Christian Ehrhoff - International Career

International Career

As a junior, Ehrhoff competed for Germany's under-18 team at the inaugural 1999 IIHF World U18 Championships, hosted in Füssen and Kaufbeuren, Germany. He returned the following year for the 2000 IIHF World U18 Championships in Switzerland, where Germany finished in seventh place. Ehrhoff then debuted at the under-20 level in Division I of the 2001 World Junior Championships. Hosting the tournament in the cities of Füssen and Landsberg, Germany missed a promotion to the main tournament the following year by finishing in second place behind France. Ehrhoff made his second appearance at the Division I level for the 2002 World Junior Championships in Austria, leading all tournament defencemen with three goals and 10 points in five games. He helped Germany earn a promotion to the main tournament for the following year, defeating Austria 7–1 in the gold medal game. In both years competing in the tournament, Ehrhoff earned Top Defenceman honours.

Two months after his final international junior appearance, Ehrhoff debuted with Germany's senior team for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He played in seven games as the second youngest player in the tournament. Germany was eliminated by the United States in the quarterfinal with a 5–0 shutout loss. Later that year, he competed in the 2002 World Championships, scoring five points in seven games. Germany was defeated in the quarterfinal by Sweden 6–2. Ehrhoff made his second World Championships appearance in 2003, but failed to register a point as Germany were once again losers in the quarterfinal round. After his rookie season in the NHL, Ehrhoff competed for Germany in the 2004 World Cup. They lost 2–1 to Finland in the quarterfinal. The following year, he registered an assist in six games at the 2005 World Championships. Germany finished second-to-last in the tournament. After failing to qualify for the quarterfinal, they won one of three games in the relegation round.

On December 21, 2005, Ehrhoff was named to the German Olympic team, along with Sharks teammate Marcel Goc, for the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. His lone goal of the tournament came against Canada, a 5–1 loss. He added an assist in the tournament for two points in five games as Germany failed to win a preliminary game, missing out on the playoff rounds. Four years later, he was named to Germany's Olympic team for the 2010 Winter Games in his NHL hometown of Vancouver. He went pointless in four games, while leading his team in ice time. Germany was eliminated by Canada in an 8–2 qualifier for the quarterfinal.

Shortly after the Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs several months later, Ehrhoff joined Germany for the 2010 World Championships. Germany played as tournament host in the cities of Cologne and Mannheim. Joining his team midway through the tournament, he missed the first three games before scoring a goal and an assist in six contests. Germany made it to the semifinal, where they were defeated by Russia 2–1. Ehrhoff assisted on Germany's lone goal and was named his team's player of the game. They went on to lose the bronze medal game 3–1 to Sweden. Their fourth place finish marked their best placing at the World Championships since 1953 when they won silver. Leading Germany in average ice time with 23:34 minutes per game, Ehrhoff was named to the Tournament All-Star Team, along with German goaltender Dennis Endras.