German Ice Hockey Association appoints Andre Rankel as new national team head coach

The German Ice Hockey Association (DEB) presented former Germany player Andre Rankel as the new coach of the men's national team at a press conference in Munich on Thursday.

Rankel, who spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach with Eisbären Berlin, champions of Germany's top division (the DEL), has never served as a head coach. DEB sport director Christian Künast stressed that he does not see this as a problem.

"Andre is here today because he was the best [of the candidates interviewed for the job]. That's the main point," Künast said.

"I simply don't see Andre as a rookie coach. I've known him for a long time and I have had a lot of conversations with him about how you lead a team. He is ready to take over the national team and that's the most important thing."

Rankel said he was "incredibly proud" to be named Germany coach.

"What I learned as a player and captain over all these years, what constitutes team cohesion and commitment, I now want to pass on as head coach. My goal is to develop a clear idea together with the players and the coaching staff of how we want to play, and to grow step by step based on that."

Although this will be his first job as a head coach, he is highly respected in German hockey having played 17 seasons in the DEL for Berlin. In the capital, he was captain for many years, won seven titles as a player and three more as assistant coach. He also made 46 appearances as a winger for Germany, including at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

DEB CEO Frank Lutz said Rankel had been given a four-year contract, a reflection of the fact that the organization is looking to him to help further develop the national team in the longer term.

A generational change for German hockey

The appointment of Rankel, who turned 41 on Thursday, marks a generational change for Germany. Rankel replaces Canadian-born Harold Kreis, 67, who after leading the national team to a silver medal at the 2023 World Championship had a disappointing series of tournaments. Perhaps the most damaging was the 2026 Winter Olympics. The Germany team that entered the tournament was considered the greatest ever and was led by NHL superstar Leon Draisaitl, but it crashed out against Slovakia in the quarterfinals.

While appointing someone with no head coaching experience may seem like a risky move, the DEB have been down this road before. Marco Sturm also had no head coaching experience when he was appointed in 2015. He went on to lead Germany to a silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeonchang – their greatest achievement and which marked an upward turn in the national team's fortunes.

With this progress having stalled in recent years, the DEB are betting that Rankel is the man to get Germany's men back on the right track.

Rankel's first tournament behind the bench will be the Deutschland Cup in Düsseldorf, a four-team invitational held annually during the November international break. His first major test will come next May, when Germany host the World Championship in Düsseldorf, Mannheim and Gelsenkirchen.