Ralph Krueger (born 31 August 1959) is a Canadian-born German professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

coach and former player. He is the former head coach of the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

and

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL), and former chairman of Southampton Football Club. Since April 2019, he has held a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

passport. He was head coach of the Swiss men's national ice hockey team from the 1997–98 season until the end of the XXI Olympic Winter Games in 2010 and the

of the

(NHL) during the 2012–13 season. In 2014, Krueger shifted from hockey to the world of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, to become director of English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

team

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. On 12 March 2014, Krueger was appointed the chairman of Southampton F.C. In April 2019, Krueger left the club to return to hockey full time. He is also known for his involvement in the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

, where since 2011 he has been a Member, Global Agenda Council on New Models of Leadership.

Playing career

Krueger came to Germany in the late 1970s, joining second-division side Duisburger SC. After one year, he returned to Canada, but was back in Germany in 1980 and would stay there for the remainder of his playing days. He saw action in 350 games of the German Bundesliga, accumulating 187 goals and 186 assists. In the 1980–81 season, as a member of

Düsseldorfer EG Düsseldorfer Eislauf-Gemeinschaft or Düsseldorfer EG (short DEG) is a German professional ice hockey team in Düsseldorf. It was Germany's most successful hockey club for a long time and had many international players. The famous Eisstadion at th ...

, he led the league in scoring during the playoffs, with 22 points. He also played 45 games for the

West German national ice hockey team The German men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Germany and is controlled by the German Ice Hockey Federation. It first participated in serious international competition at the 1911 Ice Hockey World Championships#IIH ...

Coaching career

Krueger began his coaching career as an assistant with EV Duisburg of the German second league. Between 1994 and 1998, he led VEU Feldkirch to five straight Austrian championships, culminating in Feldkirch becoming champions in 1998 of the European Hockey League, made up of the champions of various European leagues. This experience later encouraged him to author a motivational book. After the successes with the Austrian team, he took over as full-time head coach of the Swiss national ice hockey team, having split his time between Feldkirch and Switzerland in 1998. His tenure with the Swiss national team has also seen some notable successes. He led the team to appearances at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 Olympic Games and to several World Championship appearances. Krueger was also a scouting consultant for the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Con ...

. Krueger spoke at the World Hockey Summit in 2010, and addressed the need to co-ordinate

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey to ...

and

events. He suggested that the

World Cup of Hockey The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996 World Cup of Hockey, 1996, it is the successor to the Canada Cup, which was held every three to five years from 1976 Canada Cup, 1976 to 1991 Canada Cup, 1991 ...

be played every four years, alternating with the Olympic Games every two years. He wanted to see the

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...

became an under-23 event during Olympic years. He felt it would be beneficial to national teams to evaluate their younger talent at the international level. He wanted to resurrect the

Champions Hockey League The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe. Backgrou ...

and Victoria Cup competitions, which he felt would make the game more popular in Europe. Krueger joined the Oilers as associate coach in 2010. Although during his time with the Swiss team, Krueger may have been known as a defensive-minded coach, he has also demonstrated the ability to deliver the offensive style of game. This was confirmed by his performance as coach for VEU Feldkirch in Austria. He has been described as a great communicator, positive thinker and a motivator. The book he authored (in German, also translated into French), called ''Teamlife - Beyond Setbacks to Success'', was devoted to handling problems in life, and became a bestseller. The Oilers promoted Krueger to head coach for the

2012–13 NHL season The 2012–13 NHL season was the 96th season of operation (95th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The regular season began on January 19, 2013, and ended on April 28, 2013, with the playoffs to follow until June. The Chicago B ...

, but he was relieved of his duties after only one season.

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

subsequently added Krueger as a special adviser to its

coaching staff The coaching staff is a group of non-athletes tied to a sports team. A coaching staff can be existent at all levels of athletics. It is led by a head coach (known as a manager or senior coach in some sports) and consists of one or more assistant ...

for the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

. Krueger was chosen to coach Team Europe in the

2016 World Cup of Hockey The 2016 World Cup of Hockey (abbreviated WCH2016) was an international ice hockey tournament. It was the third installment of the National Hockey League (NHL)-sanctioned competition, 12 years after the second World Cup of Hockey in 2004. It was ...

. On 15 May 2019, Krueger returned to the NHL as the head coach of the

. The Sabres fired Krueger on 17 March 2021. At the time, the Sabres were on a 12-game winless streak and held the worst record in the league.

Soccer

In 2014, Krueger made the switch from ice hockey to

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, becoming director of

in February 2014. Shortly after, he was appointed chairman of the club. He was dismissed on April 12, 2019; set to leave on June 30 when his contract expired.

Personal life

Born in Winnipeg, Krueger was raised in

Steinbach, Manitoba Steinbach () is the List of cities in Manitoba, third-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada, and with a population of 17,806, the largest community in the Eastman Region, Manitoba, Eastman region. The city, located about southeast of ...

. His parents were immigrants from Germany. He attended St. John's-Ravenscourt School where he played hockey as a centre. His son

Justin Justin may refer to: People and fictional characters * Justin (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Justin (historian), Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527) ...

was a member of the

Charlotte Checkers The Charlotte Checkers are a professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affiliate of the ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

and now plays for

SC Bern Schlittschuh Club Bern ('' Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English) is a professional ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rin ...

. Justin played for Germany's men's national ice hockey team at the

2017 IIHF World Championship The 2017 IIHF World Championship, the 2017 edition of the annual Ice Hockey World Championships, was held from 5 to 21 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany and Paris, France. The official tournament mascots were Asterix (character), Asterix and Obelix, ...

.Krueger cheers for son
. Alan Adams, ''IIHF website'', 10 May 2010. Retrieved 2 Jan 2011. In April 2019, Krueger, his wife and daughter received Swiss citizenship.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Head coaching record

NHL

Bibliography

* Ralph Krueger: ''Teamlife - Über Niederlagen zum Erfolg'' erman Werd Verlag, Zürich 2001;

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krueger, Ralph 1959 births Living people Buffalo Sabres coaches Calgary Wranglers (WHL) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey right wingers Canadian people of German descent Carolina Hurricanes scouts Düsseldorfer EG players Edmonton Oilers coaches German ice hockey coaches German ice hockey players New Westminster Bruins players People from Steinbach, Manitoba SC Riessersee players Schwenninger Wild Wings players Southampton F.C. directors and chairmen Sportspeople from Steinbach, Manitoba Ice hockey people from Winnipeg Starbulls Rosenheim players St. John's-Ravenscourt School alumni