The Most Famous

HOCKEY PLAYERS from Germany

This page contains a list of the greatest German Hockey Players. The pantheon dataset contains 676 Hockey Players, 16 of which were born in Germany. This makes Germany the birth place of the 8th most number of Hockey Players behind Czechia, and Slovakia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary German Hockey Players of all time. This list of famous German Hockey Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of German Hockey Players.

1. Hugo Budinger (1927 - 2017)

With an HPI of 42.16, Hugo Budinger is the most famous German Hockey Player. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages on wikipedia.

Hugo Budinger (10 June 1927 – 7 October 2017) was a German field hockey player who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics, in the 1956 Summer Olympics, and in the 1960 Summer Olympics. He was born in Düsseldorf and died in Köln.

2. Rudi Ball (1911 - 1975)

With an HPI of 41.37, Rudi Ball is the 2nd most famous German Hockey Player. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Rudolf Victor "Rudi" Ball (June 22, 1911 – September 19, 1975) was a German ice hockey player. He played for the German national team at several international tournaments, including the 1936 Winter Olympics, where he was notably one of the only German Jewish athletes at the games. He is a member of the IIHF Hall of Fame.

3. Martin Schröttle (1901 - 1972)

With an HPI of 40.94, Martin Schröttle is the 3rd most famous German Hockey Player. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Martin Schröttle (1 September 1901 – 17 February 1972) was a German ice hockey player who competed in the 1928 Winter Olympics and 1932 Winter Olympics. In 1928 he was a member of the German ice hockey team, which placed last in his preliminary group of the Olympic tournament and did not advance. Four years later his team won the bronze medal. Schröttle was a European champion in 1930 and German champion in 1927, 1935 and 1938. He scored 8 goals in his 37 international matches. He was later inducted into the German Ice Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1955 he co-wrote the book Eishockey in Wort und Bild.

4. Hugo Dollheiser (1927 - 2017)

With an HPI of 40.74, Hugo Dollheiser is the 4th most famous German Hockey Player. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Hugo Dollheiser (18 September 1927 – 7 October 2017) was a German field hockey player who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympics.

5. Udo Kiessling (b. 1955)

With an HPI of 40.30, Udo Kiessling is the 5th most famous German Hockey Player. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Udo Kießling (born 21 May 1955) is a German retired ice hockey player. He competed at all Winter Olympics from 1976 to 1992, thus becoming the first ice hockey player to compete at five Olympics. He represented West Germany at the 1984 Canada Cup. He also played one game for the Minnesota North Stars on 13 March 1982, becoming the first German-trained player to appear in the NHL. He never played another NHL game. He was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 2000.

6. Dany Heatley (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 31.60, Dany Heatley is the 6th most famous German Hockey Player. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Daniel James Heatley (born January 21, 1981) is a German-born Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. Originally drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers second overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the National Hockey League (NHL) rookie of the year in 2002. However, Heatley's time with the Thrashers was derailed when he was at the wheel in a car crash in September 2003 that killed teammate Dan Snyder. Heatley, who was also seriously injured but eventually made a full recovery, pled guilty to second-degree vehicular homicide and received probation. Traded to the Ottawa Senators, Heatley became one of the team's leading scorers, setting franchise records for single-season goals (50) in 2005–06, and points (105) in 2006–07. He played on the left wing with linemates Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson. The line was consistently among the highest scoring in the NHL after its formation in 2005–06, with the trio combining for 296 points that season. Heatley represented Team Canada in six World Championships, two Olympics, and one World Cup of Hockey, as well as two World Junior Championships. In 2008, he surpassed Marcel Dionne as Canada's all-time leader in goals and Steve Yzerman as the all-time leader in points for the World Championships. Heatley later played for the San Jose Sharks, Minnesota Wild and the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL, and last played with the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in 2015–16.

7. Leon Draisaitl (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 30.84, Leon Draisaitl is the 7th most famous German Hockey Player. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Leon Tim Draisaitl (German: [ˈleːɔn ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌzaɪ̯tl̩] ; born 27 October 1995) is a German professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). In 2020, Draisaitl became the first German player to win the Art Ross Trophy as the leading point scorer in the NHL, the Hart Memorial Trophy as regular season MVP, and the Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player. He is widely considered as one of the best players in the NHL. Draisaitl is the son of former Germany national team player Peter Draisaitl, who represented West Germany and Germany in 146 games, including at World Championships, the World Cup, and at 1988, 1992, and 1998 Olympic Winter Games. Draisaitl was selected second overall in the 2012 CHL Import Draft by the Prince Albert Raiders. After two seasons with the Raiders, he was drafted third overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2014 NHL entry draft.

8. Christian Ehrhoff (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 30.57, Christian Ehrhoff is the 8th most famous German Hockey Player. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Christian Ehrhoff (born 6 July 1982) is a German professional ice hockey defenceman for Krefeld Pinguine of the German DEL2. In 2018, he won silver at the Winter Olympics. He played more than 800 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) and more than 300 in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) in Germany. He is known primarily as an offensive defenceman with strong skating and shooting abilities. Prior to playing in the NHL, Ehrhoff spent several years playing professionally in Germany, starting with EV Duisburg of the third-tier Oberliga and the Krefeld Pinguine of the premiere Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He spent three years with Krefeld, winning the German championship in 2003. Selected 106th overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Ehrhoff moved to North America for the 2003–04 season. He spent one-and-a-half seasons with the Cleveland Barons, the Sharks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, before joining San Jose on a full-time basis beginning in 2005–06. After playing six seasons within the Sharks organization, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in August 2009. During his two seasons with the club, he won back-to-back Babe Pratt Trophies as the team's top defenceman and helped them to the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Boston Bruins. Ehrhoff would go on to play nearly 800 NHL games throughout his career. Internationally, Ehrhoff has played for the German national team in numerous tournaments, including four Winter Olympics, seven World Championships and a World Cup.

9. Dennis Seidenberg (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 29.95, Dennis Seidenberg is the 9th most famous German Hockey Player. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Dennis Marvin Seidenberg (born 18 July 1981) is a German former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, and Boston Bruins, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2011. His younger brother Yannic played for EHC Red Bull München in the DEL.

10. Jochen Hecht (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 29.23, Jochen Hecht is the 10th most famous German Hockey Player. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Jochen Thomas Hecht (German: /hɛçt/) (born 21 June 1977) is a German ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey player. He has been serving as assistant coach for Adler Mannheim since March 2022. Hecht played 833 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres and also began and finished his career with Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

People

Pantheon has 26 people classified as German hockey players born between 1901 and 2001. Of these 26, 22 (84.62%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living German hockey players include Udo Kiessling, Dany Heatley, and Leon Draisaitl. The most famous deceased German hockey players include Hugo Budinger, Rudi Ball, and Martin Schröttle. As of April 2024, 10 new German hockey players have been added to Pantheon including Hugo Budinger, Rudi Ball, and Martin Schröttle.