Greg Classen

Gregory Dean "Greg" Classen (born August 24, 1977) is a German-Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Classen played a total of 90 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) all with the Nashville Predators. He also appeared in 321 American Hockey League (AHL) games between six seasons and four different teams. After his career in North America he moved to Europe and retired after the 2018–19 season in the German Eishockey-Oberliga with the Rostock Piranhas. In total Classen played 21 seasons professionally with 15 different clubs.[lower-alpha 1]

Greg Classen
Classen with the Milwaukee Admirals in 2005
Born (1977-08-24) August 24, 1977
Aylsham, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Nashville Predators
Porin Ässät
Hamburg Freezers
Iserlohn Roosters
EHC Basel Sharks
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers
HC Sierre-Anniviers
Kölner Haie
ERC Ingolstadt
Lausitzer Füchse
Starbulls Rosenheim
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2000–2020

Playing career

Classen played four seasons of junior hockey for the Nipawin Hawks of the SJHL from 1994 to 1998. He then went on to play two seasons of hockey at Merrimack College competing in the Hockey East Division of the NCAA. While at Merrimack, he earned a spot on the Hockey East All Rookie Team.[1][2]

After going undrafted, Classen signed as a free agent in 1999 with the National Hockey League (NHL) team Nashville Predators. In his rookie season with the Predators in 2000–01 Classen played 27 NHL games and scored a total of six points. The following season Classen got a bigger role at the club as he appeared in 55 regular season games, in which he put up 11 points. Classen also appeared in the AHL with Predators' affiliate club Milwaukee Admirals. In the 2002–03 season Classen's playing time with the NHL club went down significantly as he only appeared in eight games with zero points. He played 72 games with the Admirals where he scored 48 points. The following season Classen only played with the Admirals. He appeared in 68 games and was the club's assistant captain. The Admirals won the AHL championship.

In 2004 Classen signed with Finnish SM-liiga club Porin Ässät for one season.[3][2] Classen played 42 regular season games with Ässät and scored a total of 18 points.[4] Ässät's playoff run was cut short after only two games.[5]

The 2005–06 season saw Classen return to the Milwaukee Admirals.[6] He played the following season in Germany with DEL club Hamburg Freezers.

On July 3, 2007, it was announced he had signed a contract with the Vancouver Canucks. He was then reassigned by the Canucks, and played with their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.

He moved to fellow AHL team Providence Bruins the following season and after 1 game moved onto the San Antonio Rampage before leaving for German team, Iserlohn Roosters, where he spent the remainder of the 2008-09 campaign.

He started the 2009–10 season with the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the Swiss top flight,[7] before transferring to second-division side EHC Basel Sharks during the season. In January 2010, he moved on to another Swiss team, HC Sierre-Anniviers.[8]

On July 18, 2010, Classen returned to the German DEL and signed a two-year contract with Kölner Haie.[9] After three seasons with Haie, Classen left as a free agent to sign with ERC Ingolstadt.[10] Classen won the DEL championship with Ingolstadt.

In 2014, he joined German second-division side Lausitzer Füchse on a two-year deal.[11] On March 14, 2015, he was attacked with a knife and severely injured. He was hospitalized for almost a month[12] and returned to game action in September 2015.[13] Classen left the Füchse squad upon the conclusion of the 2015-16 campaign and was signed by fellow DEL2 side Starbulls Rosenheim on August 27, 2016.[14]

Classen moved on to a Player-Assistant Coach role for two seasons (2017–18 and 2018–19) with the Rostocker EC Piranhas of the German Eishockey-Oberliga. In the two seasons he played with the Piranhas, Classen appeared in 78 regular season games where he put up 74 points.[15] Classen retired after the 2018–19 season.[16]

Personal life

Classen was born in Aylsham, Saskatchewan, on August 24, 1977.[15][2] Classen holds the citizenships of Canada and Germany.

Classen's parents Gord and Marjorie were killed by an impaired driver in a head-on collision on Saskatchewan Highway 41 between Saskatoon and Aberdeen on January 23, 2020.[17] Classen's hockey career ended abruptly as a result.

