"Kreis came at the age of 19 as part of an influx of several Canadian players in 1978, recruited by Mannheim's general manager to help make his side, newly promoted from division 2, competitive in the top league. The fact that he and four of the others who came over were eligible for West German passports meant little to their detractors."
""In Mannheim we were welcomed with open arms, but when we played in other rinks, not so much even though other teams had their own Canadians," Kreis told DW. "One night in Rosenheim a fan was really giving it to me in the warmup. I went over and asked him if he also swore at Karl Friesen [Rosenheim's Canadian-born goalie] like that. He didn't say another word.""
Harold Kreis arrived in Germany at 19 in 1978 as part of a wave of Canadian players recruited by Mannheim’s general manager to make the newly promoted side competitive in the top league. He and several teammates were eligible for West German passports, which fuelled local detractors and occasional heckling in opposing rinks. Kreis became a Mannheim mainstay for 18 seasons while earning 180 caps for West Germany, including Olympic appearances in 1984 and 1988. He was initially on the 1980 Lake Placid roster but was dropped at the last minute due to a passport technicality. Kreis later moved into coaching, becoming the men's national team head coach.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]