On December 26, opening day of the 96th Spengler Cup, the four most commonly cited title favourites will clash when Fribourg-Gotteron faces off against Pardubice and HC Davos goes up against Team Canada. On day two, the tournament newbies Straubing Tigers and Karpat Oulu will see their first action.

Defending champion HCD is the hunted. Or expressed differently: the hunt for the mountain goats can begin. Josh Holden’s squad will enter the tournament with confidence. In the National League, they find themselves in the mix for top spot in the standings, playing attractive and successful hockey. Holden’s goal for the tournament is short but unambiguous. ‘We want to win every game.’

Boxing Day will already feature the prestigious, everlasting duel between HCD and Team Canada. NHL and HCD legend Joe Thornton will lead the group as general manager. The majority of the squad will as usual be comprised of players under contract in Switzerland as well as some from the American Hockey League (AHL). Although the players will only be meeting in Davos on Christmas Day, they typically become a unit on the ice quickly. Everyone is proud to be wearing the national team jersey with the maple leaf on the chest. Accordingly, every player will look to contribute to the success with optimal performances, unwavering spirit, and all-out effort. Team Canada celebrated its last Spengler Cup triumph to date in 2019.

Early birthday gift for Sprunger?

Fribourg-Gotteron and Dynamo Pardubice will open the tournament on December 26 at 3.10pm local time. The team from Fribourg has never won a title in its long history. Now they will get the chance at the Spengler Cup. This tournament is of big importance to captain Julien Sprunger. ‘If you get the chance to participate at the Spengler Cup, as either a player or team, you take it. We may have a jam-packed calendar with the championship, Champions Hockey League, and Spengler Cup. But we are traveling to Davos to win.’ As usual, the final will take place on December 31 at noon – four days before Sprunger’s 39th birthday.

From the Czech Republic it will be once again Dynamo Pardubice, the leader in the national championship, who is coming to the Spengler Cup. Last year, Pardubice missed out on the tournament title with a 5-3 loss to HCD in the final. Since then, the team has been reinforced further with the addition of world champion captain Roman Cervenka, who had played the past eight seasons in Switzerland - the last five for the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers - before departing in the summer. A whopping ten players on Pardubice’s roster have experience in the NHL. Aside from Cervenka, Lukas Sedlak and Joachim Kondelik became world champions last spring.

Premiere for Karpat Oulu and the Straubing Tigers

Karpat Oulu completes Group Torriani with Fribourg and Pardubice. The eight-time Finnish champion is making its first Spengler Cup appearance. The team is led by two highly decorated veterans. Marko Attila and Atta Ohtamaa are both Olympic champions and two-time world champions. And Karpat Oulu’s forward Teemu Turunen knows Davos. The Finn played for HCD during the 2020-21 season. The Spengler Cup was cancelled at that time due to the covid-19 pandemic. Turunen has been playing for Karpat since 2022, where he is among the team’s main pillars. Last season, the 29-year-old was the top scorer of the Finnish Liiga with 71 points (37 goals, 34 assists).

The Straubing Tigers had an early Christmas last spring, when they received their Spengler Cup invitation and gratefully accepted it immediately. Straubing, which is located close to the Czech border 140km to the northeast from Munich, is the only true ice hockey town in soccer-crazy Germany. Since the 2019-20 season, the Tigers have always finished the regular season among the top 4 teams of the DEL. Nonetheless, they are still widely considered an underdog, which further strengthens the fighting spirit and feeling of unity among the team and its fan base. 14 foreigners are on the Straubing Tigers’ roster. The most famous of which is the American Justin Braun with 961 NHL games.

Text: Spengler Cup-Onlineredaktion    Foto: Keystone