46°47′54.4″N 9°49′35″E / 46.798444°N 9.82639°E / 46.798444; 9.82639

Spengler Cup
Most recent season or competition:
2023 Spengler Cup
Spengler Cup logo
SportIce hockey
Founded1923
FounderDr. Carl Spengler
First season1923
Organising bodyHC Davos
MottoThe Peak of Hockey
No. of teams6
CountriesSwitzerland, Canada, various other European countries
Venue(s)Eisstadion Davos (Davos, Switzerland)
Most recent
champion(s)
Switzerland HC Davos (16th)
Most titlesSwitzerland HC Davos
Canada Team Canada
(16 each)
QualificationInvitation only
TV partner(s)SUI: Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen
Europe: Eurosport 2
RUS: Match TV & NTv2
GER: Sport1
CAN: TSN & RDS
USA: ESPN+
CZE / SVK / HUN: Sport1
DEN: TV2
SLO: Šport TV
SRB / CRO / BIH / MNE / MKD: Arena Sport
GBR: Viaplay
Official websitewww.spenglercup.ch/en

The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss team HC Davos and played each year in Davos from 26 December to 31 inclusively. Currently, all games are held at the Eisstadion Davos.

It was originally devised by Dr. Carl Spengler as a means to promote teams from German-speaking Europe, who might have suffered ostracism in the aftermath of World War I. Eventually, the tournament grew well beyond expectations. Many of Europe's most prestigious clubs and national programs have appeared, including Soviet, Czechoslovak, Swedish, German, and Finnish powerhouses. Through its history, club or national teams from 13 countries have won the tournament, with HC Davos tied with Team Canada in winning the most cups as a club (16) while various teams from Switzerland have won the most cups for one country (21).

Among non-European organizations, Team Canada, Team USA, nationally ranked U.S. collegiate teams, reigning AHL Calder Cup and Ontario Hockey Association champions, and even Team Japan (in 1971, building international experience before playing as hosts of the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics) have competed for the Spengler Cup. Since at least 1990, Team Canada has been the only participant from North America, with the exception of the AHL's Rochester Americans in 1996 and 2013. Future participation of the AHL has been discussed by tournament organisers and the league.[1]

In the 2018 tournament, Finnish club team KalPa from the city of Kuopio defeated Team Canada 2–1 in the final. The game was decided in the 8th round of a shootout, the first series of game-winning shots in tournament history that determined the winner of the Spengler Cup.

The Spengler Cup tournament was not played in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2023 tournament, HC Davos defeated Czech club team Dynamo Pardubice 5–3 in the final.

History

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The former Spengler Cup trophy on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Many participating teams are club teams, rather than national teams, where a club team might have players from many nations on the roster. The first tournament was won in 1923 by the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club, composed of Canadians studying at the University of Oxford.[2]

The first 24 tournaments were dominated by host HC Davos (7 wins, 12 runners-up) and the Czechoslovak club team LTC Prague (7 wins, 2 runners-up). The LTC Prague team was shut down by the Czechoslovak communist authorities after players defected at the 1948 Spengler Cup tournament. Between 1965 and 1983, the tournament was dominated by various Czechoslovak and Soviet teams. Since joining the tournament in 1984, Team Canada has been the dominant participant, with 16 wins and 10 runners-up. Team Canada is made up of Canadians predominantly playing in Europe, as the tournament occurs during the NHL and AHL seasons, though active NHL stars Joe Thornton and Rick Nash played for HC Davos during the 2004–05 NHL lockout.

From its inception until 1978, the tournament was played on an outdoor rink. The outdoor rink still exists outside the indoor arena, and is one of the largest outdoor rinks in the world. Starting in 1978, all tournament games have been played indoors.

