Ēriks Koņeckis

Ēriks Koņeckis (born February 9, 1920 in Riga ; † February 2, 2006 in Dortmund ) was a Latvian ice hockey player .

Life

Ēriks Koņeckis was one of the best strikers in Europe, distinguished by his adept technique. His career began in Riga in the 1930s. For the Latvian national team he took part in the 1938 World Cup in Prague .

After the Second World War he moved to Germany, which started his most successful period. First at HC Augsburg from 1945 to 1948 , then moved to Krefeld . With Preussen Krefeld he won the German championship as a player in 1951 , and coached the neighboring Krefelder EV in 1952 to the German championship. In 1959 he moved to Dortmund to continue to work there as a coach. Until 1963 he was in charge of TuS Eintracht Dortmund on the gang. In the summer of 1964, those responsible at the time at the newly founded ERC Westfalen Dortmund convinced him to work as a trainer. Koņeckis led the Westphalia up to the then second highest German league, the Oberliga . The 1971/72 season was his last as head coach of the ERC Westphalia.

For the German Ice Hockey Association he was a coach at the 1955 World Cup in Krefeld, Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Cologne. Here he was in charge of the German B national team, which surprisingly - as out of competition - won the group.

In 2005 he was honored with the admission into the "Hall of Fame Germany" of the ice hockey museum in Augsburg.

Athletic career

• 1937–1938: HK ASK Riga 1937 and 1938 champions of the Latvian ice hockey league
• 1938: Participation with the Latvian national team in the World Cup in Prague
• 1945–1948: HC Augsburg
• 1948–1951: Preussen Krefeld 1951 German champion
• 1952: Player- coach of the KEV 1952 German champions
• 1955: Change to Mannheim ERC as player-coach
• 1959–1963: Trainer of TuS Eintracht Dortmund
• 1964–1972: Trainer of the ERC Westfalen Dortmund

Web links

• Ēriks Koņeckis at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Hall of Fame of the Krefeld Penguins