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Heinz Ehlers
Heinz Ehlers
Born	January 25, 1966 (age 58); Aalborg, Denmark
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Left wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Klagenfurter AC; AaB Aalborg; Leksands IF; AIK IF; Rögle BK; Augsburger Panther; Berlin Capitals; EHC Biel
National team	Denmark
NHL draft	188th overall, 1984; New York Rangers
Playing career	1984–2004

Heinz Ehlers (born January 25, 1966) is a Danish professional ice hockey coach and former ice hockey player. He was most recently the head coach of the SCL Tigers in the National League A (NLA) and the Denmark national hockey team.^[1]

Ehlers was selected by the New York Rangers in the 9th round (188th overall) of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, but never played in the league.^[2] Ehlers played professionally in Europe for over 20 years, most notably in the Swedish Hockey League and Deutsche Eishockey Liga.^[3] He was inducted into the Danish ice hockey Hall of Fame in 2014.^[4]

Playing career

After spending the early stages of his career in his native Aalborg, Ehlers embarked on a five-year stint with Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) in 1984. In 1989, he transferred to another SHL team, AIK IF, and in 1991-92 helped Rögle BK earn promotion to the SHL.

Ehlers played in the Swiss elite league NLA for EHC Biel in 93-94, followed by two years with Klagenfurter AC of Austria. He left his mark in the German top-flight Deutsche Eishockey Liga, turning out for DEL teams Augsburger Panther and Berlin Capitals.^[5] He served as a team captain for the Capitals and returned to his native Denmark after five years in the German capital city.

Ehlers played another two years with AaB Ishockey and concluded his playing career following the 2003-04 campaign.

National team

Ehlers earned a total of 104 caps for the Danish national team, tallying 60 goals and 103 assists. He played in nine World Championships.^[6] He was named head coach for the national team on June 29, 2018.^[7]^[8]

Coaching career

His first head coaching stint came at Aalborg in 2005-06. In May 2007, he took over EHC Biel and steered the team to the NLB championship and promotion to the Swiss top-tier National League A (NLA).^[9] He was sacked in April 2009 following a run of six straight losses.^[10]

Ehlers accepted the head coaching job at NLB side SC Langenthal in November 2009.^[11] He hauled in his second NLB title in 2011-12 and the club's first ever. Ehlers left SCL after the 2012-13 campaign to take on a new challenge in Switzerland's top-flight National League A (NLA),^[12] signing with Lausanne HC in March 2013.^[13] He turned the newly promoted team into a solid NLA squad, guiding Lausanne to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2013-14 and 2014-15. Despite having a year of his contract left to run, he was relieved of his duties after the 2015-16 season.^[14] About a month before parting ways, Lausanne's president had questioned Ehlers' defensive style of play.^[15]

In early October 2016, he took over head coaching duties for the SCL Tigers of the Swiss NLA^[16] and additionally became assistant coach of Denmark's men's national team in October 2017.^[17]

Personal life

Heinz and his wife Tina have three children together, two of which play professional ice hockey.^[3] His oldest son Sebastian plays for the Odense Bulldogs in the AL-Bank Ligaen^[18] while his youngest son Nikolaj plays for the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League.^[19]

Career statistics

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1981–82	Aalborg Pirates II	Denmark2	26	17	32	49	28	—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	Aalborg Pirates II	Denmark2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Aalborg Pirates II	Denmark2	28	37	26	63	22	—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	Leksands IF	SHL	31	10	6	16	10	—	—	—	—	—
1985–86	Leksands IF	SHL	36	11	16	27	18	—	—	—	—	—
1986–87	Leksands IF	SHL	36	14	21	35	32	—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Leksands IF	SHL	35	20	12	32	42	3	1	0	1	2
1988–89	Leksands IF	SHL	33	13	27	40	40	3	1	1	2	18
1989–90	AIK IF	SHL	27	11	16	27	44	3	1	3	4	2
1990–91	AIK IF	SHL	28	7	14	21	26	—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Rögle BK	Division 1	35	28	46	74	68	5	3	3	6	6
1992–93	Rögle BK	SHL	38	7	26	33	92	—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	AaB	Denmark	9	8	21	29	19	—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	EHC Biel-Bienne	NLA	22	7	19	26	12	—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Klagenfurter AC	Austria	14	7	9	16	18	—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Klagenfurter AC	Austria	9	1	5	6	8	—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Augsburger Panther	DEL	22	5	15	20	63	7	1	6	7	8
1996–97	Augsburger Panther	DEL	38	10	31	41	58	—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Berlin Capitals	DEL	44	8	25	33	36	4	1	0	1	2
1998–99	Berlin Capitals	DEL	50	8	30	38	46	—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Berlin Capitals	DEL	49	6	30	36	56	3	0	0	0	2
2000–01	Berlin Capitals	DEL	39	9	25	34	34	5	0	1	1	4
2001–02	Berlin Capitals	DEL	47	6	30	36	62	—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Aalborg IK Panthers	Denmark	24	7	19	26	94	6	2	1	3	4
2003–04	AaB Ishockey	Denmark	35	12	19	31	109	—	—	—	—	—
DEL totals			289	52	186	238	355	23	2	11	13	18
SHL totals			264	93	138	231	304	9	3	4	7	22