Craig Woodcroft

Craig Woodcroft (born December 3, 1969 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian professional ice hockey head coach and former forward . He is currently head coach of HC Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
During his playing career, he represented Team Canada internationally and spent nine years playing in Europe. He previously coached Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) and Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL). His brothers Jay and Todd have worked for NHL teams as scout and assistant coach.
== Playing career ==
Woodcroft amassed 168 points (73 goals, 95 assists) over his four-year NCAA career at Colgate University. Woodcroft was presented with the Colgate Coaches Award in 1989 and hauled in ECACH Tournament MVP distinction the following year, helping the Raiders capture the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship. As a senior, he was named Colgate's Best Offensive Player and earned All-ECACH Honorable Mention status.
A 1991 graduate of Colgate University, Woodcroft was picked by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1988 NHL Draft (134th overall). Following playing college hockey, he turned pro and signed with the Indianapolis Ice of the International Hockey League, where he stayed from 1991 to 1993, followed by a stint with the Prince Edward Island Senators of the American Hockey League in 1993-94.
Woodcroft made 12 appearances for Finnish Liiga side TuTo Hockey in 1994-95 and then was sent to lower division team Reipas Lahti on loan, where he saw the ice in three contests, before heading back to North America. He finished the season playing a couple of games for IHL's Cleveland Lumberjacks and strengthening ECHL outfit Columbus Chill in 19 games.
At the beginning of the 1995-96 campaign, Woodcroft took up an offer to play in Germany: Woodcroft parted ways with Deggendorfer EC after two games, but remained in the country to join fellow German second-division team EV Weiden. At Weiden, he produced 13 goals and 22 assists in 28 contests.
After playing briefly for AHL's Cornwall Aces and Colonial Hockey League's Quad City Mallards, Woodcroft embarked on a two-year stint with Manchester Storm of the British Ice Hockey Superleague (BISL). In England, Woodcroft is particularly remembered for a four-goal showing in a 7-0 European Hockey League home win over Czech powerhouse Sparta Praha in the 1997-98 season. He garnered All-BISL First Team honors in his second year with the Storm. That drew the interest of a high caliber team from Germany's top-tier Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), Kölner Haie. He signed with the team for the 1998-99 season, followed by stints with three other DEL teams in the following three years, including the Kassel Huskies, Frankfurt Lions and Moskitos Essen.
Woodcroft concluded his professional career playing in Italy (HC Milan) and Sweden (Linköping HC) in 2002-03.
== Coaching career ==
Woodcroft is the founder of the Northern Edge Hockey Academy. In 2010-11, he served as president of Hockey Operations for the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League.
Woodcroft served as Skill Development Coach for the St. Louis Blues from 2010 to 2012 and was director of the Nashville Predators' Rookie Development Camp between 2012 and 2014.
In 2014, Woodcroft signed a two-year deal as associate coach of German DEL side Adler Mannheim. In his first year, serving under head coach Geoff Ward, Woodcroft helped guide the Adler squad to the German championship title. In February 2016, he was promoted to Adler Mannheim head coach after Greg Ireland was fired. Woodcroft left Mannheim after the 2015-16 season and was named head coach of HC Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in April 2016.
On June 26, 2017, it was announced that Woodcroft would become the new head coach of Genève-Servette HC, signing a three-year deal with the team. On July 25, 2017 he was named an assistant coach of Canada's men's team for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Serving as assistant coach to Willie Desjardins, Woodcroft helped Canada win the 2017 Spengler Cup. He guided Genève-Servette to an 8th place finish in the 2017-18 regular season before falling short to defending champion SC Bern in playoff-quarterfinals. Woodcroft was relieved of his duties as Genève-Servette head coach on April 3, 2018. In July 2019, he again signed with HC Dinamo Minsk to begin a second stint as head coach at the club.
==Career statistics==
 	 	 		Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season		Playoffs	Playoffs	Playoffs	Playoffs	Playoffs
Season 	Team 	League 		GP 	G 	A 	Pts 	PIM 		GP 	G 	A 	Pts 	PIM
1987–88 	Colgate University 	NCAA 		29 	7 	10 	17 	28 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1988–89 	Colgate University 	NCAA 		29 	20 	29 	49 	62 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1989–90 	Colgate University 	NCAA 		37 	20 	26 	46 	108 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1990–91 	Colgate University 	NCAA 		32 	26 	30 	56 	52 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1991–92 	Indianapolis Ice 	IHL 		75 	21 	17 	38 	67 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1992–93 	Indianapolis Ice 	IHL 		65 	12 	19 	31 	80 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1993–94 	Prince Edward Island Senators	AHL 		33 	5 	9 	14 	41 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1994–95 	TUTO Hockey 	Liiga 		12 	0 	0 	0 	6 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1994–95 	Reipas Lahti 	I-Divisioona		3 	2 	0 	2 	4 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1994–95 	Cleveland Lumberjacks 	IHL 		2 	0 	0 	0 	0 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1994–95 	Columbus Chill 	ECHL 		16 	7 	14 	21 	22 		3 	3 	1 	4 	12
1995–96 	Deggendorfer EC 	Germany2 		4 	2 	3 	5 	6 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1995–96 	EV Weiden 	Germany2 		28 	13 	22 	35 	50 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1995–96 	Cornwall Aces 	AHL 		3 	0 	0 	0 	6 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1995–96 	Quad City Mallards 	CoHL 		4 	1 	3 	4 	6 		4 	1 	4 	5 	10
1996–97 	Manchester Storm 	BISL 		41 	17 	22 	39 	68 		6 	1 	2 	3 	2
1997–98 	Manchester Storm 	BISL 		42 	17 	31 	48 	79 		9 	4 	5 	9 	14
1998–99 	Kölner Haie 	DEL 		49 	9 	11 	20 	83 		5 	0 	4 	4 	10
1999–00 	Kassel Huskies 	DEL 		49 	11 	30 	41 	60 		8 	0 	6 	6 	14
2000–01 	Frankfurt Lions 	DEL 		58 	7 	27 	34 	93 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2001–02 	Moskitos Essen 	DEL 		58 	8 	19 	27 	87 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2002–03 	Milano Vipers 	Italy 		24 	8 	14 	22 	42 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2002–03 	Linköping HC 	SHL 		11 	0 	1 	1 	28 		10 	5 	5 	10 	37
IHL totals	IHL totals 	IHL totals 		142 	33 	36 	69 	147 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
DEL totals	DEL totals 	DEL totals 		214 	35 	87 	122 	323 		13 	0 	10 	10 	24
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
== External links ==
* 
* http://www.eliteprospects.com/staff.php?staff=16401
* https://web.archive.org/web/20160215234129/http://www.adler-mannheim.de/trainer.php
== References ==
Category:1969 births
Category:Living people
Category:Canadian ice hockey forwards
Category:Chicago Blackhawks draft picks
Category:Cleveland Lumberjacks players
Category:Colgate Raiders men's ice hockey players
Category:Columbus Chill players
Category:Cornwall Aces players
Category:Deutsche Eishockey Liga coaches
Category:Essen Mosquitoes players
Category:Frankfurt Lions players
Category:Ice hockey coaches
Category:Ice hockey people from Ontario
Category:Indianapolis Ice players
Category:Kassel Huskies players
Category:Kölner Haie players
Category:Linköping HC players
Category:Manchester Storm (1995–2002) players
Category:Prince Edward Island Senators players
Category:Quad City Mallards (CoHL) players
Category:Straubing Tigers players
Category:TuTo players
Category:Canadian ice hockey coaches