[GER] hans zach resigns as national coach

after 6 years of success with team germany, he finally decided to resign as national coach. i think it was about time. and i've never been a fan of him. his hockey is boring to watch (and as a huskies fan, i know what i'm talking about) and he's not a nice character. very unfriendly guy.

http://www.sport1.de/coremedia/generator/www.sport1.de/Sportarten/Eishockey/__Berichte/__Nationalmannschaft/Hintergrund/eis_20nati_20zach_20h_C3_B6rt_20als_20bundestraine r_20auf_201305_20mel.html

i wonder who'll become the new coach...that could be interesting.

I can't say I'm too happy about this...

Zach took this team when it was in the dumps and brought it back to being a top-8 hockey nation. Though they played boring, it was effective and helped them compete against more talented teams. Also, though it hasn't happened as much lately, Zach was a big promoter of young German talent.

Comments?

Zach took this team when it was in the dumps and brought it back to being a top-8 hockey nation. Though they played boring, it was effective and helped them compete against more talented teams. Also, though it hasn't happened as much lately, Zach was a big promoter of young German talent.


yes, he did a lot for german hockey and he still can do. as the coach of cologne he can develop players. but as the national coach he was burned out. he gave the players nothing new and the team looked really tired this year. it was right to resign.

let's hope the new coach isn't another george kingston. :D

I hope they either hire a coach that will do wonders for the German development program or give another German the opportunity.

Who are the possible replacements?

greg poss (assistant to laviolette, team usa at the worlds) seems to be a hot candidate.

also a young coach like chernomaz (champion with cologne 2 years ago, this season with frankfurt) would be fitting.

or take bernie englbrecht, currently goalie coach for the DEB and successful in 2nd division with landshut (they almost only have young players, but made it to the finals).

aside of these three, there isn´t too much, in my opinion. other comments?

To be honest we do not just need a coach whon will be able to motivate the players and play a tactically intellegent hockey, but also one who knows German hockey inside out and who can influence the league to make changes. Personally I like to see a full time coach who will engage with the junior teams.

Thank you Zach for putting German hockey back on the map.

Zach was for sure a positive influence but i think if they make the right hire they can advance a little further. Some of Zach's player selection( Kunce) and his lack of tactical changes in game leave something to be desired. Overall he did a good job though. I will be looking forward to a different Germany in this years World Cup.

You have to respect what Zach did for German hockey and that we are back in the top 10 of the world.
He used discipline and work ethic to replace the missing talent.

Now that most germans understand that you can get far with this we need a coach that can work with young talented players and bring them in.

Also one thing I never liked about Zach is that he let's players at home that are better and more talented because he doesn't like them personaly.

Germany should look to what the Swiss did in terms of building their youth program. Bring in high quality foreign coaches, train German coaches and younger players. I believe it was something like a 5 year program.

Whoever does take over, more offensive creativity is a must. However, Germany still cannot abandon their defensive approach. It is the only way they will remain competitive against the upper echelon teams.

On a side note, how in the world did Germany pummel the Czechs at the '96 World Cup? Also, how bad was George Kingston as a coach? I know he employed a LOT of imported talent. Was he bad for the development of German hockey?

Comments...

Does anyone know how they will do in regards to the World Cup? The rosters are to be submitted within ten days.

what do you guys think about the rumored coaches for team germany? the most likely rumor seems to be greg poss who would coach germany and nuernberg both as zach did with germany and cologne. another rumor was bernie engelbrecht (landshut) but it's not very likely, i think. and the DSF has the rumor that uwe krupp could be the "teamchef" and ernst hoefner would be the coach. it's not very likely and in my opinion the worst possible move. i've never been a fan of krupp and does he really know much about german hockey?
besides those three, i haven't heard any other possible coaches.

i think greg poss, who's interested a lot, would be the best idea. he has everything a coach of germany would need. he speaks german well, he knows the DEL well and he has proven to be a good coach.

and the DSF has the rumor that uwe krupp could be the "teamchef" and ernst hoefner would be the coach.

Sounds a bit like Stielike and Ribbeck. :D

Sounds a bit like Stielike and Ribbeck. :D

Or Völler & Skibbe

Best move by far would be Greg Poss. Hands down!!

