In his own opinion, Hans Zach is always “peace itself”. The German ice hockey idol gets the nickname “Alpine volcano” on the boards. What is Zach’s pulse today as he turns 75?
Hans Zach doesn’t have to go far. Just a few kilometers from his house on the Isar in Bad Tölz, the German ice hockey idol can admire a very special spectacle. The Huchen, a powerful fish from the salmonid family, spawns from March onwards, which is why it is often referred to as the “king of the Alpine rivers”.
“The Huchen are very smart and very rare. You can even get up to two meters from them,” says Zach, a passionate angler, to the German Press Agency about the so-called Danube salmon because it lives in the Danube catchment area. “It’s a spectacle when they spawn.” The females can lay several thousand eggs.
Zach’s autobiography is called: “I, the Alpine Volcano”
The water, the forest, the mountains – they are sources of strength for Zach, whose energy on and off the ice was never to be overlooked. Because of his explosive nature in the gang, Zach, who turns 75 on Saturday, was nicknamed “Alpine Volcano.” This is also the title of his autobiography, published in 2003: “I, the Alpine volcano.” On the cover you can see lava flowing slowly down a mountain in the background.
“That’s just how I was and it didn’t bother me. I did what I said I would do and I followed through,” Zach says. “It seemed emotional, but I was calm myself. If you took a pulse measurement during the game, you were surprised that I didn’t even get over 100.”
Eyes wide open, jaw agape
The pictures from back then do not necessarily indicate a very low resting heart rate. You can often see Zach with his eyes wide open and his jaw agape. With passion and attention to detail, he became a four-time champion as a coach with the Düsseldorfer EG and the Hannover Scorpions. As national coach from 1998 to 2004, he led the German national team to the World Cup quarter-finals three times.
Zach has been retired since an interim job with the Adler Mannheim in 2014. He lives with his wife Slada in his hometown of Bad Tölz and will spend his upcoming birthday in Gran Canaria. “Nothing gets me out of my skin, nothing upsets me,” assures Zach, who was once a professional ice hockey player, master butcher, medical lifeguard, national team player, “Alpine volcano”, master coach and national coach.
“When it’s over, it’s over”
For the former president of the German Ice Hockey Association, Franz Reindl, who took part in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid with Zach, Zach is “a fair sportsman and person through and through,” Reindl once told the German Press Agency. “Hans is and remains one of the greatest German ice hockey personalities of all time.”
Zach never had any thoughts of a comeback. “I noticed the way I work and coach, with the ambition, will and dynamism, you can’t do that anymore at that age, you don’t have the strength anymore. In Mannheim I noticed the consistency that I have “It takes a lot of energy and I don’t have it anymore, I don’t need it anymore,” says Zach. “I didn’t think about returning for a second. I’m not the type: today no, tomorrow yes. When it’s over, it’s over.”
Heart surgery “tends to give a boost”
Zach had heart surgery last year. During a routine check-up it was determined that he needed treatment. Zach had so-called stents inserted, which are artificial vascular supports that keep blood vessels open.
“It was strange that in the first 20 minutes of climbing the mountain my throat was tight,” says Zach, how he realized that something wasn’t quite right. “But the stents don’t limit me, I’m actually always out and about in nature. I’m in perfect health, the stents have actually given me a boost.”