Before the World Cup, national ice hockey coach Toni Söderholm talks about self-reflection after the Olympics, coffee with Beckenbauer, a woman as assistant coach, quarrels in the association and Finnish-German similarities.
Interviewed by
John Schnitzler
Toni Söderholm, 44, was born in Kauniainen, the smallest town in Finland, and has had a world career as an ice hockey player. After six years of study in Canada and the USA, the defender played for his youth club Helsingfors IFK for a total of ten years from 2002, interrupted by engagements in Sweden and Switzerland. He ended his playing career in 2016 with the German championship title at EHC Red Bull Munich. In Finland he was champion with IFK in 2011 and received some of the most important individual awards, including the most valuable player of the playoffs in 2011. He won World Cup silver with his country’s national team in 2007. He has been the German national coach since 2019, his record: quarter-finals at the 2019 World Cup, semi-finals at the 2021 World Cup – and a disappointing tenth place at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. This is still to be discussed.