David Struch
Born (1971-02-11) February 11, 1971
Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 181 lb (82 kg; 12 st 13 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Calgary Flames
Salt Lake Golden Eagles
Saint John Flames
EC Graz
Waco Wizards
SG Cortina
HC Milano
Nottingham Panthers
London Knights
Bracknell Bees
Missouri River Otters
Kalamazoo Wings
Starbulls Rosenheim
NHL Draft 195th overall, 1991
Calgary Flames
Playing career 1992–2005

David Struch (born February 11, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and former head coach of the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. As a player, he played for the Calgary Flames in the NHL, as well as in the minor leagues, and across Europe.

Playing career

Struch began his major junior career with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL in 1988.[1] Following the 1990-91 season in which he scored 102 points in 72 games Struch was selected 195th overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames. At the end of the 1991-92 season, the Blades had an extended playoff run, reaching the finals. The Blades would ultimately lose to the Kamloops Blazers. In total, Struch totaled 285 points in 253 games with the Blades.[2]

The 1991-92 season would also see Struch turn professional, playing for the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the IHL who served as the Flames affiliate team,[3] with whom he scored 5 points in 12 games.[1] He returned to the Golden Eagles the following season, scoring 42 points in 78 games. The 1993-94 season would see Struch mainly play with the Saint John Flames, who took over as Calgary's primary affiliate team,[3] with whom he scored 43 points in 58 games. On 5 January, 1994, Struch made his NHL debut at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers.[4][5] he would play 3 further games with Calgary, registering no points.[1]

Early the following season with Saint John, Struch suffered a serious knee injury which ultimately keep him from playing for 16 months.[5] He returned to the Saint John line up during the 1995-96 season, registering 25 points in 45 games. The 1996-97 season saw Struch play 11 games with the Waco Wizards of the WPHL, scoring at a point-per-game rate. He also played 26 games for Austrian side EC Graz, registering 22 points. He remained in Europe the following season, signing for Italian Serie A team SG Cortina. In Veneto he had a career year, scoring 61 points in 44 games helping the team make it to the playoffs, before losing in the opening round to HC Bolzano. The 1998-99 would see Struch remain in Italy, signing for the HC Milano where he would have 11 points in 24 games.[1]

Struch would move to the U.K. for the 1999–00 season, in order to play for BISL team Nottingham Panthers. The team struggled, finishing 6th out of 8 teams, and failing to make it out of the group stages in the playoffs. For his part, Struch scored 24 points in 42 games. He returned to the Panthers the following season, and improved his scoring totals, registering 39 points in 47 games. The off-season saw Struch move to the London Knights also of the BISL,[6][7] where he was named team captain.[8] His time in the capital got off to a bad start however, as he suffered another knee injury early in the season.[8][9] Despite this setback, he managed to score 14 points in 29 games as the team finished 6th out of 7 teams, and made it to the playoff semi-finals before narrowly losing to the Sheffield Steelers.

For the 2002-03 season, Struch moved to the Bracknell Bees also of the BISL. At the Bees he got his first taste of coaching.[5] Both the team and Struch would struggle, the team finished last in the regular season, and Struch registered 10 points in 28 games,[1] after missing 4 games with a concussion.[10] Following the culmination of the 2002-03 season, the Bees decided to drop down to the BNL, whilst the Ayr Scottish Eagles and Manchester Storm both folded, and the London Knights rink, the London Arena, was sold to developers, which lead to the Knights folding as well. These losses culminated in the demise of the BISL.[11][12]

Following the collapse of the BISL, a new top tier of hockey in the U.K. was formed, the Elite Ice Hockey League, made up of the three remaining BISL franchises and five other teams. Struch re-joined the Nottingham Panthers, one of the founding members of the EIHL, linking up with former Knights team-mates David Clarke and Kim Ahlroos. He had strong season, scoring 41 points in 56 games as the Panthers finished 2nd in the regular season and narrowly lost in the play-off finals. The club would win silverware however, lifting the Challenge Cup. The 2004-05 season was a nomadic one for Struch, originally playing for German Oberliga side Starbulls Rosenheim. He scored 18 points in 18 games before returning to North America in order to play for the Missouri River Otters of the UHL. He only played 2 games with the Otters, before closing out the season with the Kalamazoo Wings.[2] Subsequently, Struch retired as a professional hockey player.

