German hockey fans celebrate Leon Draisaitl’s tremendous milestone

Legendary

The German Sportspersonality of the Year award (Sportler des Jahres) is regularly given to track and field stars, swimmers, or tennis players. Similar to the Northern Star Award in Canada, (formerly the Lou Marsh Award) Draisaitl was the winner in 2020, becoming the first hockey player to achieve the feat following his Hart and Art Ross Trophy campaign. 

Hingst drew a comparison to German hockey legend Erich Kühnhackl. A member of the IIHF Hall of Fame, Kühnhackl was acknowledged as Germany’s hockey player of the 20th century in 2000. He helped West Germany win bronze at the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. 

“He was the best of all-time in Germany. But he was a great role model. He brought professional things, to training, to athletics, how to, let’s say, how to work on and off the ice,” said Hingst. “In Germany, it was only goons on the ice and stuff like this. He was one of the first, I would say, who brought some technique, focusing on skating and stuff like this. That’s what he is known for,” said Hingst.  

Playing for his country

When Draisaitl returns to his native Cologne in the off-season, people go “crazy”, says Hingst, highlighting his impact. With speculation growing that the NHL wants to return to Germany for an NHL game, there is a massive appetite amongst fans to see Draisaitl play at home, just like he did in 2018.

Draisaitl will get the chance to represent, and likely captain, Germany in the 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina, a team that has never been more dangerous upfront. 

Although NHL players didn’t participate, Germany did win silver at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. 

With fellow countrymen Moritz Seider, Tim Stützle, JJ Peterka, Nico Sturm, Lukas Reichel, and Philipp Grubauer already named to the roster, there is optimism amongst German hockey fans that they will not only represent their country well, but make a push for a medal again. 

“You don’t have to dream,”said Hingst. “When everything goes normal, then you don’t speak about medals, but at the end everybody comes to the first elimination route. This is one game and everything can happen when you’re talking about injuries or whatever. This is always our thing in Europe when we are talking about the USA or Canada. Maybe they don’t have the chemistry, they don’t play together.

“Our national team always plays together. And now we are adding 6-8 (players) of the best in the world – this could be the advantage. Quarterfinals will be huge for us. 

“A five man group from OilersNation Germany will be there. Unfortunately, we don’t have tickets for the German game, but we will organize this in the Olympic Park or something like this.”