The last seven months have been somewhat eventful for Patrick Reimer. He captained the THOMAS SABO Ice Tigers to third DEL, after a magical run at the Olympic Games where he won a silver medal with Germany's national team.
Now he's about to lead his Ice Tigers into European battle for the first time as the team from Nuremberg makes it's Champions Hockey League debut.
"I've seen some games over the last couple of years, and I think it's a really big challenge for us as the Ice Tigers, as it's the first time we're participating," he explained. "I'm really excited to play in this league, it was a big goal for us to qualify and now we're playing top teams in the group stage."
The off-season saw several changes in Nuremberg. Head Coach Rob Wilson left for the OHL, with Kevin Gaudet coming in to the team from the DEL2, while former NHLer Stephen Reinprecht retired. "It always takes some time to bring the boys together, obviously a new coach always brings in some new things like systems or other tactical parts," said the 35-year-old. "But we'll all be ready to play the CHL games, it's really important this early in the season and our goal is to reach the next round."
"We need the mindset to say 'we have good players, we can beat these teams' "Patrick Reimer
That run in PyeongChang to the Olympic final was a historic moment for German ice hockey, and something that Reimer still finds a bit surreal. "It's still hard to understand what happened there. Obviously everybody talks about it and a lot of people come up to me and say how great it was to watch us play," he said. "Also it was really big for Germany ice hockey. It was always a big goal for me to play in the Olympics and we came home with that big success. It's great."
Given that Germany knocked out Sweden on their way to the final does it give this current group of players belief that they can compete at the highest level? "Absolutely, I think Berlin's coach said it at the press conference - we need this mindset to say 'We can beat these teams, we have good players, we are a good hockey nation'," Reimer affirmed. "We all know we have to take more steps to get to the top, but I think the mindset is really important, that we don't put ourselves down below other nations. There's always a chance to win - Berlin did it with the European trophy, there were top teams in Europe included in that, so why not? There's a chance."
What will be successful CHL campaign for the THOMAS SABO Ice Tigers? "Our sponsor really wanted to be in the Champions Hockey League, and now we've made it we want success. You don't play the game just to make it, you play to win, so that's our goal - to go far in the CHL, it would mean a lot."
Finally, the Ice Tigers are organising a fan trip to Oulu for the game against Kärpät so how special will it be to see so many fans up in Finland? "It's always great to have that kind of support all around. It's good to know we have those fans that will travel with the team, we've charted a plane and some fans are coming with us on that plane to Oulu which is great. We're happy to bring the fans and players closer together, and I always hear good stuff about German fans all over Europe" concluded the Olympic silver-medalist.