Spengler Cup facts for kids
Spengler Cup logo
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Sport | Ice hockey |
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Founded | 1923 |
Founder | Dr. Carl Spengler |
Inaugural season | 1923 |
Organising body | HC Davos |
Motto | The Peak of Hockey |
No. of teams | 6 |
Countries | Switzerland, Canada, various other European countries |
Venue(s) | Eisstadion Davos (Davos, Switzerland) |
Most recent champion(s) |
HC Davos (16th) |
Most titles | HC Davos Team Canada (16 each) |
Qualification | Invitation 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 |
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.
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.
Contents
History
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.
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. The 2021 event was ultimately cancelled on 25 December due to COVID-19 cases within HC Davos.
Sponsorship
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. Since 1985, UBS has been the main sponsor and presenting partner of the Spengler Cup. 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
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
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 | |
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.
Performances
By club
Club | Won | Runner-up | Years won | Years runner-up |
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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
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.