Heinz Ehlers

Heinz Ehlers
Born (1966-03-03) March 3, 1966
Aalborg, Denmark
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for Austria
Klagenfurter AC
Denmark
AaB Aalborg
Sweden
Leksands IF
AIK IF
Rogle Angelholm
Germany
Augsburger Panther
Berlin Capitals
Switzerland
EHC Biel
National team  Denmark
NHL Draft 188th overall, 1984
New York Rangers
Playing career 1984–2004

Heinz Ehlers (born January 25, 1966) is a Danish professional ice hockey coach and former ice hockey player. He is currently the head coach of the SCL Tigers in the National League A (NLA).

Ehlers was selected by the New York Rangers in the 9th round (188th overall) of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, but never played in the league.[1] Ehlers played professionally in Europe for over 20 years, most notably in the Swedish Hockey League and Deutsche Eishockey Liga.[2] He was inducted into the Danish ice hockey Hall of Fame in 2014.[3]

Playing career

After spending the early stages of his career in his native Aalborg, Ehlers embarked on a five-year stint with Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) in 1984. In 1989, he transferred to another SHL team, AIK IF, and in 1991-92 helped Rögle BK earn promotion to the SHL.

Ehlers played in the Swiss elite league NLA for EHC Biel in 93-94, followed by two years with Klagenfurter AC of Austria. He left his mark in the German top-flight Deutsche Eishockey Liga, turning out for DEL teams Augsburger Panther and Berlin Capitals.[4] He served as a team captain for the Capitals and returned to his native Denmark after five years in the German capital city.

Ehlers played another two years with AaB Ishockey and concluded his playing career following the 2003-04 campaign.

National team

Ehlers earned a total of 104 caps for the Danish national team, tallying 60 goals and 103 assists. He played in nine World Championships.[5]

Coaching career

His first head coaching stint came at Aalborg in 2005-06. In May 2007, he took over EHC Biel and steered the team to the NLB championship and promotion to the Swiss top-tier National League A (NLA).[6] He was sacked in April 2009 following a run of six straight losses.[7]

Ehlers accepted the head coaching job at NLB side SC Langenthal in November 2009.[8] He hauled in his second NLB title in 2011-12 and the club's first ever. Ehlers left SCL after the 2012-13 campaign to take on a new challenge in Switzerland's top-flight National League A (NLA),[9] signing with Lausanne HC in March 2013.[10] He turned the newly promoted team into a solid NLA squad, guiding Lausanne to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2013-14 and 2014-15. Despite having a year of his contract left to run, he was relieved of his duties after the 2015-16 season.[11] About a month before parting ways, Lausanne's president had questioned Ehlers' defensive style of play.[12]

In early October 2016, he took over head coaching duties for the SCL Tigers of the Swiss NLA.[13]

Personal info

His son, Nikolaj was selected 9th overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the Winnipeg Jets. His first son, Sebastian, also plays professionally.

References

  1. ↑ "1984 NHL Entry Draft -- Heinz Ehlers". hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  2. ↑ "Ehlers excited to call Halifax home for hockey - Yahoo Sports". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
  3. ↑ "Tre ishockeylegender blev optaget i Hall of Fame". www.bt.dk. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  4. ↑ Berliner-Kurier.de. "Capitals heute wieder mit "Magic" Heinz Ehlers! | Berliner-Kurier.de". Berliner-Kurier.de (in German). Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  5. ↑ "Ringen er sluttet for Ehlers". www.bt.dk. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  6. ↑ www.20min.ch, www.20minuten.ch, 20 Minuten, 20 Min,. "20 Minuten - Biel verlängert Vertrag mit Heinz Ehlers - Eishockey". 20 Minuten. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  7. ↑ "Lausanne siegt erneut - Heinz Ehlers freigestellt". az Limmattaler Zeitung. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  8. ↑ "Heinz Ehlers neuer Trainer in Langenthal". tagesanzeiger.ch/. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  9. ↑ "Trainer Heinz Ehlers verlässt den SC Langenthal". az Solothurner Zeitung. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  10. ↑ "Heinz Ehlers skifter til Lausanne". www.bt.dk. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  11. ↑ Club, Lausanne Hockey. "Communiqué de presse - Le Lausanne Hockey Club et Heinz Ehlers mettent un terme à leur collaboration - Lausanne Hockey Club". Lausanne Hockey Club (in French). Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  12. ↑ "Lausanne HC: "il faut que l'on change de système de jeu"". rts.ch. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  13. ↑ Tigers, SCL (2016-10-03). "Heinz Ehlers neuer Headcoach der SCL Tigers | SCL Tigers". Retrieved 2016-10-04.

External links

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