The last game of the A-Pool World Championships for Hungary will be Germany in a game that hopefully will still decide if Hungary stays in or gets relegated to Division 1/A.
Germany along with France are hosting the 2017 A-Pool world championships and thus are protected from relegation. This is good news for first time German head coach and general manager Marco Sturm, this will give him a chance to experiment and try new things without having the risk of being relegated. Sturm had a long career in the NHL however he is short on coaching experience.
The German national team has had mixed results at the World Championships in recent years. After losing in the quarterfinals they have had four straight seasons of missing the knockout stage. This was one of the reasons that the German Federation did not extend the contract of former Hungarian national team coach Pat Cortina who had coached the German team for three years.
Marco Sturm was nice enough to answer some questions for icehockey.hu about his plans with the national team and what he believes he can occomplish in the near future as well as his connection to the Hungarian federation.
The German national team has had mixed results at the World Championships in recent years. After losing in the quarterfinals they have had four straight seasons of missing the knockout stage. This was one of the reasons that the German Federation did not extend the contract of former Hungarian national team coach Pat Cortina who had coached the German team for three years.
Marco Sturm was nice enough to answer some questions for icehockey.hu about his plans with the national team and what he believes he can occomplish in the near future as well as his connection to the Hungarian federation.
What is the goal of the German national team, what is the line between a good world championship campaign and disappointing one?
Our goal is to improve on spot as a team from year to year, also I think these World Championships will be a good tournament to get ready for our upcoming World Championships next season.
What changes have you brought and will plan on bringing to the German national team?
The players could answer this question better, however I would like to bring the good attitude and the fun back to this organization, in the past it has been way too many player who didn’t show up, they turned down the invitation. I had played with about half the guys in the past and I would like to bring a good team on the ice that has discipline, hard work and structure.
What advantage do you have as a recently retired player working with the German national team?
As I said in the previous question, I have played with just about half the guys on the current roster. I think I always had great chemistry with the players I played with throughout my career, I can tell right now from the start that the guys are really excited and they want to help me and more importantly they want the German national program to get better.
What characteristics do a Marco Sturm coached team have?
We want to play with a lot of energy, be hardworking, be structured and of course with a lot of fun.
What experience as a former NHL player can you bring to your current position as GM and head coach?
I experienced so much during my career in the NHL, I was never a coach in the league but playing with different teams in different cities for different coaches I’m trying to find the best from each one and trying to pass that on to my team and to my players.
How much do you know about the Hungarian national team?
I know a little bit through Glen Williamson, who was my assistant coach in Landshut in Germany before I went to the U.S. His family was a big help because I learned to speak English because of them. Now we are in contact with each other and trying to help each other as I would like one of the German youth teams to play in Hungary.
What can fans expect from the Germany-Hungary game, the last group stage game?
In a tournament the last game is always a grind as you have played a number of games in a very short amount of time. I think the last game will be pure work, and I hope the game will be less meaningful because of the points we will have gained by then. You want to win every game, however the last game against Hungary will be a hard working game and hopefully we will come out with the points.
Goalies: Felix Brückmann (Wolfsburg, DEL), Mathias Niederberger (Düsseldorfer, DEL), Timo Pielmeier (Ingolstadt, DEL)
Defenseman: Denis Reul (Mannheim, DEL), Korbinian Holzer (Ducks, NHL), 7 Daryl Boyle (Red Bull München, DEL), Christian Ehrhoff (Blackhawks, NHL), Torsten Ankert (Köln, DEL), Sinan Akdag (Mannheim, DEL), Constantin Braun (Berlin, DEL), Moritz Müller (Köln, DEL)
Forwards: Tobias Rieder (Coyotes, NHL), Jerome Flaake (Hamburg, DEL),Brooks Macek (Iserlohn, DEL), Marcus Kink (Mannheim, DEL), Leon Draisaitl (Oilers, NHL), Yannic Seidenberg (Red Bull München, DEL), Patrick Reimer (Nürnberg, DEL), Gerrit Fauser (Wolfsburg, DEL), Patrick Hager (Köln, DEL), Felix Schütz (Rögle, SHL), Marcel Goc (Mannheim, DEL), Dominik Kahun (Red Bull München, DEL), Philip Gogulla (Köln, DEL), Marcel Noebels (Berlin, DEL)
Coaching Staff
Head coach Marco Sturm
Our goal is to improve on spot as a team from year to year, also I think these World Championships will be a good tournament to get ready for our upcoming World Championships next season.
