Erich Kühnhackl (born 17 October 1950) is a German former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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. Kühnhackl is a member of the

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...

as well as of the German ice hockey Hall of Fame and Germany's Sport Hall of Fame.

Career

He won four German Championships and a bronze medal at the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (, ) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 (), were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from February 4 to 15, 1976. The games were awarded to Inn ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

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" (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 EV Landshut, also known as EVL Landshut Eishockey and formerly known as the Landshut Cannibals, are a professional ice hockey team based in Landshut, Bavaria, Germany. They currently play in Deutsche Eishockey Liga 2, the second level of ice hock ...

, German National Team, EC Bad Nauheim, Erding Jets, Polar Bears Regensburg and the

Straubing Tigers The Straubing Tigers are a professional men's ice hockey team, based in Straubing, Germany, that competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Straubing plays its home games at the Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which has a capacity of 5,635 spectators. P ...

. He served as sport director for the

Frankfurt Lions The Frankfurt Lions were a German professional men's ice hockey club from Frankfurt, Germany that played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The club ceased operations in 2010 due to financial difficulty. History * The hockey team was founded as a ...

of the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

from June 2009 to June 2010 and was vice president of the

Deutscher Eishockey-Bund The German Ice Hockey Federation (), commonly abbreviated as DEB, is the governing federation of German ice hockey associations. It was established on 16 June 1963 in Krefeld. Until 1990 it served only the old Federal Republic of Germany and West ...

, the German ice hockey federation, between 2010 and 2014.

Achievements

* won German Championships: 1970 with

, 1977 and 1979 with

Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany, that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their ho ...

, 1983 with

* 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 Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (, ), the highest sports award in Germany, was endowed on 23 June 1950 by the German President Theodor Heuss. It is awarded to athletes and teams of exemplary character that have won medals at Olympic and Paralympic Games ...

* 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

Personal info

He and his parents, who were of

German descent Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The constitution of Germany, implemented in 1949 following the end of World War ...

, emigrated from Czechoslovakia after the

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...

in 1968. In 2010, his son

Tom Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tom'' (1973 film), or ''The Bad Bunch'', a blaxploitation film * ''Tom'' (2002 film) ...

was drafted in the 4th round of the NHL Entry Draft by the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
IIHF Hockey Hall of Fame bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhnhackl, Erich 1950 births People from Sokolov District EHC Olten players EV Landshut players German ice hockey centres Ice hockey players at the 1972 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1976 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1984 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Kölner Haie players Living people Olympic bronze medalists for West Germany Olympic ice hockey players for West Germany Olympic medalists in ice hockey Medalists at the 1976 Winter Olympics Czechoslovak emigrants to West Germany West German ice hockey centres