Zach always SPEAKS about giving young germans a chance. Poss DOES! He took below average players like Fical, Kofler, Franz, Bernhardt, Verwey or Kopitz an some other low budget players and formed a competitive team off them for years. Then he came to Nürnberg, dumped the stars and played a great regular season with a (compared) low budget Team.

He has more support for talent in his right arm then Zach has in his entire body! Granted, Zach is the better motivator but on the long run I would take Poss over Zach in a heartbeat everyday - twice on sundays!

Zorin

Zach always SPEAKS about giving young germans a chance. Poss DOES! He took below average players like Fical, Kofler, Franz, Bernhardt, Verwey or Kopitz an some other low budget players and formed a competitive team off them for years. Then he came to Nürnberg, dumped the stars and played a great regular season with a (compared) low budget Team.


:handclap:

zach never gave young germans a chance. he either took young but experienced germans or older ones. kassel only had so many germans because we got all the capable players and the other teams had to get what's left.


He has more support for talent in his right arm then Zach has in his entire body! Granted, Zach is the better motivator but on the long run I would take Poss over Zach in a heartbeat everyday - twice on sundays!


i think zach was a good motivator some years ago, but he lost his skills. he's also the most unfriendly person i've met at a hockey game ever.

and zorin, you're a krefeld fan as far as i know and that means that your opinion on zach could be a bit biased. :D

I may be a bit biased. Granted. But I don't really think it has a lot to do with me being a Krefeld-Fan. I don't like his way of showing off. I don't like his way of just seing the surface. I don't dislike him, because he is a coach in cologne. On contrary till he came to town I had no big problems with Cologne. But by the way he acts and his self-centered attitude I immediately HATED Cologne! I don't even want them to beat Düsseldorf any more.... If I was to decide about it, they would not get a single point the whole season. Not because its Cologne, but because its Zach! Same was with Kassel when he was there. I used to really like the Huskies. Until he came in. During his first short stint I had no probs with him and the Huskies. He was relatively quiet. But then he positioned himself as one of THE saviors of german hockey. "Hey, we should only have german goalies!" OK, nice Idea (though not doable), but what were his goalies Names? Name Rogles rings a bell? And even now that Rogles is not more then mediocre any more he stays with him. And that with guys like Seliger and Künast on the market!!!!

And as you said... He didn't give YOUNG germans a chance! His guys were Rumrich, Loth or Daffner (alongside other of similar age like Abstreiter and so on). They were all far older then 19 or 20! He has a diamond in the rough in Hospelt and doesn't really count on him. Hospelt would take a bigger role in almost any other team in the League!
Poss, Pagé, Mason or even DeRaaf and Chernomaz don't talk about young german talent, they USE it! Could you imagine Zach going into a season with 23-year old Dimitrij Kotschnew as his number one goalie? I couldn't really! He didn't take the risk with young guns like Blank and Lewandowski. He waited till they proved they are DEL-ready somewhere else (Berlin), then got them to cologne. By that time it was no support any more! They would have seen the same ice time anywhere else in the league!!!

Also the team he led out of the B-WM back to the A-group wasn't the same, Kingston could use any more. It was a lot of luck that guys like Seidenberg, Ehrhoff, Goc, Schubert and some more were ready by then. They carried a lot of the load on the way back. Kingston simply didn't have these guys!

Zach is good at coaching, I don't dispute that. But his hockey is only grabbing and hooking and it is not penaltized for HE is Hans Zach. His hockey is boring and even with one of the longest payrolls in Cologne he doesn't find a touch to offensive minded hockey! Remember: When he was in Kassel he used to say that he would like to play offensive hockey, but that he would have to deal with little money and therefore he had no choice but to play defense. Well, one should give it a secont look now, don't you think so?
Also his by far BEST attribute is to tell everybody that his team would be the weaker one. That everything but a loss would be a surprise! You could give him the present Red wings and let him play TUS Hintertupfingen Bambinis and he would still say, that it would be a tough team and that it would only be HIS credit if, by chance, his team might win....

Zorin