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German Players in North America

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If Leon Draisatl happens to be a star, it's gonna be a huge boost to hockey in the country of Germany.

Germany never had that super star quality player and Leon might be the first of his kind.
 
I'm not so sure if that is actually true. While Draisaitl would be our first NHL-star, we did have world-class players before, take Erich Kühnhackl for example.

Seeing how Dirk Nowitzki, while being enormously popular, hasn't really done anything to lift Basketball to a new level, I'm not sure if the impact of a single star player is big enough to make a difference.
 
Sanderson said:
I'm not so sure if that is actually true. While Draisaitl would be our first NHL-star, we did have world-class players before, take Erich Kühnhackl for example.
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different time though. erich was maybe world-class, but who really noticed that? there was no internet at that time. i would say that it was impossible to be a superstar outside of the real market in canada. in modern times the NHL is a daily grind for the best players and they get a whole lot more attention. kuehnhacl was an elite player, but a superstar is more of a media thing IMO.

Seeing how Dirk Nowitzki, while being enormously popular, hasn't really done anything to lift Basketball to a new level, I'm not sure if the impact of a single star player is big enough to make a difference.
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i don't know anything about this boring sport, but i was under the impression that basketball grew a lot in germany the last decade. more attendance and also more players.
 
Attendance grew even in hockey, so that is not all that relevant ;)

While he obviously has been an influence on younger people, Germany is arguably worse than it was in the 90s or early 00s and basketball hasn't made a huge jump compared to handball or hockey. At this point we even have more players in the NFL than in the NBA. With a little bit of luck, even the MLB might catch the NBA, as there are a few prospects on the way.

Not that the absolute elite says much about the overall quality of the sport, you can improve without getting a whole bunch of stars, but I really don't see any significant trend upwards.
 
Marcel Noebels has been waived by the Flyers. They are looking to terminate his contract. Is there a chance for him to find a new team in NA?
 
Caveman43 said:
Marcel Noebels has been waived by the Flyers. They are looking to terminate his contract. Is there a chance for him to find a new team in NA?
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I doubt it, at least as far as NHL teams go. Maybe he can find an AHL team, but I think he will be back in Germany soon. Maybe with his old team in Krefeld or maybe with one of the bigger clubs like Munich or Cologne.
 
Marcel Noebels has signed with Eisbären Berlin and might play his first game on Friday at Cologne.
 
Markus Eisenschmid seems to have a decent Season so far, scoring 7 G and 10 A with +12 in 13 games for Medicine Hat.
 
When he keeps producing that amount of points, he could get a contract in the AHL, like Latta did before.
 
Really impressed with Rieder so far. A team best +6 to go with decent production and good hustle on the PK.

Holzer recalled by Toronto and might even get to play for a good stretch of games given their injury situation.
 
Tobi Rieder scored 2 short handed goals within 58 seconds in the 5:2 win against the Oilers last night. These 2 SHGs were the fastest of a rookie in NHL history :handclap
 
Caveman43 said:
Tobi Rieder scored 2 short handed goals within 58 seconds in the 5:2 win against the Oilers last night. These 2 SHGs were the fastest of a rookie in NHL history :handclap
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Against the team that drafted him - only to trade him away for a bigger body...
 
andersej said:
Against the team that drafted him - only to trade him away for a bigger body...
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Yes, Kale Kessy has 6 Points and -7 with 61 pm in 17 games in the AHL , probably will be a 4th line guy in the NHL at best.

But i guess, Tobi asked for a trade and would have gone back to the draft despite signing a contract, if edmonton wouldn't trade him away
 
Sanderson said:
While he obviously has been an influence on younger people, Germany is arguably worse than it was in the 90s or early 00s and basketball hasn't made a huge jump compared to handball or hockey. At this point we even have more players in the NFL than in the NBA. With a little bit of luck, even the MLB might catch the NBA, as there are a few prospects on the way.
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In Eishockey News' NHL pre-season magazine that argued that Draisaitl could be the Nowitzki of hockey and mentioned further that he lifted the NBA to a new level in media coverage because even German media that didn't report about the NBA before him do since Dirk came along. While that's true, my impression is that the NBA was a lot more popular in the 90s and basketball in general was more present, too. But back then you had good free TV coverage of the game, with today's coverage mostly being limited to pay TV and the League Pass, the overall interest isn't as high because people are overall unwilling to pay to watch something on TV or online, especially if it's on in the middle of the night.

Draisaitl and Rieder have improved the coverage somewhat, but without a good free TV coverage or good results of the national team, popularity won't improve much, I think.
 
Rieder has been impressive. Coyotes lost in the shootout to Minnesota on Saturday night but they finally turned in a good game after a skid of futility. Rieder was a standout for me. Always on the move and trying to get things done. Hope he draws in the German tourists this year.

Last season I went to a game and there was a nice crowd of Germans on hand sporting the sweaters of their local teams back in Deutschland.
 
Rob Zepp has been recalled by the Flyers, because Steve Mason suffered an upper-body injury. I'm curios if Zepp will make his NHL debut anytime soon or if the Flyers hold on to Emery in every game that Mason is out.
 
Korbinian Holzer has been very solid for the Leafs since being called up. Wouldn't be surprised at all if he sticks around for the rest of the season. He's really taken that number 7 spot and seems to be in the top 6 right now. Robidas and Gardiner have both been scratched in his favour.
 
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