Erich Kühnhackl

Erich Kühnhackl (born 17 October 1950) is a German former professional ice hockey player, born and raised in Czechoslovakia. He is one of the all-time greats of German ice hockey and was named Germany's ice hockey player of the 20th century in 2000.[1] Kühnhackl is a member of the IIHF Hall of Fame[2][3] as well as of the German ice hockey Hall of Fame[4] and Germany's Sport Hall of Fame.[5]

Erich Kühnhackl
Born (1950-10-17) 17 October 1950
Citice, Czechoslovakia
Height 6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Weight 213 lb (97 kg; 15 st 3 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for 1.GBun
EV Landshut
Kölner Haie
NDA
EHC Olten
National team  West Germany
Playing career 1968–1989
Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing  West Germany
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1976 Innsbruck Team

Career

He won four German Championships and a bronze medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck[6] and is widely regarded as the best German hockey player ever and was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1997. Kühnhackl was also named the German ice hockey player of the Century in 2000. His nickname "Kleiderschrank auf Kufen"[7] (wardrobe on skates) refers to his mighty appearance. In Finland he is known as Iso-Eerikki (Big Eric) for the same reason.

After his playing career Kühnhackl worked as coach of EV Landshut, German National Team, EC Bad Nauheim, Erding Jets, Polar Bears Regensburg and the Straubing Tigers. He served as sport director for the Frankfurt Lions of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga[8] from June 2009 to June 2010[9] and was vice president of the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund, the German ice hockey federation,[10] between 2010 and 2014.

Achievements
  • won German Championships: 1970 with EV Landshut, 1977 and 1979 with Kölner Haie, 1983 with EV Landshut
  • German Player of the Year (1978, 1980, 1983)
  • 211 international games played (131 G) including 3 Olympic Games and 10 World Championships
  • won a bronze medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck and was afterwards presented with the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt
  • first German Top Scorer at the World Championships 1978 (15 points)
  • 774 German league games (724 G, 707 A, 1431 PTS, 1110 PIM)
  • All-Star Team of the German Bundesliga 1976/77, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1982/83 and 1983/84
  • Gustav-Jaenecke Cup (Best Scorer) 1973/74, 1976/77, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1982/83 and 1983/84
  • Fritz-Poitsch-Trophy (Best Goalscorer) 1973/74 and 1979/80
  • Xaver-Unsinn-Trophy (Most Assists) 1973/74, 1977/78, 1982/83 and 1983/84
  • German ice hockey player of the Century 2000[11]

Personal info

He and his parents, who were of German descent,[12] emigrated from Czechoslovakia after the Soviet occupation in 1968.[13]

In 2010, his son Tom was drafted in the 4th round of the NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1968–69 EV Landshut 1.GBun 14 6 2 8 2 — — — — —
1969–70 EV Landshut 1.GBun 35 21 14 35 14 — — — — —
1970–71 EV Landshut 1.GBun 35 16 12 28 18 — — — — —
1971–72 EV Landshut 1.GBun 35 24 19 43 36 — — — — —
1972–73 EV Landshut 1.GBun 40 38 30 68 43 — — — — —
1973–74 EV Landshut 1.GBun 36 50 26 76 40 — — — — —
1974–75 EV Landshut 1.GBun 35 47 20 67 90 — — — — —
1975–76 EV Landshut 1.GBun 35 29 27 56 73 — — — — —
1976–77 Kölner EC 1.GBun 40 47 26 73 79 — — — — —
1977–78 Kölner EC 1.GBun 46 52 43 95 43 — — — — —
1978–79 Kölner EC 1.GBun 52 59 58 117 99 — — — — —
1979–80 EV Landshut 1.GBun 48 83 72 155 67 — — — — —
1980–81 EV Landshut 1.GBun 44 40 46 86 74 5 4 2 6 4
1981–82 EV Landshut 1.GBun 38 41 61 102 34 8 6 9 15 4
1982–83 EV Landshut 1.GBun 36 32 48 80 70 10 7 7 14 —
1983–84 EV Landshut 1.GBun 43 35 52 87 75 10 4 11 15 —
1984–85 EV Landshut 1.GBun 36 30 39 69 59 4 2 3 5 16
1985–86 EHC Olten NDA 35 22 23 45 88 — — — — —
1986–87 EHC Olten NDA 15 6 8 14 38 — — — — —
1987–88 EV Landshut 1.GBun 35 20 29 49 47 — — — — —
1988–89 EV Landshut 1.GBun 36 21 38 59 67 — — — — —
1.GBun totals 751 691 662 1353 1030 37 23 32 55 —
NDA totals 50 28 31 59 126 — — — — —

International
Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1976 West Germany OLY 5 5 5 10 10
1976 West Germany WC 10 7 1 8 18
1977 West Germany WC 10 5 5 10 24
1978 West Germany WC 10 8 7 15 6
1981 West Germany WC 8 3 3 6 12
1982 West Germany WC 7 3 5 8 8
1983 West Germany WC 10 5 7 12 28
1984 West Germany OLY 6 8 6 14 12
1985 West Germany WC 10 3 4 7 20
Senior totals 76 47 43 90 138

References
  1. Diepold, Christian. "Erich Kühnhackl - Eishockeyspieler des Jahrhunderts". www.eishockey-online.com. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  2. "Erich Kühnhackl Erhält Hall of Fame-Urkunde". German Ice Hockey Federation (in German). 7 February 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  3. "Erich Kühnhackl". www.iihf.com. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  4. "Die Mitglieder - Eishockeymuseum". www.eishockeymuseum.de. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  5. "Meldung 24 05 2016". www.hall-of-fame-sport.de. Archived from the original on 17 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  6. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Erich Kühnhackl". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
  7. SID. "Erich Kühnhackl: Kleiderschrank auf Kufen wird 65". swp.de (in German). Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  8. "German legend Kühnhackl takes on new challenge - NHL.com - News". www.nhl.com. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  9. "Eishockey: Kühnhackl bei Frankfurt Lions entlassen". www.t-online.de. 5 June 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  10. Freising, Johann Kirchberger. "Verlockendes Angebot: Eisige Zeiten". sueddeutsche.de (in German). ISSN 0174-4917. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  11. "Son of German hockey legend Kuhnhackl hopes to play for Spitfires". Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  12. "Erich Kühnhackl Stiftung". www.erich-kuehnhackl-stiftung.de. Archived from the original on 8 February 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  13. "International Hockey Legends: Erich Kuhnhackl". internationalhockeylegends.blogspot.fr. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
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