nicer to now take on even more responsibility for the team and continue on the path together. Especially in this age group, you can give the boys an incredible amount for their future.”