Peter Schneider: "We always want to deliver our best perfor­mance"

Germany, Slovakia and Latvia – what goals have you set yourselves for the Deutschland Cup?
Peter Schneider: “It is a high-quality tournament, featuring teams from the top 10 in the world rankings, who always deliver top performances at the World Championship and have now also qualified for the Olympics. They will use this tournament to test their best players for the Olympics. They will be three incredibly difficult games.”

How valuable are these games for you as a team in terms of your development?
Peter Schneider: “It is not an everyday occurrence to be able to play against such strong teams during the regular season. These are games at the highest level. It is an important step in our development as a team with a view to the World Championship, as well as on an individual level. We have several young players with us, and these are important appearances for them to get to know this level, keep up with it and not have to hide.”

How well have you come together in the short time already?
Peter Schneider: “The first ice session already looked very good. We had a very high tempo and good chemistry within the team. Some of us have known each other for a long time. The young players are making a good impression, both on and off the ice. The team spirit is very good, and that is important. We want to carry that through the week and take a step forward every day. Not everything will work perfectly in such a short time, but the important thing is that we get along well and approach the task with joy and passion. Then the results will follow too.”

The Deutschland Cup is already part of the newly introduced European Cup of Nations. Does that change your expectations at all?
Peter Schneider: “The European Cup of Nations is an attempt to enhance the tournaments during the breaks by introducing a ranking. It does not change much for us in terms of our approach, because we go into the tournament anyway with the aim of putting ourselves forward for the World Championship. It makes no difference to us. We always want to deliver our best performance.”

You will captain the national team. How does that role feel for you?
Peter Schneider: “It always depends on who is there. Thomas (editor’s note: Raffl) is not here. He is our captain. But of course, it is a great honour for me to be able to take on the role, and I hope I will do the job well.”

Deutschland Cup 2025 Men

06–09 November 2025, Landshut (GER)

Austria vs Slovakia
Thu, 06 November 2025, 12:15, live on ORF SPORT +

Germany vs Austria
Sat, 08 November 2025, 18:45, live on ORF SPORT +

Latvia vs Austria
Sun, 09 November 2025, 11:00, live on ORF SPORT +

Squad