Cross signs with Hamburg Freezers
Cory Cross, the player we obtained right before the trade deadline, will be playing in Germany next season for the Hamburg Freezers. The Freezers are part of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), a league composed of 14 teams.
“Every time I’ve gone to play in Europe I’ve enjoyed it and just about everyone I’ve talked to have said they had good experiences,” said Cross.
“How many chances do you get to do something like this?” he asked. “I’ve done the same route here for 12 years. Why not change things up?
“They set you up with an apartment. They give you a car. The salaries aren’t comparable to the NHL. But the money is tax free.
“When you add up the bonuses, the apartment, the car and the tax-free salary it’s comparable to the minimum NHL salary ($450,000 US last season),” Cross said.
“I’ll be able to be with my family a lot more,” said Cross, 35, who will be joined by his wife Shannon and five-month-old daughter, Ayla.
“They only play 52 games, mostly just two games a week and, as I understand it, most of the games are on Fridays and Sundays. So the most you are going to be away is a weekend. And even then you won’t be far because all the games are in Germany.”
You can visit the Freezers’ website here, but it’s all in German. My German is pretty rusty, but the head coach Mike Schmidt seems pretty happy with the new defender for his intelligent game and readiness and then the Cross article talked about his past in the NHL.
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3 Responses to “Cross signs with Hamburg Freezers”
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August 7th, 2006 at 6:20 pm
Ah, the DEL. Been a couple years since I followed it–I think I’ll have to start again.
August 10th, 2006 at 9:13 am
I’ve never followed it before (or really any league overseas), but I may have to see how Cross is doing every so often on the Freezers. Do you find that name funny at all or is that just me?
June 27th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
I am actually related to Cory Cross and I have seen him play in the NHL personally and he is a very aggressive player. He roughs some people up and intimidates them. He is the ultimate old school NHL defender. That is what hockey needs.