A birthday today for Gustav Jaenecke, a left winger, born in Berlin in Germany on a Friday of this same date in 1908. Was he the best German-born player not named Leon Draisaitl? There may be something to that, grist for an unresolvable debate.

Clubwise, he skated for Berliner SC from 1924 to 1944, winning national titles in that time. After the Second World War, he play another five seasons for SC Riessersee in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, winning another three German titles before he retired in 1951 at the age of 43. He played for Germany in eight World Championships, collecting silver in 1930 and bronzes in 1932 and 1934. He he also played in three Winter Olympics, winning bronze at Lake Placid in 1932. In 1936, he captained the German team at the Garmisch games where he was roundly praised as Germany’s best player as the hosts finished tied with Sweden for fifth place among 15 teams.

Jaenecke was a German national tennis champion in his time, too, and played in the Davis Cup for his country. Jaenecke was elected to the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998 and the German Sport Hall of Fame in 2008. He published an autobiography (below) in 1939 —Jagd hinter dem Puck: Eishockey, herzhaft und humorvoll (Chase The Puck: Ice Hockey, Hearty and Humorous).

Gustav Jaenecke died in 1985. He was 77.