Ralph Krueger – © Sportfoto-Sale
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by Fabian Brändle
In contrast to football, it is noticeable that the list of ice hockey players and coaches active in Swiss ice hockey is manageable.
Switzerland is not an old age paradise OF-Cracks, the wages for top players are not much higher in the Confederation, and the level of the sport is on a par with its neighbors. Although the FRG stayed in the “old” A-group, which consisted of only eight teams, for a long time and caused quite a few surprises there, in Switzerland no one looked up to the northern neighbor.
The only top star was Erich Kühnhackl, who once drew his circles at EHC Olten.
There are a few more coaches, such as the “Alpine volcano” Hans Zach, who coached the ZSC. First and foremost, Ralph Krueger should be mentioned, the German-American “long-term coach” of the national team, who consolidated the “Confederates” in the A group, but preached a rather boring defensive hockey. His compatriot Harold Kreis, also a former German national player, coached EV Zug, among others.
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