Michael Wolf

Michael Wolf (born January 24, 1981 in Ehenbichl, Austria) is a retired German professional ice hockey forward.

Playing career
Michael Wolf began his hockey career with the EV Füssen. He spent his junior career there, before getting a spot in the professional roster in 1998 as an 17-year-old. Wolf went on to play two more years in Füssen and moved up with his team in 2000 in the Oberliga. In 2001 Wolf signed with the SC Bietigheim-Bissingen to play in the 2nd Bundesliga. He established as a solid scorer over three years. In 2004 Wolf signed with the Essen Mosquitoes. With a breakthrough performance he led all German player in scoring at the end of the season, so many clubs from the Deutsche Eishockey Liga tried to get him on their roster.

Finally Wolf took a contract with the Iserlohn Roosters over one year with a club option to extend it for one year. Already in the beginning of the 2005–06 season, Wolf showed his goal scoring instinct and was hunting the top position. In October 2005 he scored his first DEL-hat-trick against the current champion Eisbären Berlin. He was named DEL Rookie of the Year and the Roosters were able to extend his contract for two years. For the next season Robert Hock, the highest German scoring player in the last season, came to Iserlohn. Rooster coach Geoff Ward put them together with David Sulkovsky and the three built the most dangerous native line in the DEL. Nevertheless, Iserlohn missed the playoffs again. In the 2007–08 season Wolf and Hock went on to dominate the league in all offensive categories. Wolf was leading the league in goals and powerplay goals, while Hock was leading in points, assists and powerplay assists. But also Canadian players like Brad Tapper, Pat Kavanagh, Tyler Beechey, Jimmy Roy, Ryan Ready and Bob Wren did unexpected well so that the Roosters finished fifth in the league and Iserlohn got their first playoffs in almost 20 years. In game 2 of the quarterfinal series against the Frankfurt Lions, Wolf scored the game winning third goal in the third overtime. The game was the longest in German hockey history. After the Roosters were defeated by Frankfurt Wolf was named DEL MVP, best native player and best winger. After this performance, many top clubs in the DEL offered highly-paid contracts to Wolf. In the end, he refuses all of them and signed for two more years with the Roosters. Wolf was quoted that "money is not all" and he wants to stay in this great organisation. In the next year Iserlohn struggled but missed the playoffs. Nevertheless, Hand und Handschuh (hand and glove; nickname of Wolf and Hock given by coach Rick Adduono for being a highly skilled duo) got the scoring title (Hock) and finished second in goals (Wolf).

Wolf stayed with Iserlohn until the end of the 2013-14 season. Then he moved to EHC München of the DEL. He spent here five seasons and in the last four seasons he was the team captain. He retired in 2019.

Awards

 * Iserlohn's Sportsman of the Year 2006, 2007, 2008
 * DEL Rookie of the Year 2006
 * DEL-All-Star-Game 2006, 2008, 2009
 * DEL leading goal scorer 2008
 * DEL Most valuable player 2008
 * DEL best Winger 2008
 * DEL best native player 2008, 2009