Harold Kreis is the new coach of the German national team. The German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) officially introduced the 64-year-old as national coach on Monday. Former NHL pro Alexander Sulzer acts as his assistant. Both received a three-year contract. Kreis will take up his full-time position following the end of the current PENNY DEL season with the Schwenninger Wild Wings, while Sulzer will remain with the Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven as an assistant coach and will also hold this position at the DEB for all activities and tournaments of the national team.
“I am honored to be able to take on this responsible task and approach the matter with humility and full of energy,” said Kreis. As an active player, he made 180 appearances for the national team. He took part in the Olympic Games twice (1984, 1988) and eight times at the World Championships. In 1980 and 1997 he won the German championship with Mannheim.
As a coach, he won the title in Switzerland in 2006 with HC Lugano and in 2008 with the ZSC Lions. From 2010 to 2012 he worked as an assistant coach for the DEB selection. With the DEG Metro Stars he became German Vice Champion in 2009. He did the same in 2011 with the Adler Mannheim. “I attach great importance to a well-structured defence, but I also like to let my teams act and play the game,” Kreis said, describing his preferred style.
The 38-year-old Sulzer entered the coaching business in 2021/22 with a job as an assistant at the DEL2 club Eispiraten Crimmitschau. Since 2022 he has held this position at the first division club Bremerhaven. At the Germany Cup in November last year, he was part of the DEB coaching staff for the first time.
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“It’s an honor for me to now be able to work permanently as the assistant coach of the national team. I’m really looking forward to working as a team with Harold and the players. It’s a great task for me to bring German ice hockey even further forward and I personal development as well,” emphasized Sulzer.
In the NHL he played for the Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabers. The defender played 131 games in the regular season and had 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists). In the DEL, Sulzer wore the jersey of the Hamburg Freezers, DEG Metro Stars and Kölner Haie. With the national team, he has 64 international matches, four world championships and two Olympic appearances.
DEB Vice President Andreas Niederberger hopes that the positive development of German ice hockey in recent years will continue under the future coaching duo. As a goal for the upcoming IIHF World Championship 2023 in Finland and Latvia he named the qualification for the quarterfinals.
Photos: German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) / City-Press GmbH
