Christian Ehrhoff
Christian Ehrhoff is a German former professional ice hockey player. Playing as a defenceman, he played more than 800 games in the National Hockey League and more than 300 in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. In 2018, he won silver at the Winter Olympics. He is known primarily as an offensive defenceman with strong skating and shooting abilities.
Prior to playing in the NHL, Ehrhoff spent several years playing professionally in Germany, starting with EV Duisburg of the third-tier Oberliga and the Krefeld Pinguine of the premiere Deutsche Eishockey Liga. He spent three years with Krefeld, winning the German championship in 2003.
Selected 106th overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 2001 NHL entry draft, Ehrhoff moved to North America for the 2003–04 season. He spent one-and-a-half seasons with the Cleveland Barons, the Sharks' American Hockey League affiliate, before joining San Jose on a full-time basis beginning in 2005–06. After playing six seasons within the Sharks organization, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in August 2009. During his two seasons with the club, he won back-to-back Babe Pratt Trophies as the team's top defenceman and helped them to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Boston Bruins. Ehrhoff would go on to play nearly 800 NHL games throughout his career.
Internationally, Ehrhoff has played for the German national team in numerous tournaments, including four Winter Olympics, seven World Championships and a World Cup.
Early life
Ehrhoff was born and raised in Moers, a city on the left bank of the Rhine. His father, Achim, is a drummer in a band, and he has a sister named Katrin. Ehrhoff first played hockey at the age of six, deciding to play the sport after watching an NHL game on television. As his hometown did not have a hockey program, he played minor hockey 20 kilometres away in the Krefeld Pinguine' system. He won a national championship with the club around the age of 12; Ehrhoff has recalled scoring in the final on a penalty shot. Following the NHL growing up, Ehrhoff has singled out Wayne Gretzky, Pavel Bure and Uwe Krupp as his childhood heroes. He was inspired to play in the style of an offensive defenceman after watching a video of Bobby Orr as a 10-year-old.At the age of 16, he considered moving to North America to further his hockey career in the major junior Canadian Hockey League, but his father had developed Hodgkin's lymphoma at the time. Ehrhoff consequently decided to stay in Germany and continued in Krefeld's system at the junior level; his father eventually overcame the cancer.
Playing career
Germany (1999–2003)
After playing in the junior system of the Krefeld Pinguine, Ehrhoff signed a professional contract with the team in 1999, at the age of 17. He debuted in nine games with Krefeld in Germany's premiere Deutsche Eishockey Liga, while primarily playing with EV Duisburg of the third-tier Oberliga on loan. Over the course of the season, he practiced mornings with Krefeld and evenings with Duisburg. He finished his first professional season with 15 points in 41 games with Duisburg and a goal in nine games for Krefeld. The following season, he joined Krefeld full-time and had 14 points in 58 games for the team in addition to three points in six games with Duisburg. After the conclusion of the season, Ehrhoff was selected 106th overall in the 2001 NHL entry draft by the San Jose Sharks. One of three Germans selected by the Sharks in the draft, Ehrhoff was happy to be taken by the team, as they also had another German, Marco Sturm, on their roster at the time.Ehrhoff attended the Sharks' subsequent training camp following the draft, but was returned to Germany as an early cut on 11 September 2001. Continuing to play for Krefeld, he notched 24 points in 46 games. Despite impressing with his skating and offensive skills at the Sharks' 2002 training camp, he was returned to Krefeld for the second straight year. After notching a German career-high 27 points in 48 games in 2002–03, Ehrhoff helped Krefeld win a German championship in his final season with the club. He recorded nine points in the postseason.
San Jose Sharks (2003–2009)
With the expectation from Sharks management that Ehrhoff would join their organization either with the NHL club or in the AHL, he was signed to a contract on 22 June 2003. Ehrhoff made his NHL debut on 9 October 2003, against the Edmonton Oilers. He recorded his first point, an assist, on 15 November against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Later that month, he scored his first NHL goal, a game winner against Michael Leighton in a 3–2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on 26 November. Ehrhoff was selected to play in the 2004 NHL YoungStars Game, along with teammate Jonathan Cheechoo. Aftering helping the Western Conference YoungStars to a 7–3 win over the East, Ehrhoff also did colour commentary during the All-Star Game for a German telecast.Ehrhoff was often a healthy scratch with the Sharks during his rookie season and spent time with their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Barons. In 41 games with the Sharks during the 2003–04 season, Ehrhoff recorded 12 points in 41 games, while in the 27 games he played for the Barons, he notched 14 points. He began asserting himself early in his NHL career as an excellent skater with offensive capabilities. Ehrhoff then played a full season with the Barons in 2004–05 due to the NHL lockout, tallying 35 points in 79 games. He was chosen to represent PlanetUSA in the 2005 AHL All-Star Game in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Returning to the Sharks in 2005–06, Ehrhoff recorded a 23-point campaign. He began earning more ice time near the end of the season as he improved his defensive play. On 13 April 2006, he scored the game-winning overtime goal against the Vancouver Canucks for the Sharks to clinch a playoff berth, despite San Jose having previously been eight points out of a playoff spot with a month and a half remaining in the season. Ehrhoff added eight points over 11 postseason games—first among team defencemen—in his first Stanley Cup playoffs as the Sharks were eliminated in the second round by the Edmonton Oilers. He then signed a two-year contract worth US$1.7 million in the off-season.
