Alex Andjelic

Alex Andjelic has been one of the most, or perhaps the most, influential figure in the history of hockey in Nijmegen. He came to the organization in 1969 from Dutch icehockeyclub Den Bosch. Before his time in Den Bosch he was a respected player of Yugoslavian side Partizan Belgrado. Also did he play more than 40 games for the Yugoslavian National Team. When he became the head coach of Nijmegen a famous quote of Andjelic always was:”when I came here to Nijmegen there were two kinds of players: bad older players and bad younger players. I began by sending all the bad older players away and began working with the bad younger players”. Andjelic’ focus during his training-sessions was always powerskating.
Alex Andjelic initiated a highly successful youth program in Nijmegen. Players like Ben Tijnagel, Robert Herckenrath, Jan Bruysten, Robbert Prick Van Wely, Henri Stoer, Frank Janssen and many more came out of that program and became very successful in Dutch icehockey. He stayed with the club untill 1985 and came back a few times as a troubleshooter to set things straight. Andjelic is known for his hard, and sometimes provocative, coaching-techniques.

Furthermore he has always been a controversial figure in Dutch Icehockey. In Holland Andjelic coached the following teams: Nijmegen, Heerenveen,Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Den Bosch. Andelic is now involved in Nijmegen’s youth program. Not only in Holland Andelic is a respected coach but all over Europe and Canada. Andelic worked during his career with many teams throughout Europe including Chur (Switzerland), Rapperswill-Jona (Switzerland), Schwenningen, Essen, Deggendorf and Grefrath (Germany).

In addition Andjelic is also the author of “European Hockey Drill Book” and a guest speaker on many NHL-conferences. During the summer-time Andjelic is the “chief-on-ice, pro-instructor” at Roger Neilson’s Hockey Camp in Lindsay, Ontario. Andjelic is one of the most respected and influential coaches in Dutch Hockey and still active in Dutch hockey today. He is currently an on-ice instructor of the player development camp of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the summer. In addition to this he serves as the head of Tilburg Trappers youth program and still acts as a skills coach in the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) organization.