Robert Francz

Robert Francz
Date of birth	March 30, 1978
place of birth	Bad Muskau , GDR
size	186 cm
Weight	85 kg
position	Left wing
number	# 93
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1997 , 6th lap, 151st position Phoenix Coyotes
Career stations
1994-1995	Starbulls Rosenheim
1995-1996	Augsburg panther
1996-1999	Peterborough Petes
1999-2001	Springfield Falcons
2001-2003	Frankfurt Lions
2003-2005	Hamburg Freezers
2005-2007	Foxes Duisburg
2008	Nuremberg Ice Tigers
2008-2009	Kassel Huskies

Robert Francz (born March 30, 1978 in Bad Muskau ) is a German ice hockey player .

Career

Francz began his career in the offspring of Starbulls Rosenheim , where he played with the junior team in the Junior Bundesliga in the 1994/95 season. There the winger completed 29 games in which he was able to achieve 24 scorer points . In the summer of 1995, those responsible for the Augsburg Panthers discovered him and transferred the left-handed shooter to the German Ice Hockey League . With the Panthers, Francz completed his first 42 DEL games and was also used in the junior team, with the Augsburg Young Panthers. After this one-year interlude, the attacker left Germany for North America, where he signed a contract with the Peterborough Petes from the Canadian Junior League OHL . With the Petes, Francz was able to develop continuously and scored 32 scorer points in 68 games in his first season. As a result, some talent scouts from the NHL became aware of the trained striker. After all, it was Phoenix Coyotes who selected him in the sixth round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft in a total of 151st position.

Francz then stayed two seasons in the OHL before he finally moved to the American Hockey League for the Springfield Falcons , the Coyotes' farm team at the time, at the end of the 1998/99 season. His last year with the Peterborough Petes was also his best. The striker wore the Pete's jersey 70 times and scored 59 points. In the following years, however, Francz could never prevail at the Springfield Falcons and instead got regular playing time with the Mississippi Sea Wolves from the East Coast Hockey League . After he finally figured out hardly any chances of a permanent engagement in the NHL, the attacker returned to his home country Germany after 64 AHL games, where he joined the Frankfurt Lions . This was followed by almost two years with the Hamburg Freezers , with whom Robert Francz was able to move into the play-off quarter-finals in 2004, but failed there with 2: 3 games at the eventual champions Frankfurt Lions.

After his contract with the Freezers was not extended, the winger moved in the summer of 2005 within the league to the Füchsen Duisburg , where he took over the post of captain in August 2006 . A month later, however, Francz tore a cruciate ligament during a game in Nuremberg after a tough check and then sat out the entire 2007/08 season . After he had cured his serious injury, the management of the Nürnberg Ice Tigers equipped the clubless player with a trial contract in August 2008, which was ultimately extended to a contract until December 2008. After eleven games in which he did not score any points, the now 30-year-old was released from service by the Ice Tigers for unknown reasons. In October 2008 Francz received a contract offer from the Kassel Huskies until the end of the 2008/09 season , which he accepted.

Achievements and Awards

• 2004 Reached the play-off semi-finals with the Hamburg Freezers

DEL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	8th	266	35	44	79	652
Playoffs	5	31	5	10	15th	89

Individual evidence

1. ↑ eishockey.info, Robert Francz becomes the new captain
2. ↑ hockeyweb.de, Robert Francz in Nuremberg?
3. ^ Eishockey.info, Nuremberg Ice Tigers: Robert Francz on leave

Web links

• Robert Francz at eurohockey.com
• Robert Francz at hockeydb.com (English)