Christian Ehrhoff (born 6 July 1982) is a German former professional ice hockey defenceman. In 2018, he won silver at the Winter Olympics. He played more than 800 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) and more than 300 in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) in Germany. He was known primarily as an offensive defenceman with strong skating and shooting abilities. Prior to playing in the NHL, Ehrhoff spent several years playing professionally in Germany, starting with EV Duisburg of the third-tier Oberliga and the Krefeld Pinguine 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, Ehrhoff 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, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in August 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. Ehrhoff would go on to play nearly 800 NHL games throughout his career. Internationally, Ehrhoff has played for the German national team in numerous tournaments, including four Winter Olympics, seven World Championships and a World Cup. Early life Ehrhoff was born and raised in Moers, a city on the left bank of the Rhine. His father, Achim, is a drummer in a band, and he has a sister named Katrin. Ehrhoff first played hockey at the age of six, deciding to play the sport after watching an NHL game on television. As his hometown did not have a hockey program, he played minor hockey 20 kilometres away in the Krefeld Pinguine' system. He won a national championship with the club around the age of 12; Ehrhoff has recalled scoring in the final on a penalty shot. Following the NHL growing up, Ehrhoff 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, he considered moving to North America to further his hockey