Chris Valentine

Chris Valentine
Date of birth	December 6, 1961
place of birth	Belleville , Ontario , Canada
size	185 cm
Weight	86 kg
position	striker
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1981 , 10th lap, 194th position Washington Capitals
Career stations
1978-1979	St. Louis University
1979-1981	Éperviers de Sorel
1981-1984	Washington Capitals Hershey Bears
1984-1996	Düsseldorfer EG

Christopher William Valentine (born December 6, 1961 in Belleville , Ontario ) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player and coach.

Player career

The striker began his career in 1978/79 at St. Louis University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association , where he was top scorer with 71 points in 34 games. The following year he moved to the Éperviers de Sorel in the Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec , where he played with Daniel Naud , who played for many years in Germany ( EV Landshut , Augsburger EV ) and later became a coach (Augsburg and SC Bietigheim ) . Here, too, he convinced with excellent scorer qualities and scored 128 and 142 points in 72 games in each of the seasons 79/80 and 80/81. The talent quickly became aware and so Valentine was selected in the 10th round of the 1981 NHL Entry Draft in 194th place by the Washington Capitals . After a brief interlude in the American Hockey League with the Hershey Bears (21 points in 19 games), he moved to the best league in the world , the National Hockey League . Until the 1983/84 season he played alternately with the Capitals in the NHL (107 games) or in their farm team from Hershey.

For the 1984/85 season he accepted an offer from the Düsseldorfer EG . Although only planned as a short-term engagement, he stayed at DEG for the rest of his career, where he met his congenial partner Peter-John Lee , with whom he was one of the top stars of the team and the league for almost a decade. Center Valentine and winger Lee played together for 10 years for DEG and were one of the reasons why the club was able to count itself back to the top teams in the league in the early 80s after years of lean sport. At DEG he broke all player records, scored 1,015 points (380 goals) in 596 games and was German champion five times (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996). Valentine's shirt number 10, as well as the number 12 of his storm partner Lee, will no longer be given to him by DEG.

Career data as a player (including play-offs)

• St. Louis University (NCAA)
  • 1978/1979 - 34 games - 27 goals - 44 assists = 71 points - 52 minutes
• Sorel Blackhawks (QMJHL)
  • 1979/1980 to 1980/1981 - 144 games - 113 goals - 157 assists = 270 points - 252 minutes
• Hershey Bears (AHL)
  • 1981/1982 to 1983/1984 - 117 games - 58 goals - 91 assists = 149 points - 176 minutes
• Washington Capitals (NHL)
  • 1981/1982 to 1983/1984 - 107 games - 43 goals - 52 assists = 95 points - 131 minutes
• Düsseldorfer EG (Bundesliga / DEL)
  • 1984/1985 to 1995/1996 - 596 games - 380 goals - 635 assists = 1015 points - 912 minutes - five times German champion (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996)

Coaching career

After his active career, he initially stayed in Düsseldorf and devoted himself to coaching, initially as a youth coach in 1996/97, and in the following year as head coach of the DEG DEL team. With a completely renewed team he reached the play-offs and failed in the quarter-finals against the future champions, the Adler Mannheim . Major financial problems, however, made those responsible at the club come to the conclusion that leaving the DEL and registering for the newly founded single-track Bundesliga of the DEB would be the only salvation from impending bankruptcy. However, Valentine did not want to take part in this sporting descent and switched to EV Landshut . There, too, he convinced as a coach, but had the bad luck that the club withdrew from the league for financial reasons for the 1999/2000 season. He now accepted the offer of Adler Mannheim, who had been successful under former coach Lance Nethery, and coached this team for the following season. But from the beginning he was under enormous pressure, which he and the newly designed team could not withstand. After a season the separation took place. After a one-year interlude with the Berlin Capitals , which at the time only made headlines due to lack of funds, outstanding player and office staff salaries, and grotesque squabbles among the club's management, he switched to the Krefeld Penguins for the 2001/02 season . But here, too, after considerable dissonance with the club's management, he was replaced quite early in the season in December 2002/03 by the later "master coach" Butch Goring .

In December 2006 Valentine took over the coaching position at the Austrian first division club EHC Liwest Blackwings Linz , but left the club after the end of the season.

This was his last coaching position so far and he has lived in Canada ever since. In contrast to his long-term strike partner Peter-John Lee , who also failed as a coach, but has been very successful in the business for several years as the manager of the DEL team Eisbären Berlin , Valentine was not granted any greater success in the ice hockey business after his playing career .

Others

Chris Valentine's daughter Amanda (* 1990) was German junior figure skating champion in 2003 .

Web links

• Chris Valentine at hockeydb.com (English)
• Chris Valentine at hockeydraftcentral.com