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Olympics High On Pielmeier's List

October 26, 2009

By Cleve Dheensaw
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2009

VICTORIA, British Columbia - When the Olympic torch for the 2010 Winter Games wings its way from Greece to Victoria this week, it will bring with it tales of the unexpected.

Who would guess that 25 ECHL alumni played in the previous Winter Olympics at Turin in 2006? Even though none performed for the major men’s ice hockey powers — for instance, nine of the ex-ECHLers in Turin were with Latvia and five with Italy — that still rates as quite an Olympian achievement for a Double-A pro league.

As a two-time netminder for Germany at the 2008 and 2009 world junior hockey championships, Timo Pielmeier of the Bakersfield Condors looks to be in his home nation’s future at the Winter Olympics. The 20-year-old — whose Condors played the Victoria Salmon Kings in a three-game ECHL set ending last night — was a 2007 third-round NHL draft pick who is pencilled in on Germany’s roster for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

“I think I’ll have a big chance for 2014,” said Pielmeier, outside the dressing room at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

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