Born: April 29, 1962 in Kaufbeuren, West Germany
There are only four players in the world who have participated in five Olympic ice hockey tournaments and one of them is Dieter Hegen, an icon in German hockey. While representing his national team, Didi recorded 111 goals in the 290 appearances he made for Germany, which included two IIHF European Junior and World U20 Championship events. At the 1981 U20 tournament he skated away with the scoring title. He was so impressive in that event that the Montreal Canadiens selected Hegen at the NHL Entry Draft some months later, one pick after Chris Chelios.
By the end of his career, Hegen had seen action in 12 IIHF World Championships, one Canada Cup, and one World Cup. It was in 1998 that Hegen tied the record for most Winter Olympic tournaments by participating for the fifth time.
His 290 games with Team Germany places him 13th on the all-time list for most national team games. Hegen served as captain of the German national team from 1996 to 1999 and was later recognized by the German publication Eishockey News as the best left winger in German ice hockey history.
On the domestic scene, Hegen amassed seemingly countless individual awards including rookie of the year in 1981 and eight All-Star team selections. He was the leagues leading goal scorer in 1989 and 1992, and he claimed German Player of the Year honours in that same 1991-92 season with Düsseldorf. Statistically, Hegen was just as dominant nationally as he was internationally, finishing his career as the second leading German scorer of all time tallying 613 goals.
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