Buffalo 2025: Germany ends 20-year wait for Winter Games return

There is something special about Team Germany and the Paralympic Winter Games held in Italy. Until this Friday, Germany’s lone appearance had been at Torino 2006. But now, that chapter has a thrilling new addition. With a commanding 5-2 victory over Slovakia at the World Para Ice Hockey Championships in Buffalo, Germany not only secured fifth place but also clinched a ticket to Milano Cortina 2026.

“This is the biggest thing I’ve ever been through [not just] in hockey, but all over,” said German head coach Ole Thomas Sundstol in the aftermath of the game.

Coming into the tournament as the lowest-ranked team (No. 8) in the A-Pool Worlds, Germany defied expectations and equalled its best-ever performance – matching the fifth-place finish from the 2008 World Championships, which, coincidentally, was also held in the USA, in Marlborough.

With so much on the line, Germany came out of the gate flying, taking an early lead when Ingo Kuhli-Lauenstein screamed pass the Slovakian defence and fooled goaltender Eduard Lepacek with a brilliant breakaway deke. The Germans then spent the rest of the period testing Lepacek, but the Slovakian goaltender would prove to have an answer to everything thrown his way.

“We were ready. We had the perfect start with an early goal, and we just kept going from there,” said German forward Frank Rennhack.

Slovakia, Korea, and Norway will battle it out in the Paralympic Qualification Tournament, joining Italy and the top two B-Pool teams for the final tickets to Milano Cortina! 🥅🏒

The B-Pool World Championships will be held in September in Kazakhstan 🇰🇿. pic.twitter.com/QBHDdpoCUJ

— Para Ice Hockey (@paraicehockey) May 30, 2025

It wasn’t until the second frame that Joerg Wedde and Kuhli-Lauenstein would widen the red, black and gold’s lead, but it was only to see Milos Verecek offer a quick reply and show that Slovakia had not said their last word.

Therefore, the stage was set for a high stakes third period. 

It started with both teams trading goals early in the frame. Slovakia even seized the momentum to make a final push, finding a way to fool German goaltender Veit Muelhans with a wrist shot from the blue line, only to have the goal called back because of a delayed offside. Muelhans would make amends moments later by flashing the leather against an opposing skater streaking down the wing.

His teammates then took it from there, with Rennhack scoring an empty net goal following a board battle and sealing the win for the proud Deutschland representatives.

To say that the winning team was joyous after the game would be an understatement, as the emotion of the moment went far beyond the current one.

“The feeling is great. We really wanted this game because (…) our goal was to get to the Paralympics instead of using time and energy going through the qualification. So, the feeling is better than ever,” said Sundstol.

Rennhack added: “It’s awesome. We had to wait 20 years for this moment. We were always close but lost the important games and right now, I’m just lost for words. Really, the happiest moment in my hockey career. To walk into the stadium in Milano will be awesome.”
 
Slovakia, seeded No. 6, had hoped to qualify for its second consecutive Paralympic Winter Games. Now, they will need to battle for one of the two remaining spots at the Milano Cortina 2026 Qualification Tournament later this year. Their sixth-place finish in Buffalo matches their best-ever result from Calgary in 2024.

Complete scores, stats and schedule from the World Para Ice Hockey Championships can be found here.

USAHockeyTV is streaming all the Bufalo 2025 action live.