The Spengler Cup was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the tournament was scheduled to return in 2021, Team Canada withdrew from the competition due to problems scheduling a quarantine isolation period before the start of play, and HC Ambrì-Piotta withdrew from the competition due to COVID-19 cases among the club's players.[3][4] The 2021 event was ultimately cancelled on 25 December due to COVID-19 cases within HC Davos.[5]

Sponsorship

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The Spengler Cup is the second-largest sporting event in Switzerland, after tennis' Swiss Indoors in Basel. The tournament had a budget of CHF 11 million in 2016. About 40% of the total tournament budget amount comes from corporate sponsors.[6] Since 1985, UBS has been the main sponsor and presenting partner of the Spengler Cup.[7] Other current major sponsors are Würth, Schenker Storen, Škoda, Calanda, and Hostpoint.ch – each of whom, along with UBS, are the main tournament sponsor of one of the six teams each year.

International broadcasts

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The Spengler Cup is broadcast on Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen in Switzerland, on Eurosport 2 in most of Europe, on Match TV and NTv2 in Russia, on Sport1 in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, on Šport TV in Slovenia, on TSN and RDS in Canada and on the streaming service Viaplay in the United Kingdom.

Spengler Cup winners

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Year Winner Runner-up
1923   Oxford University   Berlin SC
1924   Berlin SC   HC Davos
1925   Oxford University   HC Davos
1926   Berlin SC   HC Davos
1927   HC Davos   Berlin SC
1928   Berlin SC   Cambridge University
1929   LTC Prague   HC Davos
1930   LTC Prague   HC Davos
1931   Oxford University   Berlin SC
1932   LTC Prague
  Oxford University1
  HC Davos (3rd place)
1933   HC Davos   Paris Rapides
1934   Diavoli Rossoneri Milano   Oxford University
1935   Diavoli Rossoneri Milano   HC Davos
1936   HC Davos   LTC Prague
1937   LTC Prague   HC Davos
1938   HC Davos   LTC Prague
1939 Tournament not held due to World War II
1940
1941   HC Davos   Berlin SC
1942   HC Davos   Zürcher SC
1943   HC Davos   Zürcher SC
1944   Zürcher SC   HC Davos
1945   Zürcher SC   HC Davos
1946   LTC Prague   HC Davos
1947   LTC Prague   HC Davos
1948   LTC Prague   HC Davos
1949 Tournament not held due to high Cold War tensions
1950   Diavoli Rossoneri Milano   AIK Stockholm
1951   HC Davos   Preussen Krefeld
1952   EV Füssen   Zürcher SC
1953   HC Milano Inter   HC Davos
1954   HC Milano Inter   EV Füssen
1955   Rudá Hvězda Brno   HC Davos
1956 Tournament not held for financial reasons[8]
1957   HC Davos   Rudá Hvězda Brno
1958   HC Davos   Diavoli Rossoneri Milano
1959   ACBB Paris   EV Füssen
1960   ACBB Paris   HC Davos
1961   ACBB Paris   EV Füssen
1962   Sparta Prague   EV Füssen
1963   Sparta Prague   Klagenfurt AC
1964   EV Füssen   Modo Hockey
1965   Dukla Jihlava   VIK Västerås HK
1966   Dukla Jihlava   CP Liège
1967   Lokomotiv Moscow   Kingston Aces
1968   Dukla Jihlava   Rögle BK
1969   Lokomotiv Moscow   HC Davos
1970   SKA Leningrad   Dukla Jihlava
1971   SKA Leningrad   Dukla Jihlava
1972   HC Slovan Bratislava   Torpedo Gorkiy
1973   HC Slovan Bratislava   Traktor Chelyabinsk
1974   HC Slovan Bratislava   Team Poland
1975   Czechoslovak Olympic Team   Team Finland
1976   USSR B   Czechoslovakia B
1977   SKA Leningrad   Dukla Jihlava
1978   Dukla Jihlava   AIK Stockholm
1979   Krylya Sovetov Moscow   Düsseldorfer EG
1980   Spartak Moscow   TJ Vítkovice
1981   Spartak Moscow   HC Davos
1982   Dukla Jihlava   Spartak Moscow
1983   Dynamo Moscow   Dukla Jihlava
1984   Team Canada   Dukla Jihlava
1985   Spartak Moscow   Team Canada
1986   Team Canada   Sokil Kiev
1987   Team Canada   Krylya Sovetov Moscow
1988   USA Selects   Team Canada
1989   Spartak Moscow   Färjestad BK
1990   Spartak Moscow   Team Canada
1991   /   CSKA Moscow   HC Lugano
1992   Team Canada   Färjestad BK
1993   Färjestad BK   HC Davos
1994   Färjestad BK   HC Davos
1995   Team Canada   Lada Togliatti
1996   Team Canada   HC Davos
1997   Team Canada   Färjestad BK
1998   Team Canada   HC Davos
1999   Kölner Haie   Metallurg Magnitogorsk
2000   HC Davos   Team Canada
2001   HC Davos   Team Canada
2002   Team Canada   HC Davos
2003   Team Canada   HC Davos
2004   HC Davos   Sparta Prague
2005   Metallurg Magnitogorsk   Team Canada
2006   HC Davos   Team Canada
2007   Team Canada   Salavat Yulaev Ufa
2008   Dynamo Moscow   Team Canada
2009   Dinamo Minsk   HC Davos
2010   SKA Saint Petersburg   Team Canada
2011   HC Davos   Dinamo Riga
2012   Team Canada   HC Davos
2013   Genève-Servette HC   CSKA Moscow
2014   Genève-Servette HC   Salavat Yulaev Ufa
2015   Team Canada   HC Lugano
2016   Team Canada   HC Lugano
2017   Team Canada   Team Switzerland
2018   KalPa Kuopio   Team Canada
2019   Team Canada   HC Oceláři Třinec
2020 Tournament not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022   HC Ambrì-Piotta   Sparta Prague
2023   HC Davos   Dynamo Pardubice

