Steinbach’s Ralph Krueger guides Europe at World Cup

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This article was published 14/09/2016 (2780 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the best hockey players in the solar system gather in Toronto for the World Cup, there will be exactly one Steinbacher in the tournament – Ralph Krueger.

Taking a break from running the Southampton Football Club in England’s Premier soccer league, Krueger returns to the sport of hockey as the head coach of Team Europe, which is comprised of players from Europe-excluding Finland, Sweden, Russia or the Czech Republic.

While there are some impressive names on Team Europe’s roster, such as Anzie Kopitar, Zdeno Chara, Marion Hossa and Marion Gaborik, Krueger realizes his team is a decided underdog in the tournament.

“My day job is definitely chairman of Southampton Football Club, and it will stay there,” Krueger was quoted in the Toronto Star. “I think (taking on Team Europe) was an opportunity of growth as a leader, knowing that this will be difficult. The idea you will be an outsider intrigued me. I’m all about loving difficult and challenging projects. This is definitely up on that list.”

Krueger, who grew up in Steinbach, played 350 games in the German Bundesliga, tallying 187 goals and 186 assists. He also played in one Olympics with the German national team. Krueger has an impressive coaching pedigree in international hockey. As head coach of the Swiss national team, he led them to three Olympics and 12 World Championships. In 2014 he was one of Team Canada’s coaches when Canada won the gold medal in Sochi, Russia.

After his much too short stint as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, it’s great to see Ralph back in the hockey spotlight, even if it will only be for a brief period of time.

Krueger, who in addition to his role as Chairman of Southampton is also part of the prestigious World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on New Models of Leadership, is relishing this latest hockey opportunity.

“The absolute challenge logistically and structurally in the last year will probably go unmarked by most people, but it was fascinating to build something from scratch with our staff, then integrate all these players in a short period of time. It’s the adventure of it that really excited me.”

Despite the big names on Krueger’s Team Europe roster, his club lost two pre-tournament games to the young and speedy Team North America. Still, Krueger feels good about his team and the challenge that lies ahead.

“I love the character of our group. We have a lot of experience. I’m really excited about the tournament ahead.”