Game On Magazine 2017 Nov Game On low res | Page 139

Former Bisons Star,
Streu, Wins Austrian
League Title
It was a wild ride for former
Winnipegger Craig Streu this season.
The assistant coach with the 2017
Austrian Hockey League’s latest
champions, the Vienna Capitals, almost
didn’t have a team at all. As it turns out,
he raised the EBEL championship trophy.
On top of that, Serge Aubin and Streu
coached the Capitals to an amazing
playoff run. Not only did they take out
Klagenfurt in four straight games in the
finals, they actually went undefeated
throughout the entire playoffs.
It was Vienna’s first national title
since the 2004-05 season. For both
head coach Aubin and assistant coach
Streu it’s amazing that they reached
the Austrian final at all. This time
last year, they were both wrapping
up their seasons in Germany -- Aubin
with the DEL’s now defunct Hamburg
Freezers and Streu with the Neuwied
Bears, formerly of the Oberliga.
Both hit the 2016 offseason already
focused on a huge 2016-17 season with
their respective clubs, but while fully
in the employ of these two teams, both
ended up facing a stunning and knee-
buckling shock: Their teams completely
exited their respective leagues.
As widely reported, there is no
more Hamburg Freezers while the
Neuwied Bears simply pulled out
of the Oberliga in what became
a controversial story throughout
European hockey as the Bears started
rebuilding their franchise in one of
Germany’s western regional leagues.
MJHL TO HOLD PROSPECTS
CAMP AT UND
As more American players cross
the border to play in the Manitoba
Junior Hockey League, the MJHL has
decided to head south and have a closer
look at the potential talent stream.
The MJHL and The Hockey
Academy at Ralph Engelstad Arena
have announced that the MJHL will
Former Winnipegger Craig Streu and the 2017 EBEL Cup
For Streu, whose son is currently
part of Germany’s national U18 team,
the experience was nothing short of
mind-numbing.
“We are both so happy and proud of
this season,” Streu said. “For both of us,
it’s our first championship as coaches
and will always have a special place in
our hearts. This group we had was one of
a kind and even early in this season, we
had a great feeling that we had the right
pieces to go all the way.”
The one-time University of Manitoba
star (he had 35 goals and 89 points in
41 games in 1991-92), who moved to
Germany to play and eventually became a member of the German national
team, tried to put the events of the past
year -- and Vienna’s accomplishments
-- into perspective.
“The fact that both our teams
dropped out for financial reasons in
Germany and Serge and I ended up in
Austria together to win a championship
is truly amazing,” he said. “But the
situation is also something, as a coach,
you can react to. It is just like being able
to change your tactics during a game.
You are always prepared for something
and in this business we all know
anything can happen.”
hold a U.S. Prospects Camp in Grand
Forks, on May 12 and 13 of 2018.
Representatives from the League office
and all eleven MJHL franchises will be
on site to scout United States hockey
players with birthdates in 1999, 2000,
2001, and 2002, players who have the
potential to play elite junior hockey in the
Canadian Junior Hockey League system.
“The 2018 MJHL Prospect Camp at Ralph Engelstad Arena will provide
the next generation of American
MJHL Players with the knowledge and
resources to be successful both on and
off the ice,” said MJHL commissioner
Kim Davis. “It will give them an insight
into what playing in the MJHL is all
about and will also give them a platform
to showcase themselves to coaches
and scouts from the MJHL clubs.”
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