How a heckled Canadian became Germany's Olympic hockey coach

"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,"

"One night in Rosenheim a fan was really giving it to me in the warmup. I skated over and asked him if he also swore at Karl Friesen [Rosenheim's Canadian-born goalie] like that. He didn't say another word."

"I think it was something that people simply weren't used to, this big influx of 'Auslander' [foreigners] even though we were all of German heritage, Kreis explained."

Harold Kreis arrived in West Germany at 19 as part of a 1978 influx of Canadian players recruited by Mannheim to compete after promotion. Kreis and other Canadian-born players of German heritage faced hostility from some fans, despite possession of West German passports. Incidents included heckling during warmups and confrontations with opposing fans in Rosenheim. Kreis became a mainstay of the West German national team and was initially named to the 1980 Olympic roster but was dropped at the last minute because of a passport technicality. Kreis later spent almost two decades playing for Mannheim and eventually became head coach of the German men's national team.

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