Awards and achievements

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1988–89 Saskatoon Blades WHL 6620315118 82356
1989–90 Saskatoon Blades WHL 6840377767 1085136
1990–91 Saskatoon Blades WHL 72455710269 —————
1991–92 Saskatoon Blades WHL 4729265534 228152326
1991–92 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 124158 —————
1992–93 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 7820224273 —————
1993–94 Calgary Flames NHL 40004 —————
1993–94 Saint John Flames AHL 5818254387 70114
1994–95 Saint John Flames AHL 70114 —————
1995–96 Saint John Flames AHL 4510152557 30114
1996–97 EC Graz Austria 266162218 —————
1996–97 Waco Wizards WPHL 1147110 —————
1997–98 SG Cortina Italy 4424376134 —————
1998–99 HC Milano Italy 24741116 —————
1999–00 Nottingham Panthers BISL 428162422 60110
2000–01 Nottingham Panthers BISL 4717223940 62462
2001–02 London Knights BISL 293111418 70336
2002–03 Bracknell Bees BISL 28461020 160334
2003–04 Nottingham Panthers EIHL 5611304118 61234
2004–05 Missouri River Otters UHL 20002 —————
2004–05 Kalamazoo Wings UHL 358142224 —————
2004–05 Starbulls Rosenheim Germany3 184141820 31232
NHL totals 4 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
AHL totals 110 28 41 69 148 — — — — —

Coaching career

Struch began his coaching career in 2006, when he signed as an assistant coach for the Saskatoon Blades, a position he remained in until 2013 when was named Head Coach of the team, replacing Lorne Molleken.[13] The team would struggle however, finishing the season with only 16 wins. As a result Struch's contract was not extended.[2]

In the off-season, Struch signed with the Regina Pats as an assistant coach, in May 2015 his role grew, also taking on the duties of Assistant General Manager, under Head Coach and GM John Paddock.[14] In June 2018, the Pats promoted Struch to Head Coach after Paddock chose to focus solely on his GM duties.[15] Under this guidance the Pats have performed admirably, however, the team hasn't been able to make it to the play-offs.

In addition to his duties with the Pats, Struch is also involved with the Canadian national junior teams, having served as an Assistant Coach for Team Canada during the 2016 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. The following year he was named Head Coach of the same team. In 2019 he was part of the Team Canada coaching team at the IIHF World U18 Championship.[16]

Struch was relieved of his duties as the head coach of the Pats on November 18, 2021.[17]

Personal life

Struch is married to his wife, Andrea, and has three children.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "David Struch". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Struch is proud to be a hockey lifer". Regina Leader-Post. May 23, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Calgary Flames Minor League Affiliate History". HockeyDB. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  4. ↑ "David Struch Stats and News". NHL. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 Bell, Jason (October 26, 2019). "Struch relished shot at outdoor game". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Russian test for Storm and Panthers". BBC. July 30, 2001. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Canadians join Knights charge". Evening Standard. July 25, 2001. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  8. 1 2 "Knights miss out on Shockey". Evening Standard. September 28, 2001. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Struch ready to return". BBC. October 27, 2001. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Struch back for Bees' away-day double". Reading Post. January 24, 2003. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Eagles forced out". BBC. November 14, 2002. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Elite League "will go ahead"". BBC. May 31, 2003. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Blades name new head coach". CBC News. June 13, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Dave Struch Named Assistant General Manager". Regina Pats. May 28, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Regina Pats name Dave Struch as new head coach". Regina Leader-Post. June 28, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Pats Dave Struch named Team WHL Assistant Coach for 2019 CIBC Canada Russia Series". Regina Pats. September 20, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Regina Pats fire Dave Struch on 'a very difficult day'". Regina Leader-Post. November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
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