Paul Kruse

Paul Kruse
Date of birth	March 15, 1970
place of birth	Merritt , British Columbia , Canada
size	183 cm
Weight	92 kg
position	Left wing
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1990 , 4th lap, 83rd position Calgary Flames
Career stations
1986-1988	Merritt Centennials
1988-1990	Kamloops Blazers
1990-1996	Calgary Flames
1996-1998	New York Islanders
1998-1999	Buffalo Sabers
1999-2000	Utah grizzlies
2000-2001	Chicago Wolves
2001-2002	Sheffield Steelers
2002-2003	Belfast Giants
2003-2004	EHC Linz

Paul Johannes Kruse (born March 15, 1970 in Merritt , British Columbia ) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player . During his career, he played for the Calgary Flames , New York Islanders , Buffalo Sabers and San Jose Sharks in the National Hockey League between 1990 and 2001 .

Career

Kruse first played in the lower class junior leagues of British Columbia before moving to the Kamloops Blazers in the Western Hockey League at the beginning of the 1988/89 season. With the Blazers he was able to win the President's Cup , the championship of the WHL, at the end of the 1989/90 season and took part in the Memorial Cup in the same year . He himself was then selected in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft in the fourth round in 83rd position by the Calgary Flames .

The Flames took the left winger before the 1990/91 season as a professional under contract, but mainly used him in the International Hockey League with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles . In the course of the game year he also made his NHL debut in Calgary. The following two seasons Kruse also commuted between the roster of the farm team and that of the NHL roster. It was not until the 1993/94 season that he finally got a place in the regular squad, which he excellently filled with his physical presence as an enforcer until the 1996/97 season . In November 1996, the Calgary Flames transferred the Canadian to the New York Islanders , which he had to leave after only one and a half years because he and Jason Holland had been handed over to the Buffalo Sabers . After he had come there from March 1998 and January 2000 only in a few games for the use, management of Sabers pushed him in the IHL with the Utah Grizzlies off before the summer of 2000 as a free agent by the San Jose Sharks contracted has been. There he came in the 2000/01 season for his last NHL assignment, as he again played mainly in the IHL for the Chicago Wolves .

For the following game year, Kruse moved to Europe, where he completed two years in the British Ice Hockey Superleague for the Sheffield Steelers and Belfast Giants and one year in the Austrian Ice Hockey League for the EHC Linz . During the 2003/04 season he ended his active career.

Achievements and Awards

• 1990 President's Cup win with the Kamloops Blazers

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	11	423	38	33	71	1074
Playoffs	5	28	5	2	7th	36

Web links

• Paul Kruse at hockeydb.com (English)
• Paul Kruse at legendsofhockey.net (English)