New coach is about to save Laussier Fuchs from relegation

white water. Twelfth place after 28 games, the prospect of a relegation round – hardly a satisfactory result. You can see it with Lusatian foxes like this. And that is why Weisswasser’s second division ice hockey team decided to relieve previous head coach Chris Straub from his duties.

Sunday’s 0:4 home loss against Tolzer Löwen was the last game for the 47-year-old German-Canadian as Fuchsey’s responsible coach. Straub only took over from coach Corey Nielsen in February 2021.

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“The game development of our Foxes had stalled over the past few weeks and unfortunately was not satisfactory. Nevertheless, I would like to thank Chris Straub for his commitment as head coach”, explained Managing Director Dirk Rohrbach, who In December, the team and coach had already been made responsible.

Straub, who is also a professional for the Weisswasserner, is not hunted from the farm. The Toronto man made an agreement with Rohrbach on further cooperation, including in the field of Scouting.

As Straub’s successor, Fuchs presented Petri Vakiparta on Tuesday. “With the personnel change, we want to give the team a new and inspiring impetus, which is essential for the upcoming Games,” Rohrbach said. “It is now a matter of achieving the full potential of our team and thus ensuring increased performance.”

44-year-old Vakiparta completed his playing career without exception in his Finnish hometown of Henolan Keiko. The trained defender ended his professional career in 2001. In 2008 he began his coaching career as an assistant coach for the Young Eagles in Mannheim. On the side of Helmut de Raf, he looked after the DNL team of the DEL club. In 2010/2011 Wakiparta was also responsible for the U16 Young Eagles. There he trained, for example, Dominic Kahun and Leon Dresitl.

Wakiparta can also refer to the six years of DEL experience in Schwenningen and Wolfsburg favoring Pat Cortina. Most recently, he was assistant coach for the German U20 national team along with national coach Tobias Absterter, which was in Edmonton for the – now canceled – World Cup a few days ago.

“This business is particularly fast,” Wakiparta said of his new role. “I came back from Canada on Sunday and was in Weiswasser on Monday evening. It is a great opportunity that has been given to me and I am ready to do whatever it takes to get us back on the road to success. I hope so. Conditions – everything I’ve heard about Lausizer Fuchs so far – is true. Nice to be here.”

Finn, who also speaks fluent German, must work with André Mücke to put the foxes back on the road to success. He will oversee the team in the match to be held in Kaufberen on Wednesday. (sz)