Gawanke has sights set on Olympic dream

WINNIPEG - Leon Gawanke knows this is a big year.
Yes, he's in the final year of his entry-level contract, but there is also something else on the horizon.
A chance to represent Germany at the Olympics.
But, like any athlete, the 22-year-old Gawanke is keeping everything in perspective.
"I'm not on the team yet. I hope I'm going to make it. It's going to be a special event," said Gawanke, adding he's talked to members of the 2018 German Olympic team that earned the silver medal in PyeongChang.
"It's been one of their greatest memories for life. If I can achieve that, it would be really nice."

Instead of keeping an eye on whether he makes the German roster, Gawanke - who the Jets selected in the fifth round of the 2017 NHL Draft - will instead try to improve on his 2020-21 campaign with the Manitoba Moose.

The right-shot defenceman posted seven points in 26 games, which came after he started the season in Germany's professional league (the DEL), playing for his hometown of Berlin.
The benefit he had of playing back home was seeing how Germany's hockey development continues to improve.
"There is a rule in the DEL now where you have to have three under-23 German players," Gawanke said. "That helps them get contracts and play pro hockey. I think they've done quite a job and they've invested in their junior hockey a little more."
Gawanke reflected on his time with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he had 121 points in 178 games in three seasons.
"When I was in the junior league, I was the only German in my league," he said. "Now there are plenty of guys in the CHL lately. Even getting drafted to the NHL, there are more and more. We had two first rounders two years ago. It's getting better and better."
When he was younger, Gawanke looked up to German NHLers such as Christian Ehrhoff (789 NHL Games), Marcel Goc (636 games), and Marco Sturm (938 games).
In fact, Goc and Ehrhoff were on the German team that won silver at the Olympics in 2018.
Though Gawanke just played his highest level of international hockey in the spring - he scored twice in 10 games at the IIHF World Hockey Championship for the fourth-place Germans - he hopes to add his name to the ever-growing list of German hockey heroes.
"The Olympics were a big thing," he said. "People were watching it. Even people who didn't have hockey knowledge or anything, reached out to me saying 'wow. Ice hockey is a cool sport.' I feel like it's getting bigger and bigger."