Ben Tijnagel was a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 player. He played a total of 18 seasons in either the Eredivisie

Eredivisie

The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....

. He also competed for the Netherlands

Netherlands national ice hockey team

The Dutch men's national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey of the Netherlands.The Netherlands are currently ranked 25th in the IIHF World Ranking and currently compete in IIHF World Championship Division I....

 in the 1987 World Ice Hockey Championships

1987 World Ice Hockey Championships

The 1987 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 52nd such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was also the 63rd ice hockey European Championships. Teams representing 28 countries participated in four levels of competition....

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Born in Nijmegen, he joined hometown Nijmegen Tigers

Nijmegen Tigers

Nijmegen Tigers was a Dutch ice hockey club based in Nijmegen until 2003, when it was forced into bankruptcy. It has been succeeded by the Nijmegen Devils.-Source:*...

 and played his first senior level first team hockey at age 16 in 1979. He had his career best offensive season in 1984-5 when he scored 104 points in just 39 games. In 1987 he joined Rotterdam Panda's

Rotterdam Panda's

Rotterdam Panda's was a professional ice hockey team in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. They played in the Dutch Eredivisie, the highest-level hockey division in the Netherlands. Home games were played at the Weena-ijshal, a arena near Rotterdam Central train station.-History:Ice hockey had been...

, with whom he remained until 1992, when he rejoined Nijmegen. He was named Eredivisie MVP for 1979-80.

Tijnagel played once for the national team, scoring 3 goals and collecting an assist in 7 games at the 1987 IIHF World Championships in Pool B.

Tijnagel died as the result of an auto accident on the Bundesautobahn 57

Bundesautobahn 57

The Bundesautobahn 57 is a German Autobahn that begins at the Dutch-German border near Goch and ends in Köln. It runs parallel to the Rhine River. Neuss and Krefeld are the biggest cities at this motorway. The A 57 is continuation of the Dutch A77...

 at Meerbusch

Meerbusch

Meerbusch, a town in Rhein-Kreis Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, has been an incorporated city since 1970. Meerbusch is the municipality with the second most income millionaires in North Rhine-Westphalia.- Geography :...

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Sources

• Tijnagel's career stats at eurohockey.net
• Tijnagel's page at de.wikipedia.org