HC Innsbruck Retired Numbers

HC Innsbruck was established for the 1995-96 season. Die Haie (the Sharks) played in the elite Erste Bank Eishockey Liga from 2000-01 to 2008-09, before dropping back down to tier 2. After winning the tier 2 championship in 2011-12, Innsbruck returned to the EBEL. Previous to HC Innsbruck, Innsbrucker EV was the pro team in town.

Three retired numbers hang from the rafters at the Tiroler Wasserkraft Arena in Innsbruck, Austria. The venue opened in 2004 and seats 3,058. Two of the retired numbers belong to Canadian born players Greg Holst and Rem Murray. The third number belongs to long time Austrian National Team goaltender Claus Dalpiaz.

14 – Greg Holst

Holst played for Innsbrucker EV from 1978-79 to 1991-92, except for 1981-82, 1987-88 and 1988-89. The Canadian born player from Montreal also played internationally for Austria at IIHF World Championships in 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1986. Greg’s totals in Austria are impressive with 533 games played, 501 goals socred and 478 assists for 979 points. It should be noted that those stats include regular season and playoffs.

Greg was involved with Austria’s National Team Program at the coaching level from 1997-98 to 2005-06. He was assistant coach for Austria at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Holst briefly coached HC Innsbruck for the last half of the 2008-09 season. In 2005-06, he was head coach for HC Villacher as the team won the national championship.

Greg Holst started out with two years playing for the University of New Brunswick in 1971-72 and 1972-73. He followed that up with a year of Major Junior A in the OHA (the current Ontario Hockey League) with the Kingston Canadians.

Before moving to Austria, Holst played four years of pro hockey in North America in the SPHL, IHL, AHL and NHL. At the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft, Greg was an eighth round pick by the New York Rangers, 139^th overall. It was the Rangers that he played his eleven National Hockey League games for. The games were scattered over a three year span from 1975-76 to 1977-78.

Spending most of the 1975-76 season in the American Hockey League with the Providence Reds, Greg scored 37 and assisted on 44 for 81 points over 69 games. He was honoured with the Dudley ‘Red’ Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL’s rookie of the year.

17 – Rem Murray

Stratford, Ontario born Rem Murray played for HC Innsbruck in the EBEL in 2008-09. He then played two more years with the club in the tier 2 league, 2010-11 and 2011-12. In 2011-12, Murray led the league with 31 goals and helped the team to a championship and promotion back to the EBEL.

The Los Angeles Kings selected Murray in the sixth round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, 135^th overall, right out of the Junior B Stratford Cullitons. However, Rem chose to spend the next four years in the NCAA with Michigan State. When he finally made his way to the National Hockey League, it was not with the Kings.

Rem played pro hockey in North America from 1995-96 to 2005-06, mostly in the NHL but he also spent some time in the AHL. Murray played 560 regular season games in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers and Nashville Predators, scoring 94 and assisting on 121 for 215 points. He also appeared in 62 Stanley Cup playoff games, adding 17 points.

Claus Dalpiaz – 31

Dalpiaz played goal in Austria and Germany from 1989-90 to 2010-11. He played for HC Innsbruck from 2000-01 to 2006-07 and was the team’s goaltending coach in 2011-12.

A mainstay on the Austrian National Team, Claus was on the roster for the 1994, 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympic Games. At the IIHF World Hockey Championships, Dalpiaz was on the team for an amazing 12 straight years from 1993 to 2004.

Claus is from Kufstein, Austria but carries dual Austria/Germany citizenship.