Ten players from the 1930 to 1949 era were inducted into the Hall of Fame at the traditional Spengler Cup VIP event at Schatzalp on Sunday morning. Atop the list is Bibi Torriani and his amiable linemates Hans and Pic Cattini.

In discussions surrounding the best Swiss ice hockey player of all time, the name Bibi Torriani still comes up today. As Richard Torriani he moved from EHC St. Moritz to HC Davos in 1929. During that time, he adopted the nickname “Bibi”, which he had received as the youngest kid of his family. From 1933 on, Torriani formed HCD’s so-called “ni-forward line” together with Hans Cattini and his brother Ferdinand “Pic” Cattini. The name originated from the shared last syllable of the three players’ last names. For about one and a half decades, the ni-forward line  was considered the top line of HCD and the Swiss national team. For that reason, the trio was collectively inducted into the Spengler Cup Hall of Fame. In Hans Trauffer and Beat Ruedi, two further HCD players from the 1930 to 1949 era joined the illustrious circle of the traditional tournament’s Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Less known, at least among Swiss fans, are the other former ice hockey giants which were celebrated at Schatzalp. Even a Brit in Peter Morland Churchill was part of it. He was the captain of Cambridge University, three-time Spengler Cup participant, and British national team player. German hockey from that era was represented in the Hall of Fame by Joachim Albrecht von Bethmann Hollweg. He was a national team player, German champion, world championship bronze medalist in 1934, and briefly played for HCD.

LTC Prague was inducted into the Hall of Fame as the best Spengler Cup team of the 1930’s and 1940’s. They won the tournament seven times. Originally founded as a tennis club (Lawn Tennis Cercle), the ice hockey stars from Prague had several outstanding duels with HC Davos before and after World War II. The deciding game in 1938 between HCD and LTC Prague was a hard-fought battle in the truest sense of the word. The game was suspended due to a line brawl and could only be repeated on February 15, 1939. HCD then won 1-0. The standout individual players of LTC Prague, Yaroslav Drobny, Josef Malacek, and Vladimir Drobny were immortalized as Hall of Famers in Eisstadion Davos.
 

Text: Spengler Cup Onlineredaktion    Foto: Keystone