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Henryk Gruth |
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| Born September 2, 1957 in Katowice, Poland. Defenseman. Gruth jumped into the Polish national league at the tender age of 17 and played his entire career with only two clubs GKS Katowice and GKS Tychy. Gruth soon became a mainstay on the Polish national team, first suiting up in the 1975 IIHF World Championship in Germany, and just as memorable playing the next years tournament in his hometown of Katowice and where Poland produced one the all-time greatest upsets of all-time when they defeated the Soviet Union 6 - 4. Gruth went on to star for Poland for a total of 17 seasons in which he participated in 14 separate IIHF World Championship tournaments up until 1992. In 1987, Gruths all-star performance at the B Pool World Championship, helped elevate Poland back into the A Pool.
After making his Olympic debut in 1980, Gruth went on to captain his squad during the next three Olympic events, including his countrys last appearance to date in 1992. His total caps for Poland is a record of 292 and was twice voted as Player of the Year in Poland in 1983 and again in 1988. Upon retirement as a player, Gruth went behind the bench, helping the national team this as an assistant coach besides coaching in Thurgau, St.Moritz and Grasshopper Club in Switzerland.
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