Ron Berteling

Ron Berteling (born 6 September 1957) is a Dutch retired ice hockey player and coach. He represented the Netherlands ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics, and served as captain of the Netherlands men's national ice hockey team from 1982 to 1993. He appeared in 14 Ice Hockey World Championships, and holds the record of 213 games played for the national team. He played in 26 seasons of the Eredivisie, competing the Netherlands' top league for the Amsterdam Tigers and the Rotterdam Panda's. He was named the league's most valuable player for the 1987–88 season, won four Eredivisie titles, five Dutch Cups as a player and a sixth as a coach. He received the Order of Orange-Nassau in 1994, was made the namesake of the Ron Berteling Schaal in 2007, and received the Torriani Award from the International Ice Hockey Federation in 2020.

Early life Berteling was born on 6 September 1957, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. His family was active in sports and basketball. He began ice skating at age seven, and also played football and tennis as a youth. He was attracted to the game due to its speed and the desire to play a team sport. Wayne Gretzky was one of his early hockey heroes.

Playing career Berteling's professional hockey career began at age 17, when he made his debut in the Netherlands' top league (Eredivisie) during the 1974–75 season. He became captain of the Netherlands national team in 1982, serving in the role until 1993.

Berteling changed teams in 1986, and won another Eredivisie title and a Dutch Cup with Rotterdam in 1987. He was named the most valuable player of the Eredivisie for the 1987–88 season, and received the Frans Henrichs Cup. He initially retired as a professional player in 1995, but returned three seasons later to the Netherlands second division. He played 11 games during the 1998–99 Eredivisie season and appeared in the 1999 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships at age 41. He played a total of 13 professional games during the next 14 seasons as a part-time player, and as an occasional player-coach until 2013. and served as an assistant coach on the Netherlands men's national under-18 ice hockey team.

Later life Berteling retired to live in Amsterdam with his wife. He has stated that, "Amsterdam is a big city, but unfortunately there is little to no hockey publicity". He felt hockey teams should use social media to attract people to the game. As of 2020, he was conducting training sessions for youths and adults in Alkmaar, and wanted to stay involved for the love of the game.

Honours and awards

Berteling became the first Dutch hockey player to be knighted in the Netherlands, when he received the Order of Orange-Nassau in 1994. The Netherlands Ice Hockey Association established the Ron Berteling Schaal in 2007 named after him. It is a cup competition played as the first game of a season, between the winner of the previous Eredivisie season and the reigning Dutch Cup champion. On 4 February 2020, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) named him that year's recipient of the Torriani Award, for an ice hockey player with an "outstanding career from non-top hockey nation". The formal presentation was scheduled for the 2020 IIHF World Championship in Zürich, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic until the 2020/2022 IIHF Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the 2022 IIHF World Championship. Berteling was the first Dutch person to receive the Torriani Award.

Career statistics Professional Netherlands league statistics.

Regular Season Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM 1974–75 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 1 1 1 2 2 1975–76 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 25 13 16 29 14 1976–77 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 32 12 24 36 12 1977–78 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 30 19 29 48 4 1978–79 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 36 24 29 53 28 1979–80 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 30 17 25 42 32 1980–81 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 31 31 31 62 20 1981–82 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 28 25 27 52 28 1982–83 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 28 25 23 48 12 1983–84 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 28 26 28 54 10 1984–85 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 35 34 49 83 20 1985–86 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 38 34 42 76 32 1986–87 Rotterdam Panda's Eredivisie 26 17 23 40 16 1987–88 Rotterdam Panda's Eredivisie 28 30 37 67 10 1988–89 Rotterdam Panda's Eredivisie 27 12 24 36 10 1989–90 Rotterdam Panda's Eredivisie 28 21 22 43 18 1990–91 Rotterdam Panda's Eredivisie 24 17 21 38 2 1991–92 Rotterdam Panda's Eredivisie 34 20 36 56 16 1992–93 Rotterdam Panda's Eredivisie 28 16 37 53 12 1993–94 Rotterdam Panda's Eredivisie 20 22 32 54 4 1994–95 Rotterdam Panda's Eredivisie 36 27 38 65 6 1997–98 Amsterdam Tigers II Eerste Divisie 4 8 5 13 4 1998–99 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 11 7 8 15 2 1999–2000 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 4 3 1 4 2 2001–02 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 2 0 0 0 0 2006–07 Amsterdam Tigers Eredivisie 4 2 2 4 2 2010–11 Amsterdam Tigers II Eerste Divisie 1 3 2 5 0 2012–13 Amsterdam G's Eredivisie 1 0 0 0 0 Eredivisie regular season totals 615 455 605 1060 314

International play International statistics at the World Championships and Winter Olympics.

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 1978 Netherlands World Championships Group C 7 3 4 7 8 1979 Netherlands World Championships Group B 6 3 2 5 0 1980 Netherlands Winter Olympics 9th 5 0 0 0 0 1981 Netherlands World Championships Group A 8th 8 2 0 2 0 1982 Netherlands World Championships Group B 8th 7 0 2 2 4 1983 Netherlands World Championships Group C 7 7 8 15 6 1985 Netherlands World Championships Group B 6th 7 3 3 6 10 1986 Netherlands World Championships Group B 5th 7 2 5 7 4 1987 Netherlands World Championships Group B 7th 7 5 5 10 2 1989 Netherlands World Championships Group C 7 5 6 11 2 1990 Netherlands World Championships Group B 8th 7 1 1 2 4 1991 Netherlands World Championships Group B 7th 7 2 1 3 4 1992 Netherlands World Championships Group B 7 4 7 11 2 1993 Netherlands World Championships Group B 7 4 6 10 6 1999 Netherlands World Championships Group C 5 7 0 7 4 Winter Olympics and World Championships totals 101 48 50 98 56