Uwe Krupp

Uwe G. Krupp (born June 24, 1965 in Cologne, West Germany) is a retired German professional hockey defenceman and current coach of the German national ice hockey team. Following Walt Tkaczuk, Krupp was only the second German-born player to have a lasting career in the National Hockey League. Krupp was the first, and up until now, still remains the sole player of his nationality to ever win a Stanley Cup. He also followed Tkaczuk as the second chosen to an NHL All-Star Game. He was the tallest player in the league for nearly seven years, towering at 6'6".

Playing career
After being discovered by Scotty Bowman, Coach and General Manager for the Buffalo Sabres while playing for the German national team and as one of the only Cologne-born players to play for Kölner Haie in the Deutsche Eishockey League, Krupp was chosen by the Sabres as the 214th pick in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. Krupp was released at age 19 from his German team to attempt to earn a spot on the Bowman helmed Sabres. Debuting against the Montreal Canadiens he spent the later part of his first season with the Rochester Americans winning a Calder Cup in the American Hockey League. In the 1989–90 season as a member of the Sabres, Krupp scored an overtime goal in the last game of the regular season against the Pittsburgh Penguins that eliminated the Penguins from playoff contention.

Developing as an imposing puck moving and mobile defenseman, Krupp steadily improved his point totals each year with the Sabres and in the 1990–91 season was selected to the participate in the NHL All-Star game, becoming just the second German named behind Walt Tkaczuk. At the beginning of the 1991–92 season, Krupp was included by the Sabres in the Blockbuster trade that sent Pierre Turgeon to the New York Islanders for Pat LaFontaine on October 25, 1991. Krupp quickly settled with Islanders finishing second behind Tom Kurvers in defenseman scoring with 35 points in 59 games.

Uwe spent the next couple of seasons entrenched as one of the Islanders top defenders before he was traded at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft along with a first round selection (Wade Belak) to the Quebec Nordiques for Ron Sutter and first selection (Brett Lindros) on June 28, 1994. Recording 6 goals and 23 points in the Lockout shortened 1994–95 season, Krupp's rights were then transferred as the Nordiques relocated to become the Colorado Avalanche.

Krupp is famous for scoring the memorable Stanley Cup-clinching goal for the Colorado Avalanche in the third overtime period of the fourth game of the 1996 Stanley Cup finals against the Florida Panthers. He later won another Stanley Cup in 2002 reuniting with Bowman as a member of the Detroit Red Wings. However, playing in just 8 regular season and 2 playoff games due to missing over 60 games to a back injury, he failed to qualify to engrave his name on the cup.

In his NHL career, Krupp played 729 games for the Buffalo Sabres, Colorado Avalanche, New York Islanders, Quebec Nordiques, Detroit Red Wings and Atlanta Thrashers before injuries forced him to retire.

Coaching career
After announcing his retirement Krupp coached the TPHThunder AAA Bantam hockey team. This was short lived as he was quickly appointed as an Assistant Coach to the German Junior National team. Working up the ranks, he was appointed as an Assistant Coach to the Men's National team under Greg Poss in 2005. Then, shortly before the Torino Olympics, Krupp was made coach of the German national ice hockey team on December 15, 2005, replacing Poss who resigned under heavy fire from the German media. Krupp had strong feelings that the German media never gave Poss his fair chance, using the excuse that Poss was from North America to stonewall any chance Poss may have had of success.

However, Krupp had drastic lineup changes in store before the 2005 World Championship "B-Pool" tournament. Facing strong criticism from the German tabloid media, Krupp chose a team of young players, leaving behind seven veterans from the Torino team, in addition to the top goal scorer in the German league. Skewing the team towards youth, he chose players who had led the Junior National team out of the "B-Pool" to lead the Germans past Israel, Hungary, Great Britain, Japan and the home country France. With an unheard of average age of 22, the Germans outscored opponents 35–4 during their four game ascent into the "A" group.

Personal
Krupp maintains his Atlanta area home, and volunteers coaching with his son's youth team. Using his North America base, Krupp has brought several young German players to North America for a variety of tournaments and camps, in addition to opening his home to two Hurricane Katrina refugees who played on his son's youth team. Married to an American dog sled racer, Valerie Buck-Krupp, he likens himself to German soccer coach, Jürgen Klinsmann, who also resides in the US, married to an American, and schooling his children in an International School. Upon his retirement, Krupp was immediately inducted into the German Hockey Hall of Fame, as a player. In mid 2009, Krupp returned to Germany to reside in preparation for hosting the 2010 World Championships.