Diego Kostner

Diego Kostner
Date of birth	5th August 1992
place of birth	Bressanone , Italy
size	183 cm
Weight	82 kg
position	striker
Shot hand	Right
Career stations
2007-2009	PIKES EHC Oberthurgau
2009-2016	HC Lugano
since 2016	HC Ambrì-Piotta

Diego Kostner (born August 5, 1992 in Brixen ) is an Italian ice hockey player who has been under contract with HC Ambrì-Piotta in the Swiss National League A since 2016 . His father Thomas was also a professional ice hockey player. Because he was a junior in Switzerland, he does not come under the quota of foreigners in Switzerland.

Career

Kostner, who comes from South Tyrol, began his career as an ice hockey player in Switzerland at PIKES EHC Oberthurgau , for whose U-17 team he was active in the novice elite class from 2007 to 2009. He then moved to the U-20s of the Swiss top club HC Lugano and played there in the elite class of the A-Juniors. In 2011 he played - still as a junior player - in the NLA team from Lugano, for which he was active until the end of the 2015/16 season. In 2016 he moved to league rivals HC Ambrì-Piotta .

International

For Italy Kostner already played in the junior division at the U18 World Championships in Division I in 2009 and in Division II in 2010 as well as in the U20 title fights in 2011 in Division I.

After making his debut in the Italian national team in 2012 , he took part in the Olympic qualification in Bietigheim-Bissingen in February 2013 , in which the Italian team missed the qualification, but with a 2-1 after extra time against the German national ice hockey team this also paved the way built into Sochi. At the World Cup in April 2013 he reached second place with the Italian team in Group A of Division I and thus immediately returned to the top division. He contributed the first goal in the 4-0 opening win against South Korea for promotion . In the top division, however, he was unable to hold his own with his team and was immediately relegated in the title fights in 2014 , as well as in 2017 after a renewed promotion. He then took part in Division I again in 2015 , 2016 and 2018 , when he scored the 4-3 winning goal against Slovenia two seconds before the end and thus secured the third top division promotion in his career. He also represented his colors in qualifying for the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang 2018 . So far, he has completed 70 international matches for the senior national team.

Achievements and Awards

• 2010 Promotion to Division I at the U18 World Cup, Division II, Group A.
• 2013 Promotion to the top division at the World Championship of Division I, Group A.
• 2016 Promotion to the top division at the World Championship Division I, Group A.
• 2018 Promotion to the top division at the World Championship Division I, Group A.

Web links

• Diego Kostner at hockeydb.com (English)
• Diego Kostner at eliteprospects.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "It wasn't easy to assert yourself as an Italian in Switzerland". In: hockeyweb.de. January 18, 2016, accessed May 24, 2016 . 
2. ^ Neue Zürcher Zeitung , Diego Kostner from Lugano to Ambri - Lugano's Kostner signs with Ambri-Piotta , Feb. 11, 2016, accessed on May 24, 2016