Swede Roger Hansson appointed head of development at EVZ

The sporting director of the EVZ ice hockey club, Reto Kläy, has announced that Roger Hansson, a Swedish national, is to take over the role of head of development at the club, where he will be following in the footsteps of Canadian national Jason O’Leary.

The appointment of Hansson means Kläy has been able to ensure that one of the great names in ice hockey will be coming to  Zug. Between 2005 and earlier this year, the Swede was general manager as well as both assistant and head coach at the Rögle BK ice hockey club in Ängelholm in Sweden, just north of Helsingborg, training not only the first team there but also the U18 and U20 ones.

Speaking about Hansson’s skills, Kläy said, “He is someone who knows how to train and is the ideal person to take on this role.”  The 51-year-old, who has three adult children, has been given a two-year contract by EVZ, not just as head of development but also as head coach of the EVZ Academy.

Hanson himself started off his 20-year career playing with the Vancouver Canucks in 1987 but returned to Sweden to play both for the Rögle BK and Malmö Redhawks teams, prior to playing for the Kassel Huskies in Germany for five years; hence he speaks German. He also won a gold medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in Norway.