Rochester Americans Prepare for Spengler Cup
For the second time in its history, the Spengler Cup will have an AHL team among its roster of participants. The Rochester Americans – who also participated in the Spengler Cup back in 1996 – will travel to Davos, Switzerland to compete in the tournament, which begins on December 26.
The Spengler Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament held in Davos yearly since 1923. The tournament consists of six teams from various countries who compete in a modified round-robin format over a six-day period. Continue reading to find out more about the tournament, the teams and more.
Davos has won the Spengler Cup 15 times, including most recently in 2011 with a host of players that included Joe Thornton, Rick Nash and Niklas Hagman. They were the runner-up last year.
This year’s roster for the Spengler Cup includes former Buffalo Sabres goaltender Mika Noronen, Swedish forward Marcus Paulsson and Finnish winger Perttu Lingren.
This year’s tournament marks the first since 1992 that CSKA will participate in. The team is currently led by its first North American coach, John Torchetti, who previously coached the AHL’s Iowa Wild as well as the Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers, among others.
CSKA’s roster includes goaltender Maxim Tretiak – yes, of THAT family; he’s Vladimir’s grandson. Former Buffalo Sabres draft pick Denis Denisov and former NHLers Alexander Radulov, Alexander Frolov and Alexei Morozov are others on the CSKA roster for the tournament.
HC Vitkovice Steel – Czech Republic
Vitkovice has participated in the Spengler Cup several times before, including in 1980 when the team reached the final, ultimately losing to champion Spartak Moscow.
This year’s team is yet again coached by Peter Oremus, and the roster includes Jiri Burger, team captain who is playing his 13th season for the club. Newcomers Martin Dudas and Patrik Valcak are two others on the roster.
Genève-Servette HC – Switzerland
This is the second year that Genève-Servette HC will participate in the Spengler Cup, with the team’s first appearance coming back in 2010. The team is led by head coach Chris McSorley, who has been coaching the team since 2007 and also acts as general manager and co-owner of the team.
The roster for Genève-Servette includes Hamilton Bulldogs goaltender Robert Mayer, loaned to the Swiss team for the tournament. Garrett Stafford, Matthew Lombardi and Kaspars Daugavins are among other notable names on the roster.
This year’s Spengler Cup will be the 30th anniversary for the Canadian team, composed mainly of players who currently skate on European league teams. The squad will also include a pair of AHLers, Allen York and Alexandre Bolduc.
In past years, the Spengler Cup team occasionally includes current NHL players – but not this year, as the NHL season rages on and all the players remain with their North American teams.
Chris Mason, Anthony Stewart and Glen Metropolit are among other names on the roster that NHL fans might recognize.
Rochester Americans – United States
This is the second time an American Hockey League team has participated in the Spengler Cup, with the Amerks also making the first appearance in the international tournament. The Buffalo Sabres farm club faces a number of call-ups and injuries that will make for an interesting roster heading overseas.
The roster that the Rochester Americans will take to Switzerland is as follows:
Goaltenders: Matt Hackett, Nathan Lieuwen
Defense: Drew Bagnall, Chad Ruhwedel, Brayden McNabb, Nick Crawford, Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, Alex Lepkowski, Matt MacKenzie
Forwards: Johnny McGuire, Colin Jacobs, Luke Adam, Tim Schaller, Phil Varone, Joel Armia, Matt Ellis, Dan Catenacci, Frederick Roy, Kevin Sundher
SPENGLER CUP SCHEDULE
The six teams are split into two groups: Torriani (Geneve, Rochester, CSKA) and Cattini (Canada, Vitkovice, Davos). The Amerks begin the Spengler Cup facing off against Genève-Servette on December 26th at 9 a.m. EST. Going from there, the schedule depends on whether they win or lose. (For reference purposes: 15.00 is 9 a.m. EST, while 20.15 is 2:15 p.m. EST.) 12.00 would be 6 a.m. EST.)
The Spengler Cup will not be televised in the United States. Look for more information, including box scores, here.
- Thursday, December 26th
- 15.00: Genève-Serv. – Rochest.
- 20.15: Team Canada – Vitkovice
- Friday, December 27th
- 15.00: CSKA Mosk. – Loser G1
- 20.15: HC Davos – Loser G2
- Saturday, December 28th
- 15.00: Winner G1 – CSKA M.
- 20.15: Winner G2 – HC Davos
- Sunday, December 29th
- 15.00: 2. Torriani – 3. Cattini
- 20.15: 2. Cattini – 3. Torriani
- Monday, December 30th
- 15.00: 1. Cattini – Winner G7
- 20.15: 1. Torriani – Winner G8
- Tuesday, December 31th
- 12.00: Final