Ehrhoff responded with a career-high 33 points in 2006–07. He notched a personal-best three assists in one game late in the season in a 3–2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on 27 March 2007. San Jose were once again lost in the second round of the playoffs, being eliminated by the Detroit Red Wings in six games. Ehrhoff had two assists in 11 postseason games. His regular season production decreased to 22 points in the 2007–08 season. On 28 December 2007, Ehrhoff was awarded a penalty shot during a game against the St. Louis Blues; he missed against Manny Legace, though the Sharks nonetheless still won, 1–0. Later in the season, Ehrhoff missed four games due to a lower body injury, suffered on 6 April 2008. After finishing as the second seed in the West, San Jose were defeated in the second round against the Dallas Stars. Ehrhoff notched five assists in ten playoff games.
Ehrhoff became a restricted free agent once more in July 2008 and re-signed with the Sharks to a three-year contract worth $9.3 million. The following season, 2008–09, he reached the 40-point mark for the first time in his career with 42 points in 77 games. He had missed three games in March 2009 due to a lower body injury. Ehrhoff's personal success coincided with a franchise year for the Sharks, who earned their first Presidents' Trophy as regular season champions in team history with 117 points. In the ensuing playoffs, however, they suffered a first-round defeat to the eighth-seeded Anaheim Ducks. Ehrhoff was held pointless in six games.
Vancouver Canucks (2009–2011)
Ehrhoff was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on 28 August 2009, along with defenceman Brad Lukowich, in exchange for prospects Patrick White and Daniel Rahimi. The deal was done primarily to clear salary cap space in anticipation of the Sharks' acquisition of star forward Dany Heatley from the Ottawa Senators. For the Canucks, Ehrhoff's acquisition addressed the need for a puck-moving defenceman to rush the puck up the ice.Ehrhoff scored his first goal in a Canucks uniform on 5 October 2009, in a 5–3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The following month, he notched his first two-goal game in the NHL, adding an assist, in a 5–2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on 20 November. Late in the season, he missed two games in April 2010 due to a sprained left knee. Prior to the last game of the regular season against the Calgary Flames, Ehrhoff was awarded the Babe Pratt Trophy as the Canucks' fan-voted best defenceman. He finished his first season in Vancouver leading all team defencemen with career-highs of 14 goals, 44 points, a +36 rating and an average ice time of 22:47 minutes per game. His 44 points tied Uwe Krupp for the most points by a German-born defenceman in an NHL season, while his +36 rating broke the single-season team record shared by Pavel Bure and Marek Malík by one point. In the subsequent 2010 playoffs, he added seven points in 12 games as Vancouver defeated the Los Angeles Kings in six games in the first round before being eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the second round in six games.
8 December 2010, Ehrhoff was struck in the ear by a puck during a game against the Anaheim Ducks. He left the contest with what was initially considered a concussion; however, he was later diagnosed with vertigo instead and missed the next three games. Recording new career-highs in assists and points, he led all Canucks defencemen in scoring, while ranking seventh among League defencemen. Ehrhoff was awarded his second consecutive Babe Pratt Trophy for his regular season efforts. Having won the Presidents' Trophy for the first time in team history, the Canucks entered the 2011 playoffs with the first seed in the West. They eliminated the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks in the first three rounds to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 17 years. Facing the Boston Bruins, the Canucks lost the series in seven games, unable to hold a 3–2 series lead in the process. While Ehrhoff led Canucks defencemen and ranked second in the League overall with 12 points over 23 games of 25 games played, he had a team-worst −13 rating. It was revealed following the Canucks' Game 7 defeat to Boston that he had been playing with an injured shoulder suffered in Game three of the previous third round series against his former team, the Sharks as a result of a collision between him and Sharks' forward Jamie McGinn.