The IIHF Historical Committee names candidates for Hockey Hall of Fame
Former professionals Saku Koivu, Uwe Krupp, Angela Ruggiero, Joe Sakic, Teemu Selanne and Dieter Kalt will be inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2017. Former British international Tony Hand will be honored with the Richard 'Bibi' Torriani Prize, while French ice hockey official, former player and coach Patrick Francheterre will receive the Paul Loicq Prize.
The 2017 IIHF Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place in Cologne on May 21, 2017, the final day of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
Uwe Krupp, born on June 24, 1965 in Cologne.
It's difficult to achieve legendary status in the world of ice hockey, especially for players who don't come from one of the Big Six nations. And yet it doesn't take much thought to name Uwe Krupp as the greatest ice hockey player Germany has produced to date. He was not only a defender of impressive size, but also a gifted skater who carried the puck out of his own zone with the greatest consistency and precision.
Because of these strengths, legendary coach Scotty Bowman did not care that Krupp did not participate in the 1983 World Junior Championships, nor that Krupp's offensive scoring at the Kölner Haien was relatively low. Bowman recognized potential and selected Krupp with the 1983th draft pick in 214.
Krupp stayed in Germany for three more years until, in 1986, after an impressive performance at the World Cup, he was ready to try his luck in the NHL. Although he played a few games for Buffalo, Krupp spent most of the 1986-87 season in Rochester, where he ultimately won the Calder Cup. The Cologne native spent the next 14 years as an NHL professional in America and made ice hockey history in the process.
With a height of 198cm, Krupp was the tallest player in the league for many seasons and yet, impressively, his mobility was never a weakness. Krupp played for the Sabers for nearly six years before being sent to the New York Islanders. There he further improved his offensive qualities before moving to the Quebec Nordiques in 1994. The Nordiques, a Stanley Cup aspirant, moved to Denver barely a year later and became the Colorado Avalanche. In the same year the team made it to the final and met Florida there. The Avalanche won the first three games 3-1, 8-1 and 3-2, but the fourth game was scoreless until the fifth period. Exactly after 4:31 minutes of the sixth period, Uwe Krupp scored the winning goal for the Avs and made history. He was the first German to score the all-important goal and the first German ever to win the Stanley Cup.
After a brief stopover at the 1998 Olympics, Krupp won the Stanley Cup again with Detroit under Coach Bowman. At that time, Krupp was already struggling with several injuries and ended his active career after winning the Stanley Cup for the second time.
Krupp returned to Germany, where he coached the German national team from 2006 to 2011. He started as a German pioneer in the NHL, made history and continues to pass on his experiences to a new generation of ice hockey players today...
DEB-President Franz Reindl: “German ice hockey is proud that Uwe Krupp, one of the most successful and best German ice hockey players of all time, is receiving this recognition.”
You can find all other nominations here