Uwe Krupp Uwe G . Krupp ( born June 24 , 1965 in Cologne , West Germany ) is a retired German professional hockey defenceman and current coach of the German national ice hockey team . Following Walt Tkaczuk , Krupp was only the second German - born player to have a lasting career in the National Hockey League . Krupp was the first , and up until now , still remains the sole player of his nationality to ever win a Stanley Cup . He also followed Tkaczuk as the second chosen to an NHL All - Star Game . He was the tallest player in the league for nearly seven years , towering at 6 ' 6 " . Playing career . After being discovered by Scotty Bowman , Coach and General Manager for the Buffalo Sabres while playing for the German national team and as one of the only Cologne - born players to play for Kölner Haie in the Deutsche Eishockey League , Krupp was chosen by the Sabres as the 214th pick in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft . Krupp was released at age 19 from his German team to attempt to earn a spot on the Bowman helmed Sabres . Debuting against the Montreal Canadiens he spent the later part of his first season with the Rochester Americans winning a Calder Cup in the American Hockey League . In the 1989 – 90 season as a member of the Sabres , Krupp scored an overtime goal in the last game of the regular season against the Pittsburgh Penguins that eliminated the Penguins from playoff contention . Developing as an imposing puck moving and mobile defenseman , Krupp steadily improved his point totals each year with the Sabres and in the 1990 – 91 season was selected to the participate in the NHL All - Star game , becoming just the second German named behind Walt Tkaczuk . At the beginning of the 1991 – 92 season , Krupp was included by the Sabres in the Blockbuster trade that sent Pierre Turgeon to the New York Islanders for Pat LaFontaine on October 25 , 1991 . Krupp quickly settled with Islanders finishing second behind Tom Kurvers in defenseman scoring with 35 points in 59 games . Uwe spent the next couple of seasons entrenched as one of the Islanders top defenders before he was traded at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft along with a first round selection ( Wade Belak ) to the Quebec Nordiques for Ron Sutter and first selection ( Brett Lindros ) on June 28 , 1994 . Recording 6 goals and 23 points in the Lockout shortened 1994 – 95 season , Krupp ' s rights were then transferred as the Nordiques relocated to become the Colorado Avalanche . Krupp is famous for scoring the memorable Stanley Cup - clinching goal for the Colorado Avalanche in the third overtime period of the fourth game of the 1996 Stanley Cup finals against the Florida Panthers . He later won another Stanley Cup in 2002 reuniting with Bowman as a member of the Detroit Red Wings . However , playing in just 8 regular season and 2 playoff games due to missing over 60 games to a back injury , he failed to qualify to engrave his name on the cup . In his NHL career , Krupp played 729 games for the Buffalo Sabres , Colorado Avalanche , New York Islanders , Quebec Nordiques , Detroit Red Wings and Atlanta Thrashers before injuries forced him to retire . Coaching career . After announcing his retirement Krupp coached the TPHThunder AAA Bantam hockey team . This was short lived as he was quickly appointed as an Assistant Coach to the German Junior National team . Working up the ranks , he was appointed as an Assistant Coach to the Men ' s National team under Greg Poss in 2005 . Then , shortly before the Torino Olympics , Krupp was made coach of the German national ice hockey team on December 15 , 2005 , replacing Poss who resigned under heavy fire from the German media . Krupp had strong feelings that the German media never gave Poss his fair chance , using the excuse that Poss was from North America to stonewall any chance Poss may have had of success . However , Krupp had drastic lineup changes in store before the 2005 World Championship " B - Pool " tournament . Facing strong criticism from the German tabloid media , Krupp chose a team of young players , leaving behind seven veterans from the Torino team , in addition to the top goal scorer in the German league . Skewing the team towards youth , he chose players who had led the Junior National team out of the " B - Pool " to lead the Germans past Israel , Hungary , Great Britain , Japan and the home country France . With an unheard of average age of 22 , the Germans outscored opponents 35 – 4 during their four game ascent into the " A " group . Personal . Krupp maintains his Atlanta area home , and volunteers coaching with his son ' s youth team . Using his North America base , Krupp has brought several young German players to North America for a variety of tournaments and camps , in addition to opening his home to two Hurricane Katrina refugees who played on his son ' s youth team . Married to an American dog sled racer , Valerie Buck - Krupp , he likens himself to German soccer coach , Jürgen Klinsmann , who also resides in the US , married to an American , and schooling his children in an International School . Upon his retirement , Krupp was immediately inducted into the German Hockey Hall of Fame , as a player . In mid 2009 , Krupp returned to Germany to reside in preparation for hosting the 2010 World Championships .