Ostersund 2017 factfile: Germany

With less than a week to go until the World Para Ice Hockey Paralympic Winter Games Qualification Tournament in Ostersund, Sweden, we’re taking a closer look at each of the five teams competing for the chance to appear at PyeongChang 2018.

Germany are aiming for their first Paralympic Winter Games since Torino 2006. After finishing last at the 2017 World Para Ice Hockey Championships A-Pool in Gangneung, South Korea, the squad revamped its national team ahead of Ostersund 2017. They, along with host Sweden, are the two teams looking for redemption after failing to qualify for PyeongChang 2018 back in April.

Paralympic Winter Games

Torino 2006

World Championships history

2013 World Championships B-Pool – gold

2012 World Championships B-Pool – bronze

Key players

Gangneung 2017 saw the emergence of young forward Ingo Kuhli-Lauenstein. After attending a youth camp in 2015, Kuhli-Lauenstein showed glimpses of talent and could be a factor for the team in their PyeongChang 2018 campaign. Young returnee Felix Schrader was described by his coach as having “goal-hungry” hands.

Roster

Offence:

No. 3 Bas Disveld

No. 56 Torsten Ellmer

No. 33 Ingo Kuhli-Lauenstein

No. 87 Felix Schrader

No. 73 Udo Segreff

No. 77 Joerg Wedde

No. 11 Jacob Wolff

Defence:

No. 23 Matthias Albanus

No. 4 Stefan Christian Lothar Deuschl

No. 12 Christian Jaster

No. 83 Christian Pilz

No. 6 Hugo Raedler

No. 69 Lucas Sklorz

Goalkeepers:

No. 15 Klaus Brzoska

No. 47 Simon Kunst

Head coach: Andreas Pokorny

Ostersund 2017 runs from 9-14 October. The top three finishers will earn the last qualification spots available at PyeongChang 2018, joining Canada, Italy, Norway, South Korea and the USA in March.

Live coverage and the game schedule are available on the official Ostersund 2017 site.