Seven times German champion - Florian Busch (36) had a great ice hockey career.
It could have been even bigger - without bad luck with injuries and without a wrong decision, as he admits in the farewell interview.
Munich– Still a long career in German ice hockey has come to an end.
Florian Busch (36) quit after 18 years as a DEL professional.
A Bavarian in Berlin who won the German championship seven times and left his mark.
The farewell interview.
Florian Busch, you have been struggling with the consequences of concussions for the past few years.
Is that why you stop now?
Yes, it never went with your head, it wasn't like it used to be, it has changed, you have to accept that.
Doctors advised against trying any more.
Specifically: what were the restrictions?
You don't recognize the puck anymore, you can't keep up that well.
You only hurt yourself, you are no longer allowed to play ice hockey.
You have lived in Berlin since 2002.
What is the future center of life?
Miesbach, I'm back already.
We rented our condominium in Berlin.
For the past few years I've been looking forward to Miesbach, I've been brutally homesick.
But I'll always go back to Berlin, I've made good friends there.
Of course, they don't come down to me because they don't know what to do with us.
They were a fan favorite with the polar bears.
How did you do it?
Everything I did in Berlin wasn't positive, and the relationship had to develop and was a give and take.
But as a village child I was helped.
The Berliners liked that I speak Bavarian and open my mouth - basically that's how they are.
In 18 years you have seen the change in the club from the east - formerly Dynamo - to become part of the American Anschutz group.
I got there when the big business started.
Then came the new hall at the Ostbahnhof.
You leave the family feeling behind, everything becomes more of a business.
But with the arena something changed for the better and we were successful.
You can say that: you won two championships under coach Pierre Pagé, five times in six years under Don Jackson.
The polar bears lived from the legendary 1985 vintage, to which they also belong and which are now gradually saying goodbye.
A one-time dominance, right?
There was a time when the league wasn't ready for the ice hockey we played - but that came to an end, too.
The last championship was in 2013.
But the home of the club remains the "Welli", as the corrugated iron palace in Hohenschönhausen is called, right?
Absolutely.
If you say something else, they'll chop off your head.
You got on extremely well with coach Don Jackson.
He has a good sense of humor, I have a good sense of humor.
We were allowed to listen to a technical discussion between the two of you about Bavarian beers.
Don and I don't quite get together.
He is the Augustinian, I the Tegernsee man.
Did Jackson want to bring you to Munich?
That was before he started there that there was interest from Munich.
But nothing could get me out of Berlin.
You played once at the Olympics and at four world championships.
It could have been a lot more international appearances had you not withdrawn from the national team after the 2008 affair, when you sent away a doping control officer, quickly recognized and corrected the mistake, made up for the sample, which was also negative but was still under suspicion.
In my youthful recklessness that wasn't the smartest thing I did and an absolute shame.
Nevertheless, I am glad that I was there at the 2006 Olympic tournament with Marco Sturm and all the NHL professionals.
The German Ice Hockey Association would have nominated you further, and you were not banned from the “missed test” in the DEL.
But the reporting system of the National Anti-Doping Agency was too complex for you.
The reporting system was a bit incomprehensible to me - and I was afraid of making mistakes.
I wanted to play ice hockey even longer.
In retrospect, I think: would you have just done it.
I thought I was the little revolutionary.
I was dogged.
I should have handled it differently.
Have you ever had the chance to switch to the NHL or try your hand at a camp?
That was actually around that time with the missed doping test.
But then I would have been banned for two years.
So it took care of itself.
You last played in Berlin with Leon Gawanke, who already has an NHL contract, and with Lukas Reichel, who was now drafted in the first round by Chicago.
A completely different generation than you, fixated on a career overseas?
Young people today are determined, gifted with talent, they don't leave, they eat right.
Well, we basically did that too, but not overdone.
But now, that's already football standard.
You have also lived next to ice hockey.
Yes, I had fun and I'm glad I did.
That led to a lot of friendships.
Fun for you - not so much for those affected - was a commitment to the TV show by Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf.
Joko had to miss an ice hockey check as a test of courage.
It was after a polar bear game: they knocked him over, Joko had to go to the hospital.
To this day, that is the story people ask me about the most.
I stood in for a teammate who was supposed to do that but was injured.
I hardly knew Joko.
And because I'm an obedient coach's son, I did what I was told.
Should you have been a little gentler?
You know how it is with injuries.
Back then I only had something on my shoulder, not my skull.
But that was a funny action, Joko and Klaas achieved something.
And many also congratulated me.
Joko is apparently not that popular.
What will you do as a non-ice hockey professional?
I'm starting April 1st as a greenkeeper at the Valley Golf Club.
I am a passionate golfer.
Better than Donald Trump?
Worse.
Everyone is worse than him.
My handicap is around 20. I haven't played for a long time.
Will there be ice hockey coach Florian Busch?
Maybe volunteer at TEV Miesbach in the offspring.
You have now left Berlin very quietly - that is not Florian Busch-like.
Yes, no party, and mine were the best.
Everyone was annoyed that I was stopping now.
When the corona situation calms down, I'll do it in Berlin.
We're making a smart meal.
With Tegernsee beer?
Yes, from the barrel. No bottles.
And a farewell in front of the fans - including your shirt number under the roof?
Should there be, I heard.
Interview: Günter Klein
