Christian Ehrhoff

Christian Ehrhoff (born on July 6, 1982) is a German professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the National Hockey League (NHL).

He is known primarily as an offensive defenceman with strong skating and shooting abilities.

Before playing in the NHL, Christian spent several years playing professionally in Germany, starting with EV Duisburg of the third-tier Oberliga and the Krefeld Penguins 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, Christian 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, Christian was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in August of 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.

Internationally, Christian has played for the German national team in numerous tournaments, including three Winter Olympics, four World Championships and a World Cup.

International Play
As a junior, Christian competed for Germany's under-18 team at the inaugural 1999 IIHF World U18 Championships, hosted in Füssen and Kaufbeuren, Germany.

He returned the following year for the 2000 IIHF World U18 Championships in Switzerland, where Germany finished in seventh place.

Then, he debuted at the under-20 level in Division I of the 2001 World Junior Championships. Hosting the tournament in the cities of Füssen and Landsberg, Germany missed a promotion to the main tournament the following year by finishing in second place behind France.

Christian made his second appearance at the Division I level for the 2002 World Junior Championships in Austria, leading all tournament defencemen with three goals and 10 points in five games.

Christian helped Germany earn a promotion to the main tournament for the following year, defeating Austria 7–1 in the gold medal game. In both years competing in the tournament, he earned Top Defenceman honours.

Two months after his final international junior appearance, Christian debuted with Germany's senior team for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He played in seven games as the second youngest player in the tournament.

Germany was eliminated by the United States in the quarterfinal with a 5–0 shutout loss.

Later that year, he competed in the 2002 World Championships, scoring five points in seven games. Germany was defeated in the quarterfinal by Sweden 6–2.

Christian made his second World Championships appearance in 2003, but failed to register a point as Germany were once again losers in the quarterfinal round.

After Christian's rookie season in the NHL, he competed for Germany in the 2004 World Cup. They lost 2–1 to Finland in the quarterfinal.

The following year, he registered an assist in six games at the 2005 World Championships. Germany finished second-to-last in the tournament.

After failing to qualify for the quarterfinal, they won one of three games in the relegation round.

On December 21, 2005, Christian was named to the German Olympic team, along with Sharks teammate Marcel Goc, for the 2006 Winter Games in Turin

His lone goal of the tournament came against Canada, a 5–1 loss.

He added an assist in the tournament for two points in five games as Germany failed to win a preliminary game, missing out on the playoff rounds.

Four years later, he was named to Germany's Olympic team for the 2010 Winter Games in his NHL hometown of Vancouver. He went pointless in four games, while leading his team in ice time.

Germany was eliminated by Canada in an 8–2 qualifier for the quarterfinal.

Shortly after the Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs several months later, Christian joined Germany for the 2010 World Championships. Germany played as tournament host in the cities of Cologne and Mannheim.

Joining his team midway through the tournament, he missed the first three games before scoring a goal and an assist in six contests. Germany made it to the semifinal, where they were defeated by Russia 2–1.

Christian assisted on Germany's lone goal and was named his team's player of the game. They went on to lose the bronze medal game 3–1 to Sweden.

Their fourth place finish marked their best placing at the World Championships since 1953 when they won silver.

Leading Germany in average ice time with 23:34 minutes per game, Christian was named to the Tournament All-Star Team, along with German goaltender Dennis Endras.

Awards & Achievements

 * 2001 & 2002: World Junior Division I - Top Defenceman
 * 2003: German championship (with Krefeld Penguins)
 * 2010 & 2011: Babe Pratt Trophy (Vancouver Canucks' best defenceman)
 * 2010: World Championship All-Star Team

Records

 * Vancouver Canucks record; highest plus-minus rating, single-season: +36 in 2009–10 (surpassed Pavel Bure and Marek Malik; tied with Daniel Sedin)

Playing Style
Christian is known as an offensive defenceman.

He has strong skating ability, which allows him to quickly carry the puck up the ice, starting plays from his team's defensive zone as well as join offensive plays deep in the opposing team's zone.

He also possesses a hard shot which earns him significant time on the power play.

Upon joining the NHL with San Jose, Christian had to adjust his game to be more defensive.

He gradually became counted upon more in defensive situations and has been used on the penalty kill as well.

Personal Life
Christian's father, Achim is a drummer in a band and he has a sister named Katrin.

He first played hockey when he was six years old, deciding to play after watching an NHL game on television.

As his hometown did not have a hockey program, Christian played minor hockey 20 kilometres away in the Krefeld Penguins' system.

He won a national championship with the club around the age of 12. Christian has recalled scoring in the final on a penalty shot.

Following the NHL growing up, Christian has singled out Wayne Gretzky, Pavel Bure and Uwe Krupp as his childhood heroes.

He was inspired to play in the style of an offensive defenceman after watching a video of Bobby Orr as a 10-year-old.

At the age of 16, Christian considered moving to North America to further his hockey career in the major junior Canadian Hockey League, but his father had developed Hodgkin's lymphoma at the time.

He consequently decided to stay in Germany and continued in Krefeld's system at the junior level. His father eventually overcame the cancer.

Christina and his wife, Farina have 2 daughters: Leni (born in mid-2009) and Milla (born mid-2011).

During his time with the Canucks, they lived in the Vancouver neighbourhood of Yaletown.

During the off-seasons, they return to Germany where they have a condo in Krefeld.