Harold Kreis didn’t have to apply for an advertisement like in 1978 this time. Back when he was a teenager in Manitoba, he responded to an ad in the Winnipeg Tribune and started his career as a professional ice hockey player a few weeks later in Germany, the country of his parents; a career that can be described as a German career, not only if you include reliability and loyalty to the club under the abstract umbrella term German virtues wanted to sum. Kreis played for 17 years as a defender in Germany’s highest league, first in the Bundesliga, then in the DEL, 888 times, always for Mannheim, 15 years as captain: first for the ERC, then for the Adler. He was champion twice, in 1980 and 1997. He played 180 international matches for the national team, played at eight world championships and two Olympic Games.
This Monday, the 64-year-old is standing at a coffee table in a Munich hotel and says as a greeting: “Hello. Circle. ‘Harry’ is okay.”
That’s what those responsible at the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) thought. From the beginning, Kreis was one of the candidates who were traded as successors to Toni Söderholm. After the Germany Cup in November, the Finn had his contract, which was valid until 2026, terminated and surprisingly switched to SC Bern in Switzerland. Unlike the appointment of the completely inexperienced Marco Sturm in 2015 or the choice of the third division coach Söderholm afterwards, Kreis’ appointment was not a particularly brave decision – it was the obvious one. And probably a smart one. Kreis is the candidate everyone can agree on.
At the end of the 1970s, Kreis belonged to the then admired group of “German Canadians”
His presentation on Monday was no longer a surprise – it was more a matter of time. Since reaching the semi-finals at the 2010 World Cup, Kreis, who was Uwe Krupp’s assistant at the time, has always been considered a candidate when there was a vacancy at DEB. His former teammate in Mannheim and in the national team, Andreas Niederberger, is now DEB Vice President, his son, national goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger, was his player in Düsseldorf, his assistant at DEG was Tobias Abstreiter, now U-20 national coach. In a way, Kreis belonged to the cloud. Now that his contract as head coach in Schwenningen expires after the season, he will be incorporated into the inventory with a contract until 2026. The World Cup in Finland and Latvia in May will be his first tournament as head coach.
It was more of a coincidence that and how Kreis came to Germany.
After the promotion of the Mannheim ERC to the Bundesliga, coach Heinz Weisenbach had an idea. He flew to Toronto and searched Canada for players with German roots who were cheap and didn’t burden the quota of foreigners allowed per team. He brought twelve players with him from his six-week conscription, including 19-year-old Kreis, Manfred Wolf and Roy Roedger, who were admired in German ice rinks in the late 1970s, as if Alexander von Humboldt had discovered a new species on one of his overseas research trips. With the “German Canadians”, a new term at the time, Mannheim became champion in 1980 in the second year of the Bundesliga. A model for success was born.
As a professional, Kreis proved that he has staying power. As a defender, at 1.80 meters, he was not a fearsome giant. But a formidable tackler who could play hard without being unfair and often spent more than 30 minutes on the ice a game was an edgy cornerstone of his team. In 1997, after the second championship title, he resigned. His shirt number 3 will no longer be assigned in Mannheim. One of the guests at his farewell game in 1998 was DEB Vice Niederberger. He says: “Harry is in character and morally untouchable for me.”
The key questions: How well can he work with young players – and with the NHL professionals?
Kreis’ style, both athletic and demeanor, is considered more defensive than that of his predecessors, who are 20 years his junior. Whether in Mannheim, Düsseldorf or now in Schwenningen, Kreis was and is recognized everywhere as an expert and gentleman. Following in the footsteps of Sturm, who gave the German team faith in themselves and an Olympic silver medal in 2018, and von Söderholm, who like Sturm confidently played forward and led the DEB selection to the 2021 World Cup semi-finals, Kreis will answer key questions need: How well can he work with young players? And how does he get along with the NHL professionals? Can he, the former overseas import, make serving for the fatherland as palatable to players like Leon Draisaitl, Moritz Seider or Philipp Grubauer as Heinz Weisenbach once did to him when he switched to the Bundesliga?
One of the currently best German players: Leon Draisaitl (left) is under contract with the Edmonton Oilers in North America.
(Photo: Perry Nelson/USA TODAY Sports)
Kreis says: “There was no contact yet.” In spring, when the DEL season is still running, DEB sports director Christian Künast will first fly to North America, only then will he “introduce himself” to the players. He will not formulate specific sporting goals, but: “The team has developed a lot over the years. They should continue to show this conviction and go into every game with self-confidence.” His team should act, not react. Kreis is supported by Alexander Sulzer, 38, former NHL player, the assistant to Bremerhaven’s coach Thomas Popiesch and until the end of 2021 managing director of the players’ association ice hockey – one of the generation of DEB leading players like Captain Moritz Müller, 36, or Korbinian Holzer, 34 .A link.
Kreis celebrated his greatest successes as a coach in Switzerland. He became champion in 2006 with Lugano and in 2008 with Zurich, and in 2005 he celebrated the title with Davos as assistant to the legendary Arno Del Curto. In the German Ice Hockey League, on the other hand, he experienced a defeat that contemporary witnesses still speak of today. In 2012, the Adler Mannheim, as the MERC was now called, were in the final against the Eisbären Berlin, leading 5-2 in the fourth game and 2-1 after victories, they were only a quarter of an hour away from the title. There was a festive mood on the bench. But then Berlin scored three more goals and in extra time the winning goal and also won the decisive fifth game. At the time, Kreis said it didn’t help his team to “cry about now”. Self-pity is not his thing. He tolerates being unpunctual even less. “I don’t like it when someone wastes my time. And I won’t waste your time either.”
And so everything was said in Harold Kreis’s first press conference as national ice hockey coach.