The edgy man from Kauniainen doesn’t show that Toni Söderholm likes to cook (and eat). But the 43-year-old obviously enjoys snipping and parrying, assembling and training. The magazine Dump & Chase he once invited people into his private kitchen and let them look over his shoulder while preparing meatballs, a dish that can be practically prepared in advance. Because what the hobby cook Söderholm doesn’t like: When he calls to the table and nobody comes.
The national ice hockey coach Toni Söderholm is said to be meticulous. When a tournament starts, everything has to be ready, preferably in such a way that the players know what to do without him, says Söderholm. mis en place sort of. But whether someone has mastered their craft often only becomes apparent here and there when there is suddenly a fire.
National ice hockey coach Toni Söderholm, 43.
(Photo: Daniel Karmann/dpa)
When the German national team took off for Beijing on Wednesday last week, defender Korbinian Holzer was not allowed to get on the plane because he still lacked the necessary number of negative tests after his corona infection; when the team arrived in Beijing, three players were considered corona positive. Fire alarm in the German entourage?
He learned one thing during the pandemic, says Söderholm: “You have to write the concepts more with a pencil than with a pen.”
Söderholm’s previous record as national coach is the record of constant improvisation. When he took over from Marco Sturm after the 2018 World Cup, the German Ice Hockey Federation had just celebrated the greatest success in its history: silver at the games in Pyeongchang. At that time one could speak of a sensation. Söderholm, once a World Cup runner-up as a player with Finland, German champion with EHC Red Bull Munich, was almost unknown as a coach at the time, responsible for SC Riessersee, who had just been relegated from the second to the third division.
The 2019 World Cup showed that he could still fit, despite the defeat in the quarter-finals against the Czech Republic. This 1:5 gnawed at Söderholm for a long time, precisely because this game had shown that more was possible. The 2020 World Cup was canceled due to Corona, and Söderholm himself missed the Germany Cup in November due to an infection. The many restrictions due to the pandemic made visits to the stadiums impossible for months. “What does it look like: the light, the air, the colors? I miss that,” said Söderholm about that time, “it also limits my creativity.” Like a chef who likes to be inspired while walking through the market and can now only examine his ingredients virtually.
“The boys are ready for the next step to achieve something big”
Söderholm relied on a basic Finnish recipe – team spirit, clear role allocation, discipline on the ice, relaxation in the dressing room – and proved last year in Latvia that his mix works: Germany reached a World Cup semi-final for the first time since 2010 and had to face it defeated then world champion Finland by a hair’s breadth 1:2. The first German World Cup medal since 1953 was still possible, but against the USA the team was mentally empty. “We were closer to the medal yesterday than today,” said Söderholm after the 1: 6 in the game for third place. Tears flowed from the players, captain Moritz Müller said that a team with a character like this is not often found. The feeling that more was possible became even stronger. Now, says Söderholm, “the boys are ready for the next step, to achieve something big. No matter what opponent, we dictate what happens on the ice.”
In 2018, the national players secretly called their internal Whatsapp group “Mission Gold”. In 2022 they are talking openly about a medal. Müller told ZDF on Wednesday: “If I’m ever here, I want to win.” The tournament? “Yes.”
As a reminder: Germany had won exactly two Olympic ice hockey medals before 2018: 1976 in Innsbruck (bronze) – and 1932 in Lake Placid (silver). Where did this culture change come from?
To find the answer to this question, you have to go back a few years. The German team missed the Olympic Games in 2014, and in 2015 Marco Sturm replaced Pat Cortina as national coach. “Marco made us believe that we could win something,” Moritz Müller once said, and “as a German you have to understand that first.” For decades, the DEB selection hadn’t exactly been beset by success. Then Sturm came and drove the team out of self-doubt with the confidence they had learned in more than 1000 games in the North American professional league NHL. In Pyeongchang, the word “Believe” was in the booth, belief. And with every victory the conviction grew. Sturm’s team beat Switzerland 1-0 in extra time, defeated world champions Sweden 4-3 after extra time and Canada with the same result, oh no, the Germans were leading the record world champions in places. In the final against Russia they were only 55.5 seconds short of gold, but it didn’t take them 55.5 seconds to realize: we won more than silver!
Preparation for the first game against Canada: The German team during training in the Wukesong Arena in Beijing.
(Photo: Peter Kneffel/dpa)
When Canada is waiting again this Thursday (2:10 p.m. / ZDF and Eurosport) at the start of the games in Beijing, the fall height will have increased significantly. Germany has climbed to fifth place in the world rankings, ahead of the Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland. But self-confidence has also grown.
Sturm believed the team, Söderholm deepened the message like an evangelist. “He has developed us further. We are now in a position to play with big nations and not just resist them,” said Moritz Müller of the dpa. The best players are missing because the NHL does not release its professionals because of the corona risk for the Olympics. With Leon Draisaitl and goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer, Söderholm have a total of eight players not available. But then you just cook with the ingredients that you have on hand. The NHL professionals were also absent in 2018 and 2021. Now 21 of the 25 players from Latvia’s World Cup squad are back in Beijing, and ten were already on the ice in Pyeongchang. Players who would know what to do, as Söderholm says. The calculation is: “One plus one is more than two.”
In one of his last speeches before departure, Söderholm once again showed his team what it’s all about. “Short and sweet: That’s what the price looks like,” said Söderholm – and only threw a single picture on the cabin wall. It showed three medals: gold, silver and bronze. “Questions?” There was none. “Good!” Applause.
The scene from the ZDF report demonstrated what unites the team and trainer: trust and appreciation for one another. “Toni is always ambitious, he always wants to achieve the maximum. That of course carries over to the team,” says defender Holzer, who, like the three who initially tested positive, is now with the team. Captain Müller demands: “Everything must be done to ensure that he stays.” Söderholm is “by far the most important person at DEB.” But Söderholm has not yet declared whether he will extend his contract, which expires in the summer. He will make his decision after the Olympics, but before the World Championships in Finland in May. “I know very well where I want to be in terms of sport.” But he just had to “know where the association is”.
Does he compete again? The public prosecutor’s office has initiated preliminary proceedings against DEB President Franz Reindl.
(Photo: Tobias Hase/dpa)
One of the open questions is whether Franz Reindl, 67, will run again as DEB President after his failed candidacy for the presidency of the World Federation IIHF. As a spokeswoman for the SZ confirmed, the Munich I public prosecutor’s office has “initiated preliminary proceedings against Reindl on the basis of a criminal complaint”, it is about possible hidden payments from Reindl’s time as a paid managing director of DEB GmbH, and there is also the allegation of delaying insolvency. The results of an investigation initiated under pressure from the DOSB ethics committee and commissioned by the DEB are not yet available. The DEB General Assembly will meet on May 7th, two weeks before the start of the World Cup in Finland. Until then, Söderholm will probably have to write his future plans in pencil.