The 97th Spengler Cup begins on Friday. The last three winners have been Swiss teams. Will the streak continue? The six teams at a glance.
25.12.2025, 10:29
SDA
Fribourg-Gottéron (4th participation, winner 2024): Last year's Spengler Cup triumph was the first title for the National League's longest-serving club. Fribourg dispatched the German team Straubing Tigers 7:2 in the final. Lars Leuenberger, who is now assistant to coach Roger Rönnberg, was the mastermind behind the success. The highly decorated Swede, four-time winner of the Champions Hockey League and two-time champion with Frölunda Göteborg, is to lead Gottéron to its first championship title. The direction is already right. Gottéron is in second place in the National League, which is also due to the strong performances of the two Swiss Olympic candidates Sandro Schmid and Christoph Bertschy. For the traditional tournament in Davos, two foreign defensemen, Michal Cajkovsky (Ambri-Piotta) and the Finn Niklas Friman (Ajoie), have joined the team as reinforcements. Fribourg is certainly capable of successfully defending its title.
Davos (88th participation, 16 times winner): Only Davos is better than Fribourg in the current championship. The Grisons clearly top the rankings, having won 16 of their 18 games this season in front of their home crowd. The HCD's efficiency to date is particularly impressive. Their performances in the National League are fueling fans' hopes that coach Josh Holden's team will be the sole record holder in the traditional tournament on December 31. So far, Davos shares the record with Team Canada - both have lifted the trophy 16 times. Two years ago, the HCD triumphed for the first time since 2011. The Finns Leo Komarov and Niko Huuhtanen were brought in as reinforcements. The 38-year-old Komarov was part of the captain's team for Finland's 2022 Olympic victory in Beijing and had already become world champion in 2011.
Team Canada (40th participation, 16 times winner): Team Canada last lifted the trophy in 2019. The North Americans have failed to reach the semi-finals in each of the last two years, having even been knocked out in the first knockout round in 2022. Stacy Roest is the assistant to the team's general manager, Marc Bergevin. The 51-year-old played for the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers from 2003 until the end of his career in 2012 and averaged more than one point per game (1.04) in the top Swiss league. The Canadians are coached by Michel Therrien, who has many years of experience as an NHL coach.
Sparta Prague (11th participation, 2 times winner): The second tournament victory at the Spengler Cup was 62 years ago, three years ago Sparta Prague was in the final for the last time and failed in a penalty shootout against Ambri-Piotta. In the domestic league, the club has been waiting for its ninth championship title since 2007. After a weak start to the season and a change of coach from Pavel Gross to Jaroslav Nedved, the team is back at the top in the current championship. One of the goalies is Jakub Kovar, who played for the ZSC Lions in the 2021-22 season. His brother Jan is captain at EVZ. Michal Repik, Filip Chlapik and Michael Spacek also have a past in Switzerland.
IFK Helsinki (5th participation): IFK Helsinki may be a resounding name, but it has only won two of 15 games in its first four appearances at the Spengler Cup. And the seventh and last Finnish championship title dates back to 2011. Currently, the team with numerous promising talents only occupies fourth-last place in the league, which is also due to bad luck with injuries - in Davos, Helsinki will have to do without its captain Tony Sund. A big name is on the sidelines: Olli Jokinen. The 47-year-old played 1237 games in the NHL and participated in four Olympic Games.
U.S. Collegiate Selects (1st participation): The team is a selection of the best players from the most important college championship in the USA (NCAA) and is made up of 17 Americans, six Canadians and one Slovak and one Latvian each. 14 players have already been drafted, but none in the first round and only three of them in the second. Even though there is a lot of talent, the organizers have taken a certain risk by signing this team. It remains to be seen whether the college team will be competitive, but it should provide a spectacle.
Mode: The game will be played in two groups of three. The winner of each group will go straight through to the semi-finals, while the runners-up and third-placed teams will play two quarter-finals. Fribourg-Gottéron against Sparta Prague (3.10 p.m.) and Team Canada against U.S. Collegiate Selects (8.15 p.m.) will kick things off on December 26. The final traditionally takes place on New Year's Eve at noon.
97th Spengler Cup
Group Cattini: Davos, Team Canada, U.S. Collegiate Selects. - Group Torriani: Fribourg-Gottéron, Sparta Prague, IFK Helsinki.
Game schedule. Friday, December 26, 3:10 p.m.: Fribourg-Gottéron - Sparta Prague (Game 1). 20.15: Team Canada - U.S. Collegiate Selects (Game 2). - Saturday, December 27, 3:10 p.m.: IFK Helsinki - loser of Game 1. 8:15 p.m.: Davos - loser of Game 2. - Sunday, December 28, 3:10 p.m.: winner of Game 1 - IFK Helsinki. 20.15: Winner game 2 - Davos. - Monday, December 29 (quarterfinals), 15.10: 2nd group Torriani - 3rd group Cattini (game 7). 20.15: 2nd group Cattini - 3rd group Torriani (game 8). - Monday, December 30 (semi-finals), 3.10 pm: 1st group Cattini - winner of game 7. 8.15 pm: 1st group Torriani - winner of game 8. - Tuesday, December 31, 12.10 pm: Final.
Mode: Two groups of three, group winners directly in the semi-finals, remaining teams in two quarter-finals.
Spengler Cup winner (since 2000). 2000: Davos. - 2001: Davos. - 2002: Team Canada. - 2003: Team Canada. - 2004: Davos. - 2005: Metallurg Magnitogorsk (RUS). - 2006: Davos. - 2007: Team Canada. - 2008: Dynamo Moscow. - 2009: Dynamo Minsk (BLR). - 2010: SKA St. Petersburg (RUS). - 2011: Davos. - 2012: Team Canada. - 2013: Genève-Servette. - 2014: Genève-Servette. - 2015: Team Canada - 2016: Team Canada. - 2017: Team Canada. - 2018: KalPa Kuopio. - 2019: Team Canada. - 2022: Ambri-Piotta. - 2023: Davos. - 2024 Fribourg-Gottéron.
Record winners: 1. Team Canada and Davos 16 each. 3. LTC Prague 7.
