Latest news with #KölnerHaie
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Draisaitl gives back to German hometown with hockey equipment
Leon Draisaitl visits his hometown of Cologne, Germany to deliver full sets of hockey equipment to a youth team on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (Facebook/Kölner Haie) A program of young hockey players in Cologne, Germany is going to be decked out in all-new equipment after Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers paid it forward to his hometown. The forward and alternate captain donated 29 complete sets of equipment to the youth player program at Kölner Haie, called the Junghaie, or 'baby sharks.' Draisaitl wears jersey number 29 for the Oilers. The gift comes from Draisaitl in collaboration with the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) Goals and Dreams. Draisaitl and Junghaie Leon Draisaitl poses with the Kölner Junghaie on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (Facebook/Kölner Haie) A release on the NHLPA website said 58 full sets of equipment will eventually be donated to the Junghaie over the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons. In a post on Facebook, Kölner Haie thanked both the NHLPA and Draisaitl for the recognition of their youth outreach. According to the NHLPA media release, the Kölner Junghaie is the only minor or junior hockey program in Cologne and hosts almost 300 players aged four to 20.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Leon Draisaitl Donates Equipment To German Youth Club
Back home in Germany for the summer, Leon Draisaitl recently appeared at a promotional event to donate equipment to a youth club in his hometown of Cologne. According to a press release from the city's professional hockey club, Kölner Haie (Cologne Sharks), Draisaitl will donate 29 complete sets of new equipment, both this season and next, to the Junghaie (Young Sharks) club, through the NHLPA's Goals & Dreams program. Advertisement The number 29 was obviously chosen to match Draisaitl's uniform number with the Edmonton Oilers. 'It's a great feeling to return to where it all began,' Draisaitl was quoted. 'Without the support I received as a young player in Cologne, I wouldn't be where I am today. I hope this NHLPA Goals & Dreams equipment donation to the Junghaie helps inspire the next generation to play the game and build a strong future for our sport.' Cologne is one of Germany's hockey hotbeds. In addition to Draisaitl, the city is also home to German hockey legend Uwe Krupp. At the professional level, Kölner Haie has broken the record for average attendance by a European club in each of the past two seasons. Kölner Haie Shatters Own European Single-Season Attendance Record Kölner Haie Shatters Own European Single-Season Attendance Record Kölner Haie will break its own single-season attendance record for a European club, according to a press release from the German club on Friday. Advertisement Draisaitl was born in Cologne in 1995 while his father, Peter Draisaitl, played professionally for Kölner Haie. The young Draisaitl played youth hockey in Cologne before moving to Mannheim at age 13. He would then head to the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL at age 16 and was drafted third overall by the Oilers in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft at age 18. 'Leon is a Cologne boy,' said Rodion Pauels, sports director of the Junghaie. 'We have, of course, followed his fantastic development closely over the years and are very grateful to him and the NHLPA for this generous donation to our youth department. The children had a wonderful day that they certainly won't soon forget.' Photo: Kölner Haie 2026 Olympics will see best German team ever 2026 Olympics will see best German team ever The Germans have had some very good results internationally in recent years, including a silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and another silver at the 2023 IIHF World Championship. They've had some very good young talent to work with but they haven't had a chance to put all of their best players together on one team since the 2010 Winter Olympics. They've improved a lot since then. In fact, it's no stretch to say the 2026 Winter Olympics will feature the greatest German ice hockey team ever assembled.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Blues 2018 First-Rounder Finds New Team In Germany
