Tom Pokel (born September 2, 1967) is an American professional ice hockey coach and a former

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 ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. He is currently the head coach for the

Straubing Tigers The Straubing Tigers are a professional men's ice hockey team, based in Straubing, Germany, that competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Straubing plays its home games at the Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which has a capacity of 5,635 spectators. P ...

of the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

(DEL).

Playing career

Pokel attended the

State University of New York at Fredonia The State University of New York at Fredonia (alternatively SUNY Fredonia, Fredonia State, or Fredonia) is a public university in Fredonia, New York. It is the westernmost member of the State University of New York. Founded in 1826, it is the six ...

and was a three-time captain for the men's ice hockey team. He graduated in 1991.

Coaching career

Pokel worked on the Buffalo Sabres' marketing department for six years following his playing career, and in 1995 accepted the head coach position at German second-division side EHC Timmendorfer Strand. After two years in that job, he took over ESC Trier and one year later was named head coach of the

Bietigheim Steelers SC Bietigheim-Bissingen, also known as the Bietigheim Steelers, is a professional ice hockey team based in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany. They currently play in DEL2, the second highest-level league in Germany. History The club was created as SC ...

who he guided to promotion from the third to second division in 1999. In 2001, he moved from Bietigheim to Schwenninger ERC of the German top-flight

(DEL), joining the Wild Wings as an assistant coach. On April 30, 2002, he was promoted to head coach. Pokel and the Wild Wings parted ways in October 2002. Following a short stint as assistant coach at

ERC Ingolstadt ERC Ingolstadt (''Eishockey-und-Rollschuh club'', ) is a German professional ice hockey club that plays in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Commonly known as the Panthers, the team plays its home games at the Saturn Arena in Ingolstadt. Histor ...

, he left Germany for Austria, serving as head coach of

VEU Feldkirch VEU Feldkirch is a professional ice hockey team from Feldkirch, Austria. The team currently plays in the Ö Eishockey Liga. They play their home games At Vorarlberghalle. They formerly played in the Austrian National League and Alps Hockey L ...

, guiding the team to winning the championship in Austria's second division Nationalliga,

EHC Lustenau Eishockey Club Lustenau, commonly referred to as EHC Lustenau or simply Lustenau, is an ice hockey team in Lustenau, Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. ...

Graz 99ers The Moser Medical Graz99ers are an Austrian professional ice hockey team from Graz, Styria. The club was founded in 1999 after the previous club, EHC Graz, folded prior to the 1998–99 season due to financial difficulties. The Graz99ers started ...

and

EK Zell am See EK, Ek or ek may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Eastern Kentucky Railway (with reporting mark EK), now-defunct railway * Eastman Kodak (formerly with NYSE ticker symbol EK), US-based photography company, formerly * Ek Commando Knife C ...

. In 2009, Pokel was appointed as head coach of Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club SG Pontebba. He would guide the team to three playoff appearances in his three years at the helm. He signed with fellow Serie A side Kanguro Alleghe Hockey for the 2012-13 campaign. Pokel then led

HC Bolzano HC, hc or H/C may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Medicine * Health Canada * Hemicrania continua * Hyperelastosis cutis or hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia Chemistry * Hemocyanin, a metalloprotein abbreviated Hc * ...

to the

EBEL The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League, ICEHL), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria. It c ...

Championship in their inaugural season of the

Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League, ICEHL), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria. It c ...

in the 2013–14 season. Pokel joined the

Vienna Capitals The Vienna Capitals are an Austrian professional ice hockey team that participate in the ICE Hockey League. Founded in 2001, the Capitals play their home games in Vienna, Austria, at Steffl Arena. In the 2004–05 season, the Capitals claimed ...

of the

(EBEL) on May 26, 2014. He parted company with the Capitals in February 2015. Pokel returned to Bolzano for the 2015-16 campaign and stayed on the job until the conclusion of the 2016–17 season. On October 26, 2017, he was named head coach of the

of the German DEL.

International

On the back of his successful season with Bolzano, Pokel was named the head coach of the Italy national ice hockey team for competition at the

2014 IIHF World Championship The 2014 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Belarus in its capital, Minsk, held from 9 to 25 May 2014. Sixteen national teams were competing in two venues, the Minsk-Arena and Chizhovka-Arena. It was the first time Belarus hosted the tourname ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pokel, Tom 1967 births Living people American people of German descent Sportspeople from Green Bay, Wisconsin American ice hockey coaches American men's ice hockey defensemen Ice hockey coaches from Wisconsin State University of New York at Fredonia alumni Ice hockey players from Wisconsin American expatriate ice hockey people American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Austria American expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands American expatriate sportspeople in Italy Netherlands men's national ice hockey team coaches Italy men's national ice hockey team coaches 20th-century American sportsmen