Notes

1 Oxford University and LTC Prague play to a 0–0 score after overtime. Both teams are declared winners.[8]

Performances

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By club

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Performance in the Spengler Cup by club
Club Won Runner-up Years won Years runner-up
  HC Davos 16 25 1927, 1933, 1936, 1938, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1951, 1957, 1958, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2011, 2023 1924, 1925, 1926, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1937, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1953, 1955, 1960, 1969, 1981, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2012
  Team Canada 16 10 1984, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 1985, 1988, 1990, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2018
  LTC Prague 7 2 1929, 1930, 1932, 1937, 1946, 1947, 1948 1936, 1938
  Dukla Jihlava 5 5 1965, 1966, 1968, 1978, 1982 1970, 1971, 1977, 1983, 1984
  Spartak Moscow 5 1 1980, 1981, 1985, 1989, 1990 1982
  Oxford University 4 1 1923, 1925, 1931, 1932 1934
  SKA Leningrad /
SKA Saint Petersburg
4 0 1970, 1971, 1977, 2010
  Berlin SC 3 4 1924, 1926, 1928 1923, 1927, 1931, 1941
  Diavoli Rossoneri Milano 3 1 1934, 1935, 1950 1958
  ACBB Paris 3 0 1959, 1960, 1961
  HC Slovan Bratislava1 3 0 1972, 1973, 1974
  EV Füssen 2 4 1952, 1964 1954, 1959, 1961, 1962
  Zürcher SC 2 3 1944, 1945 1942, 1943, 1952
  Färjestad BK 2 3 1993, 1994 1989, 1992, 1997
  Sparta Prague 2 2 1962, 1963 2004, 2022
  HC Milano Inter 2 0 1953, 1954
  Lokomotiv Moscow 2 0 1967, 1969
  Dynamo Moscow 2 0 1983, 2008
  Genève-Servette HC 2 0 2013, 2014
  Rudá Hvězda Brno 1 1 1955 1957
  Krylya Sovetov Moscow 1 1 1979 1987
  CSKA Moscow 1 1 1991 2013
  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1 1 2005 1999
  Czechoslovak Olympic Team 1 0 1975
  USSR B 1 0 1976
  USA Selects 1 0 1988
  Kölner Haie 1 0 1999
  Dinamo Minsk 1 0 2009
  KalPa Kuopio 1 0 2018
  HC Ambrì-Piotta 1 0 2022
  HC Lugano 0 3 1991, 2015, 2016
  AIK Stockholm 0 2 1950, 1978
  Salavat Yulaev Ufa 0 2 2007, 2014
  Cambridge University 0 1 1928
  Paris Rapides 0 1 1933
  Preussen Krefeld 0 1 1951
  Klagenfurt AC 0 1 1963
  Modo Hockey 0 1 1964
  VIK Västerås HK 0 1 1965
  CP Liège 0 1 1966
  Kingston Aces 0 1 1967
  Rögle BK 0 1 1968
  Torpedo Gorkiy 0 1 1972
  Traktor Chelyabinsk 0 1 1973
  Team Poland 0 1 1974
  Team Finland 0 1 1975
  Czechoslovakia B 0 1 1976
  Düsseldorfer EG 0 1 1979
  TJ Vítkovice 0 1 1980
  Sokil Kiev2 0 1 1986
  Lada Togliatti 0 1 1995
  Dinamo Riga 0 1 2011
  Team Switzerland 0 1 2017
  HC Oceláři Třinec 0 1 2019
  Dynamo Pardubice 0 1 2023