German winger Dominik Bokk, 25, has signed a two-year contract with Kölner Haie, the DEL club announced on Wednesday. Bokk, a first-round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2018, is returning to the club where he played from age 14 to 17. He spent the past three seasons playing in the DEL for Löwen Frankfurt. 'I'm very excited to be playing for the Sharks starting next season and returning to Cologne after my time here with the youth team,' said Bokk. 'To be able to play for the pro team in front of Die Haie fans at Lanxess Arena fills me with pride. I want to help the team build on the strong performance of last season.' 'Dominik has developed his game further over the past few years and is one of the most well-rounded players in his age group,' said Haie sports director Matthias Baldys. We are very pleased to have him on our roster now," said Haie Sports Director Matthias Baldys. 'He took on a lot of responsibility at a young age in Frankfurt. We want to give him the opportunity to take his next steps.' After his youth seasons in Cologne, Bokk played three and half seasons in Sweden with the Växjö Lakers, Rögle BK and Djurgarden, where he recorded 31 points in 88 SHL regular-season and playoff games. 2026 Olympics will see best German team ever The Germans have had some very good results internationally in recent years, including a silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and another silver at the 2023 IIHF World Championship. They've had some very good young talent to work with but they haven't had a chance to put all of their best players together on one team since the 2010 Winter Olympics. They've improved a lot since then. In fact, it's no stretch to say the 2026 Winter Olympics will feature the greatest German ice hockey team ever assembled. Bokk's NHL rights were traded from St. Louis to the Carolina Hurricanes in September 2019, and went to North America in early 2021 in time for the start of the pandemic-delayed AHL season. He recorded 28 points in 61 games over two seasons with the Chicago Wolves; however, despite being a 25th-overall draft pick, he was never able to crack the Carolina roster. Bokk returned to Germany in February 2022, finishing the season with Eisbären Berlin, who won the DEL championship. Bokk has recorded 122 points in 157 DEL regular-season and playoff games with Berlin and Frankfurt. Kölner Haie finished sixth in the DEL standings last year but made the finals, losing to Berlin. In each of the last two seasons, Kölner Haie has set a new European attendance record. Photo © Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Report: Kölner Haie & DEL Set New European Attendance Records; New Records In Czechia & Britain Too The Alliance of European Hockey Clubs published its annual attendance study on Wednesday, ranking 376 clubs across 29 leagues.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kölner Haie Shatters Own European Single-Season Attendance Record
Kölner Haie will break its own single-season attendance record for a European club, according to a press release from the German club on Friday. The team's final DEL regular-season game on Friday night against the Fischtown Pinguins from Bremerhaven is already sold out at Lanxess Arena, which has a capacity of 18,500 for hockey. That would bring the team's total to 463,543 over 26 home games – an average of 17,829. That breaks the record that the club set last season by almost a thousand fans per game. According to the figures published at on March 7, Die Haie's attendance this season is greater than the NHL's regular-season average and higher than 14 of the league's 32 teams. 'We are very grateful for the special loyalty and support of our fans – they made this new record possible,' said club managing director Philipp Walter. 'We are pleased that the cogs of our marketing and digitization strategy are working so well together.' Though meaningless in the standings, Friday's game will be a warm-up for the playoffs, as Die Haie and Bremerhaven will finish sixth and third respectively in the standings, and will face each other in the quarterfinals. Kölner Haie set a new European single-season attendance record last season with 16,993 fans per home game. That ended the streak of Swiss club SC Bern, which had led European hockey clubs in attendance for 21 consecutive seasons – not counting the pandemic-affected 2020-21 season, where attendance was severely limited everywhere. Bern's top-drawing season was 2016-17 at 16,399, which was the record until last season. Kölner Haie tops European clubs in attendance The German club returns to the top after SC Bern's 21-year reign According to the press release, Germany's DEL will also set a new attendance record for European leagues this season with more than 2.8 million fans, breaking the record the league set last season with 2.61 million. An exact figure won't be available until the regular season concludes after Friday's full slate of games. Elsewhere in Europe, according to a tweet from the club on Wednesday, Sparta Prague broke its own Czech Extraliga attendance record this season by more than a thousand per game with an average of 12,804. FAKT: Sparta ovládla extraligovou návštěvnost. S průměrem 12.804 fanoušků (celkem 332.916) na zápas máme dvojnásobnou návštěvnost, než samotná @telhcz (⌀5.823 diváků, celkem 2.121.051). Každý šestý fanoušek extraligy tak zavítal právě do naší O2 areny! — HC Sparta Praha (@HCSpartaPraha) March 5, 2025 What other attendance records will fall this season? The Alliance of European Hockey Clubs usually releases its Europe-wide attendance report in mid March, once all of the major leagues have completed their regular seasons. The reports from 2001-02 through 2023-24 can be found here.
