Marco Sturm to coach Germany

The question who will lead the German national team into the home world championships in 2017 was a hot topic over the last months. The favourite for the job, former coach Uwe Krupp, could not get signed as his club Eisbären Berlin vetoed the double function.

Yesterday the German hockey association DEB surprised the public by signing former NHL star Marco Sturm to both coach and manage the team over at least the next two years. As Sturm only finished his career in 2014, he can’t provide any previous experience as a coach, but holds the German record for most NHL games with 1006 appearances for San Jose, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington, Vancouver and Florida. His contract will run until the 2017 World Championships, but will be extended automatically if he manages to qualify for the Olympics 2018 in Pyeongchang.

He will follow in the footsteps of Pat Cortina, whose contract was not extended after missing the Olympic qualification for Sotchi for the first time since 1948 and some disappointing results at the world championships.

Sturm himself was surprised about the offer, but could not turn down the huge possibility. He will be based in Florida and try to be in close contact with the German players overseas. His goal is to make his players enjoy it again to play for the German national team as he saw room for improvement in that area over the last years.

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