Notes

1 Slovakia was a part of Czechoslovakia until 1993, so HC Slovan Bratislava in the 1970s represented both communist Czechoslovakia and the Slovak Socialist Republic.
2 Ukraine was a Soviet republic at the time, so Sokil Kiev represented both the Soviet Union and Soviet Ukraine.

By nation

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Performance by nation
Nation Winners Runners-up
  Switzerland 21 32
  Czechoslovakia1 19 10
  Canada2 16 11
  Soviet Union3 13 5
  Germany4 6 10
  Italy5 5 1
  Russia6 4 5
  United Kingdom 4 2
  France7 3 1
  Sweden 2 8
  Finland 1 1
  Belarus 1 0
  United States 1 0
  Czech Republic 0 4
  Austria 0 1
  Belgium 0 1
  Latvia 0 1
  Poland 0 1

Notes

1 Includes hockey clubs from the First Czechoslovak Republic, the Third Czechoslovak Republic, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, and the last Czech and Slovak Federative Republic based in today's Czechia and Slovakia, and Czechoslovak national teams.
2 Includes the runner-up 1967 Kingston Aces of the Ontario Hockey Association.
3 Includes hockey clubs based in today's Russia and Ukraine, and Soviet national teams.
4 Includes hockey clubs from the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, Allied-occupied Germany, West Germany, and today's united Federal Republic.
5 Includes hockey clubs from the Kingdom of Italy and today's Italian Republic.
6 Includes CSKA Moscow's Cup win in 1991.
7 Includes hockey clubs from the French Third Republic, the Fourth Republic, and today's Fifth Republic.

References

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  1. ^ "WILLIAMS: Developing a European audience – the AHL has eyes on Spengler Cup". EP Rinkside. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  2. ^ The Isis, 23 Jan. 1924, page 19. (Future Prime Minister of Canada Lester Pearson was a member of the Oxford University team in the spring of 1923; however, he returned to Canada in the summer of 1923 and therefore did not compete in the first Spengler Cup played at the end of December 1923 and early January 1924. See: Pearson, Lester B. Mike : The Memoirs of the Right Honourable Lester B. Pearson. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972, page 50.)
  3. ^ "Hockey Canada withdraws from 2021 Spengler Cup, citing COVID-19 concerns". Sportsnet. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Canada and Ambri are replaced, Slovan Bratislava moves up". SpenglerCup.ch. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  5. ^ Ellis, Steven. "Spengler Cup Cancelled for Second Straight Year". The Hockey News. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  6. ^ Ruch, Fabian (2015-12-23). "Ein Berner vermarktet den Spengler-Cup". Berner Zeitung, Berner Zeitung (in German). ISSN 1424-1021. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  7. ^ "Presenting and gold partner – Spengler Cup". www.spenglercup.ch. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  8. ^ a b SpenglerCup.ch
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