Heinz Ehlers
Born (1966-01-25) January 25, 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 Klagenfurter AC
AaB Aalborg
Leksands IF
AIK IF
Rögle BK
Augsburger Panther
Berlin Capitals
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 was most recently the head coach of the SCL Tigers in the National League A (NLA) and the Denmark national hockey team.[1]

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.[2] Ehlers played professionally in Europe for over 20 years, most notably in the Swedish Hockey League and Deutsche Eishockey Liga.[3] He was inducted into the Danish ice hockey Hall of Fame in 2014.[4]

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.[5] 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.[6] He was named head coach for the national team on June 29, 2018.[7][8]

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).[9] He was sacked in April 2009 following a run of six straight losses.[10]

Ehlers accepted the head coaching job at NLB side SC Langenthal in November 2009.[11] 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),[12] signing with Lausanne HC in March 2013.[13] 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.[14] About a month before parting ways, Lausanne's president had questioned Ehlers' defensive style of play.[15]

In early October 2016, he took over head coaching duties for the SCL Tigers of the Swiss NLA[16] and additionally became assistant coach of Denmark's men's national team in October 2017.[17]

Personal life

Heinz and his wife Tina have three children together, two of which play professional ice hockey.[3] His oldest son Sebastian plays for the Odense Bulldogs in the AL-Bank Ligaen[18] while his youngest son Nikolaj plays for the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League.[19]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1981–82 Aalborg Pirates II Denmark2 2617324928 —————
1982–83 Aalborg Pirates II Denmark2 ————— —————
1983–84 Aalborg Pirates II Denmark2 2837266322 —————
1984–85 Leksands IF SHL 311061610 —————
1985–86 Leksands IF SHL 3611162718 —————
1986–87 Leksands IF SHL 3614213532 —————
1987–88 Leksands IF SHL 3520123242 31012
1988–89 Leksands IF SHL 3313274040 311218
1989–90 AIK IF SHL 2711162744 31342
1990–91 AIK IF SHL 287142126 —————
1991–92 Rögle BK Division 1 3528467468 53366
1992–93 Rögle BK SHL 387263392 —————
1993–94 AaB Denmark 98212919 —————
1993–94 EHC Biel-Bienne NLA 227192612 —————
1994–95 Klagenfurter AC Austria 14791618 —————
1995–96 Klagenfurter AC Austria 91568 —————
1995–96 Augsburger Panther DEL 225152063 71678
1996–97 Augsburger Panther DEL 3810314158 —————
1997–98 Berlin Capitals DEL 448253336 41012
1998–99 Berlin Capitals DEL 508303846 —————
1999–00 Berlin Capitals DEL 496303656 30002
2000–01 Berlin Capitals DEL 399253434 50114
2001–02 Berlin Capitals DEL 476303662 —————
2002–03 Aalborg IK Panthers Denmark 247192694 62134
2003–04 AaB Ishockey Denmark 35121931109 —————
DEL totals 289 52 186 238 355 23 2 11 13 18
SHL totals 264 93 138 231 304 9 3 4 7 22

Personal life

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. ↑ "IIHF - Home 2019 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP".
  2. ↑ "1984 NHL Entry Draft -- Heinz Ehlers". hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Sapurji, Sunaya (September 3, 2013). "Ehlers excited to call Halifax home for hockey". Yahoo!. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Tre ishockeylegender blev optaget i Hall of Fame". www.bt.dk. August 15, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  5. ↑ Berliner-Kurier.de. "Capitals heute wieder mit "Magic" Heinz Ehlers! | Berliner-Kurier.de". Berliner-Kurier.de (in German). Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Ringen er sluttet for Ehlers". www.bt.dk. April 7, 2004. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  7. ↑ @IIHFHockey (June 29, 2018). "The Danish national team has a new head coach, and for the first time in 24 years one from its country. Heinz Ehler…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ↑ "IIHF - Home 2019 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP".
  9. ↑ "20 Minuten - Biel verlängert Vertrag mit Heinz Ehlers - Eishockey". 20 Minuten. November 27, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Lausanne siegt erneut - Heinz Ehlers freigestellt". az Limmattaler Zeitung. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Heinz Ehlers neuer Trainer in Langenthal". Tages-Anzeiger. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Trainer Heinz Ehlers verlässt den SC Langenthal". az Solothurner Zeitung. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Heinz Ehlers skifter til Lausanne". www.bt.dk. April 22, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  14. ↑ 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 April 13, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Lausanne HC: "il faut que l'on change de système de jeu"". rts.ch. March 9, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  16. ↑ Tigers, SCL (October 3, 2016). "Heinz Ehlers neuer Headcoach der SCL Tigers | SCL Tigers". Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  17. ↑ Tigers, SCL (October 12, 2017). "Heinz Ehlers betreut dänische Nationalmannschaft | SCL Tigers". SCL Tigers (in German). Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Sebastian Ehlers". Elite Prospects. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Nikolaj Ehlers". Elite Prospects. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
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