Q&A with Montréal Victoire goaltender Sandra Abstreiter

Ahead of the season’s start, I spoke with Montréal Victoire goaltender Sandra Abstreiter. The 27-year-old is slotting into the team’s backup spot this year and gearing up to carry Germany in the crease at this year’s Winter Olympics. Read on to hear about training camp, her goals for the year, and her excitement to represent her home country in Milan!

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Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

First off, Sandra, congratulations on your contract extension with the Victoire. Tell me about getting that done and how you spent the rest of your summer.

Thank you. They told me right after the season they wanted me back, so I signed pretty much as soon as I could. For the summer, I took some time off after the season, of course, then went back (to Germany) for about a month and started training there. Then, I actually spent a lot of my summer in Vancouver, because I have a bunch of friends there. One is a coach, so I was able to go on the ice with her a bunch and skate almost every single day, which I’ve never had before in the summer.

How is training camp going so far?

It’s really intense. I just completed my third skate with the whole team, and they’re pretty long and intense. Obviously, we have a ton of players on the ice, so they have to get through a lot of reps to see everybody. But it’s really nice to be back with the girls, and I personally feel great. I think the summer helped me a lot, and I’m just excited to continue training camp and get into the (preseason) game tomorrow.

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What are your goals for the year as you’re primed to see more action this season?

I think I just want to start to make a bigger impact, to be honest. The last two years, I’ve only gotten two games in total, pretty much. So far, I’ve taken a lot out of just practicing on this level, and obviously, I’m going to continue to do that. But my personal goal is to take the next step and have an impact in the league and on my team. And right now, it feels like I’m heading in the right direction.

You’ll be working alongside Ann-Renée Desbiens again this season. Could you tell me a bit about your relationship?

It’s really good. We joke a lot and talk a lot on the ice. I think we both agree that our playing style is pretty different, so sometimes we have conversations on like, this is how she would play a certain situation, this is how I would play it. And I think that’s important, to hear other opinions. She’s a great goalie; she’s not Canada’s number one for no reason, so it’s nice for me to be able to learn from her as well.

Speaking of being a country’s number one, you’ve been so stellar for Germany in the lead-up to the Olympic Games. What does it mean to get to represent your country on the biggest stage this year?

It means everything, I’m so excited for it already. This is going to be our biggest season, and it’s even greater that we were the team that qualified for that spot, instead of having someone else do it for us before. We put the work in and got rewarded, so I’m looking forward to enjoying the moment as much as possible. And obviously, we want to show the world that they can’t forget about German women’s hockey. With earning that spot, we’re going to be super motivated to try our best and make an impact.

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