What changes have you brought and will plan on bringing to the German national team?
The players could answer this question better, however I would like to bring the good attitude and the fun back to this organization, in the past it has been way too many player who didn’t show up, they turned down the invitation. I had played with about half the guys in the past and I would like to bring a good team on the ice that has discipline, hard work and structure.
What advantage do you have as a recently retired player working with the German national team?
As I said in the previous question, I have played with just about half the guys on the current roster. I think I always had great chemistry with the players I played with throughout my career, I can tell right now from the start that the guys are really excited and they want to help me and more importantly they want the German national program to get better.
What characteristics do a Marco Sturm coached team have?
We want to play with a lot of energy, be hardworking, be structured and of course with a lot of fun.
What experience as a former NHL player can you bring to your current position as GM and head coach?
I experienced so much during my career in the NHL, I was never a coach in the league but playing with different teams in different cities for different coaches I’m trying to find the best from each one and trying to pass that on to my team and to my players.
How much do you know about the Hungarian national team?
I know a little bit through Glen Williamson, who was my assistant coach in Landshut in Germany before I went to the U.S. His family was a big help because I learned to speak English because of them. Now we are in contact with each other and trying to help each other as I would like one of the German youth teams to play in Hungary.
What can fans expect from the Germany-Hungary game, the last group stage game?
In a tournament the last game is always a grind as you have played a number of games in a very short amount of time. I think the last game will be pure work, and I hope the game will be less meaningful because of the points we will have gained by then. You want to win every game, however the last game against Hungary will be a hard working game and hopefully we will come out with the points.
Goalies: Felix Brückmann (Wolfsburg, DEL), Mathias Niederberger (Düsseldorfer, DEL), Timo Pielmeier (Ingolstadt, DEL)
Defenseman: Denis Reul (Mannheim, DEL), Korbinian Holzer (Ducks, NHL), 7 Daryl Boyle (Red Bull München, DEL), Christian Ehrhoff (Blackhawks, NHL), Torsten Ankert (Köln, DEL), Sinan Akdag (Mannheim, DEL), Constantin Braun (Berlin, DEL), Moritz Müller (Köln, DEL)
Forwards: Tobias Rieder (Coyotes, NHL), Jerome Flaake (Hamburg, DEL),Brooks Macek (Iserlohn, DEL), Marcus Kink (Mannheim, DEL), Leon Draisaitl (Oilers, NHL), Yannic Seidenberg (Red Bull München, DEL), Patrick Reimer (Nürnberg, DEL), Gerrit Fauser (Wolfsburg, DEL), Patrick Hager (Köln, DEL), Felix Schütz (Rögle, SHL), Marcel Goc (Mannheim, DEL), Dominik Kahun (Red Bull München, DEL), Philip Gogulla (Köln, DEL), Marcel Noebels (Berlin, DEL)
Coaching Staff
Head coach Marco Sturm
HUNGARIAN ROSTER
Goalies (3): HETÉNYI Zoltán, RAJNA Miklós (Fehérvár AV19), VAY Ádám (Debreceni HK)
Defencemen (8): SZIRÁNYI Bence, WEHRS Kevin (Fehérvár), GARÁT Zsombor, MESTYÁN István, STIPSICZ Bence (MAC), DUDÁS Jesse, SAGERT Kalvin, (DVTK), VAS Márton (Fassa)
Forwards (16): BANHAM Frank, BARTALIS István, BENK András, KOVÁCS Csaba, KÓGER Dániel, NAGY Gergő, SARAUER Andrew (Fehérvár) ERDÉLY Csanád (Sioux Falls), GALLÓ Vilmos (Linköping), MAGOSI Bálint (Briancon), NAGY Krisztián (MAC), SEBŐK Balázs (KalPa), SOFRON István (Klagenfurt), VAS János (Slavia Praha)
World Championships, Russia, Group B (St. Petersburg)
May 7th, 12.15 (11.15): Slovakia–HUNGARY
May 8th, 12.15 (11.15): HUNGARY–Canada
May 10th, 20.15 (19.15): HUNGARY–France
May 11th, 20.15 (19.15): Finland–HUNGARY
May 13th, 16.15 (15.15): USA–HUNGARY
May 14th, 16.15 (15.15): HUNGARY–Belarus
May 16th, 20.15 (19.15): Germany–HUNGARY
Photo: László Mudra, IIHF