All the microphones and recording devices that were held up to Veit Oswald, who was positioned in front of an advertising hoarding, were suddenly joined by two unusual objects: a drinking bottle and a car key. Oswald’s teammates Andreas Eder and Chris DeSousa had fun trying to make him laugh. Veit Oswald is 19 years old, a striker at EHC Red Bull Munich – and a goalscorer in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) since Thursday evening. In the 4-0 home win against the Iserlohn Roosters, he scored his debut goal in the 47th minute with a goal. At the end of the game, Oswald reacted to the chants from the north curve by waving shyly for him and then actually wanted to disappear straight into the dressing room – until the supervisors made it clear to him with gestures that he should go to the fans in the curve.
After the third home win in five days, EHC coach Toni Söderholm didn’t hide the fact that he was impressed with the young attacker. Oswald had a “really, really great attitude,” praised the Finn, he was curious and came to training prepared: “You don’t have to whip him.” The former national coach sees Oswald as having the potential to be a “future top player”. The Landshuter has been in the EHC cosmos for a year, and last season he played 24 times for Munich – more often than with their cooperation partner, the upper division club SC Riessersee. He has now secured a sort of regular place among the Munich U23 players, of whom at least three must always be used according to DEL regulations. Over the summer he worked more in the weight room to improve his stability and to be more resilient in absorbing tackles. He also continued to optimize his speed, his greatest strength, he said.
Söderholm sees Oswald as a leading player in the German U20 team
Oswald understands “the basic idea of professional sport,” said Söderholm, which is important. The EHC coach emphasized this one day after the club announced in a press release that Julian Lutz would play in the US junior league USHL this season. The 19-year-old was drafted 43rd overall by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2022 NHL Draft. The only time he was in the EHC squad this season, he was on the bench for the entire 60 minutes against HC Kosice in the Champions Hockey League. Oswald hasn’t been drafted yet – but he passed Lutz. At the end of December, when the U20 World Cup begins in Sweden, the showcase for the future top players, Oswald can also use this big stage. For Söderholm, he is “definitely a leading player” in the German U20 team.
Oswald could be “very hard on himself,” Söderholm also emphasized that, and Oswald confirmed that – and went even deeper: “I often get frustrated very quickly,” he said. He not only asked the question of whether this was a good quality, but also answered it himself: Since it often has a negative effect on his game, “it’s probably a bad quality,” he said with a smile. He decided to work on it. “I’m still hard on myself,” he said, but in a “healthy” way. His father will like this attitude. Günter Oswald was a national player in the 1990s, became German champion with Krefeld and is now working in the Red Bull youth academy. Anyone who has seen Günter Oswald play speaks of striking similarities in the playing style of the two. “Maybe he’ll congratulate me now,” said the junior with a smile.
There is little to suggest that Oswald is losing his grip ahead of Sunday’s derby at ERC Ingolstadt (4:30 p.m.). Especially since he received a reminder on Thursday about what he could still improve in his game. Oswald, DeSousa suggested with a grin as he passed, should also please talk about his target losses.