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1997–98 Nipawin Hawks SJHL 59 32 50 82 50 — — — — —
1998–99 Merrimack College HE 36 14 11 25 28 — — — — —
1999–00 Merrimack College HE 36 14 16 30 16 — — — — —
1999–00 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 11 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 2
2000–01 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 23 5 10 15 31 5 0 0 0 0
2000–01 Nashville Predators NHL 27 2 4 6 14 — — — — —
2001–02 Nashville Predators NHL 55 5 6 11 30 — — — — —
2001–02 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 8 2 4 6 12 — — — — —
2002–03 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 72 20 28 48 61 6 1 1 2 4
2002–03 Nashville Predators NHL 8 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
2003–04 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 68 18 29 47 95 20 4 3 7 12
2004–05 Porin Ässät SM-l 42 8 10 18 74 2 0 0 0 0
2005–06 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 76 24 26 50 67 21 1 15 16 18
2006–07 Hamburg Freezers DEL 50 9 26 35 70 7 1 0 1 14
2007–08 Manitoba Moose AHL 77 11 15 26 67 6 1 1 2 6
2008–09 Providence Bruins AHL 1 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2008–09 San Antonio Rampage AHL 19 2 5 7 14 — — — — —
2008–09 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 24 5 5 10 10 — — — — —
2009–10 EHC Basel NLB 22 2 9 11 24 — — — — —
2009–10 Rapperswil-Jona Lakers NLA 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2009–10 HC Sierre NLB — — — — — 4 0 1 1 2
2010–11 Kölner Haie DEL 45 10 17 27 30 5 1 1 2 2
2011–12 Kölner Haie DEL 52 5 8 13 36 6 0 0 0 6
2012–13 Kölner Haie DEL 45 1 5 6 10 12 1 2 3 18
2013–14 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 43 3 6 9 32 18 1 0 1 2
2014–15 Lausitzer Füchse DEL2 51 10 35 45 51 3 1 0 1 0
2015–16 Lausitzer Füchse DEL2 52 10 23 33 32 — — — — —
2016–17 Rosenheim Star Bulls DEL2 52 7 14 21 28 - - - - -
2017–18 Rostock Piranhas GerObL 30 10 18 28 54 — — — — —
2018–19 Rostock Piranhas GerObL 48 13 33 46 44 - - - - -
NHL totals 90 7 10 17 48 — — — — —
AHL totals 321 77 107 184 318 53 7 20 27 40
DEL totals 259 33 67 100 188 48 4 3 7 42

Awards and honors
Award Year
College
Hockey East Rookie Team 1998–99 [1]
AHL
Calder Cup champion 2004 [2]
DEL
DEL champion 2014 [16]

Notes
  1. Includes NHL, AHL, SM-liiga, NLA, NLB, DEL and DEL2 clubs

References
  1. "All-Rookie | Hockey East". sports-chronicles.com. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  2. Laiho, Harri (25 August 2004). "Greg Classen - maalaispoika maailmalla". Jatkoaika.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  3. "Greg Classen Porin Ässiin". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 2004-07-23. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  4. "Patahistory.com". www.patahistory.com. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  5. "2004-05 SM-liiga Playoff Results at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  6. theahl (2005-11-28). "Classen glad to be back in Milwaukee". theahl.com. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  7. "Actualité - Greg Classen prend la route de Cologne | Planète Hockey". Planète Hockey. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  8. "Actualité - Greg Classen transféré de Bâle à Sierre | Planète Hockey". Planète Hockey. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  9. "Classen, Card sign with Sharks" (in German). Kölner Haie. 2010-07-18. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
  10. "Greg Classen to support Panthers for European trophy". ERC Ingolstadt. 2013-08-07. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  11. "Greg Classen kommt vom Eishockey-Meister Ingolstadt: Lausitzer Füchse landen Transfer-Coup". BILD.de. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  12. sz-online. "Eishockey-Profi Classen verlässt Klinik". SZ-Online (in German). Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  13. Rundschau, Lausitzer. "Cottbus: Von der Intensivstation zurück auf das Eis :: lr-online". www.lr-online.de. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  14. "Starbulls Rosenheim e.V. - Deutlicher Testspielsieg und neuer Mittelstürmer!". Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  15. "Greg Classen at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  16. "Mit 42 Jahren ist es genug". Donaukurier.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  17. Woodward, Laura (2020-08-20). "'Her time was taken': Sask. drunk driver sentenced to 6 years for fatal crash". Saskatoon. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
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