Stéphane Richer named Sports Director for Eisbären Berlin

Stephane Richer will assume the newly created position of Sports Director for the Eisbären Berlin and report directly to Managing Director Peter John Lee, it was announced today in Berlin.
Stefan Ustorf will be responsible for Player Development and Scouting of the Eisbären Berlin, an area the Eisbären organization will put stronger focus on in the future.
"We have analyzed our current situation in close collaboration with the LA Kings. The new structure will put us in a much stronger position and enable us to utilize the expertise of the two hockey experts -- Stéphane Richer and Stefan Ustorf -- to our full benefit," Lee said.

The 51-year-old Richer joined Eisbären Berlin during the 2016-17 season and assisted Head Coach Uwe Krupp during the final portion of the regular season schedule as well as the playoffs. Before coming to Berlin, the French Canadian served as Sports Director for Hamburg Freezers. With the Eisbären he will be responsible for building the hockey team and staff in addition to overseeing the hockey operations budget.
Said Richer: "This is a great opportunity and I thank Peter John Lee for his confidence in me. I am especially looking forward to working with Stefan Ustorf and Uwe Krupp. To me the Eisbären Berlin are the flagship in German club hockey. Together with the LA Kings we are continuously working on improving our Hockey Operations structure."
The Eisbären will put a stronger focus on developing more players in Berlin, while professionalizing the scouting activities even further. Stefan Ustorf, as part of the sports leadership team, will be responsible for the sports cooperations and the development of Eisbären players as well as players of the renown Eisbären Juniors Hockey Academy. A key part of his work will be scouting and recruiting potential Eisbären players and young prospects in Europe and North America.
Lee, in his role as Managing Director, is responsible for both hockey operations and business operations. He will also be the lead contact to the board of the Eisbären as well as the LA Kings and Kings executives Luc Robitaille and Kelly Cheeseman. The 61-year-old Lee will remain the sole signatory for the Eisbären Berlin.