Thanks to UBS, 75 girls and boys from across Switzerland got the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to chase after the puck with ice hockey stars at the Spengler Cup in Davos on Saturday morning.
 

The Spengler Cup is currently in its 96th edition. The Kids Day surrounding the world class event is a tradition as well. It was initiated by the valued presenting partner UBS in 2002 and has now been carried out 22 times. The response to the announcement by the major bank UBS was once again huge. A draw selected the 75 children from across Switzerland, who were finally allowed to practice with stars from all six Spengler Cup teams for an hour.

HCD head coach Josh Holden and youth coach Thomas Wellinger warmed up the kids in the practice gym. The kids then got to chase the puck together with the professionals in six different stations inside the ice palace. Receiving a textbook pass from Canada’s Dylan Fergusson, to play with Karpat Oulu’s Viljami Jussola, Pardubice’s scout Petr Sykora, or the HCD stars Andres Ambuhl, Sven Jung, and Matej Stransky, or trying to cheekily deke between the legs of Gotteron forward Kilian Mottet or Straubing’s Alexander Green – all those dreams came true. No surprise that this brought a sparkle to the kids’ eyes. But the professionals of the six tournament teams clearly had fun as well. Finally, they happily signed the many jerseys, helmets, and hockey sticks. During the conclusion, “cool” was the most commonly spoken word from big and small. HCD captain Andres Ambuhl agreed. ‘This event did not yet exist when I was a kid. But I fondly remember how it was to be on the ice with the HCD pros when I was a boy.’

By UBS’ invitation, the kids then rounded out the fantastic day by watching the Spengler Cup matchup between Dynamo Pardubice and Karpat Oulu with their families, around 250 people in total.
 

Text: Spengler Cup Onlineredaktion    Foto: Keystone