GANGNEUNG, South Korea — Marco Sturm wants to coach in the NHL.

He’s having quite the audition coaching Germany at the Olympics.

Sturm, who played five seasons for the Boston Bruins, has the underdog Germans in the semifinals, where he faces heavily favored Canada on Friday. At just 39, Sturm is the biggest reason Germany has exceeded expectations at the Olympics..

“As a coach – and especially me, because I’m very young and (in) only my third year coaching – I learned so much,” Sturm said Thursday. “It only helps in tournaments and it always helps playing against top teams also. … You learn sometimes from your mistakes and on the other side what do you do good and what you think helps the team to be successful.”

After 15 NHL seasons as a player on six teams, Sturm is now enjoying some success in coaching. He’s six years removed from his last NHL game but already looks like he has a bright future behind the bench.

“He’s still really, really young,” veteran Germany defenseman Christian Ehrhoff said. “He’s only going to grow from all these experiences. I think one day, why not? Why should he not be a coach on the highest level?”

Sturm makes no secret of his interest in getting back to North America to coach. He’s currently living in Germany and coaching the national team full time but could parlay his current work into a gig as an assistant in the NHL or maybe even a head job in the American Hockey League.

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