Last year’s finalist HC Dynamo Pardubice is back in Davos. And will be reaching for the title after this summer’s surge on the transfer market. Will Roman Cervanka’s magic help secure the first Czech Spengler Cup title since Dukla Jihlava in 1982?

A Czech team has qualified for the finals in three consecutive Spengler Cup editions. In 2019, Team Canada stopped the current national champion Ocelari Trinec. In 2022, Sparta Prague had to concede to HC Ambri-Piotta. And in 2023, HC Dynamo Pardubice lost to host Davos. The ultimate success may have remained elusive, but the results show just how high the quality in the Extraliga, the highest league in the country of the current world champion, has become.

And Pardubice, which is returning to Davos, appears to be the strongest representative on paper. After the disappointment following the lost final despite leading the series 3-2 (Trinec won game 7 away in second overtime), the club reacted with a bang on the transfer market during the summer. Roman Cervanka was acquired from Rapperswil-Jona despite a running contract. The captain of the world champion team will be 39 years old at the Spengler Cup but has lost none of his majestic vision on the ice. The signing of Jiri Smejkal, who played for the Ottawa Senators in 2023-24, was also a major splash. Smejkal, weighing in at over 100 kg and one of Europe’s best power forwards,  signed a five-year contract. And in Andrej Sustr (408 NHL games and previously playing for the Cologne Haie) a third prominent name was acquired.

In goaltender Roman Will, the defensemen Libor Hajek and David Musil as well as the forwards Martin Kaut, Lukas Radil, and captain Lukas Sedlak the team also has a returning sextet with NHL experience under contract.

The high-calibre roster clearly underlines the club’s ambitions, which are to put an end to the current dry spell quickly. Since the club was renamed “Dynamo Pardubice” in 2015, it has not won a title – the last victory dates back to 2012. Finishing atop the regular season standings is a weak consolation prize. The club is eyeing the triple this season: Czech champion, Champions Hockey League winner, and the Spengler Cup.

The progressive strategy is made possible by Petr Dedek, the club’s owner. The real estate businessman was listed 38th on Forbes’ list of wealthiest Czechs in 2022. He is currently in the process of constructing a multifunctional arena based off the NHL model in Pardubice. It will cost nearly 150 million Swiss francs and shall be completed by 2027. The team already now regularly draws crowds over 10,000. Dedek turned 50 this year. The collective has its last opportunity to give their generous patron a birthday gift on December 31. After three consecutive final losses by Czech teams, the stage seems set for the nation’s first tournament winner since Dukla Jihlava in 1982. Jihlava won the Spengler Cup five times and was the long-time record national champion. But today the once proud, even trend-setting giant remains in the depths of the lowly second league. The responsibility has passed on to teams like Pardubice to proudly represent the Czech flag on the international stage.

Text: SLAPSHOT, Das Hockey-Magazin der Schweiz    Foto: IMAGO/David Tanecek

Dynamo Pardubice to be presented by Spengler Cup Gold Partner ŠKODA
Tickets for the Dynamo games are available HERE.