Julian Parrée, 23-year-old fourth-line forward from the HCD junior team, becomes an unexpected hero. In the fourth game of the playoff final in Freiburg, he scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory.
25.04.2026, 00:32
25.04.2026, 00:33
SDA
Julian Parrée had made 58 appearances this season up to the final, plus two with Arosa in the Swiss League. Goal tally: zero. Now the Davos native from Alkmaar in the Netherlands has already scored two goals in four games in the final against Fribourg-Gottéron, the ultimately useless 2:3 in the first game at home and now the only goal on Friday night in the 5th minute to make it 1:0, thanks to which the best-of-7 series is now tied 2:2 again.
Parrée describes his duties as follows: "Above all, it's important that we 'lift' well defensively and tire out their players," he explains the tasks of his fourth line. "Goals are not primarily expected of us. But if we can score a goal now and then, we're happy," he adds cheerfully.
Parrée instead of Stransky or Ryfors
It's this balance and breadth that has made HC Davos clearly the best team in the league this season. That's why it's easy to accept that a key player like Simon Ryfors, HCD's top scorer in the quarterfinals against Zug, has yet to register a point in the semifinals and final and that captain Matej Stransky has neither a goal nor an assist in the final. Instead, Parrée is now the man responsible for the fact that there was also an away win in the fourth final game.
This is a first: since the introduction of the playoffs, no finals series has ever started with four wins for the away team. This is all the more astonishing as Davos only lost three home games in the qualifiers and none in the playoffs until the final.
Away series a coincidence?
Nobody can really explain this. "I don't know," says defenseman Nico Gross, who was champion with Zug in 2021 and 2022. "I have the feeling it's more of a coincidence." It's just extremely close. "It's first against second, the best two teams of the year," says Gross. "A duel at eye level.
He doesn't think they'll have to do much differently on Sunday than in the first two home games, which they lost twice 2:3, once after overtime. Start well and get the small details right, as they did in the two away games.
Gross has already decided on a winner anyway. "It's 2:2, it's an extremely exciting final series. That's certainly cool for every field hockey fan." Perhaps not quite so cool for the home fans in the always sold-out arenas of Davos and Freiburg.
