Spengler Cup 2012: Canadians on Swiss Teams May Play

By Emma Harger
The inside of Davos’ Vaillant Arena, host of the Spengler Cup. Photo by Abercio on Wikimedia Commons.

The 2012 Spengler Cup, which will be held in Davos, Switzerland from Dec. 26 to 30, involves two groups of three teams from various European locales facing off at HC Davos‘ home arena for the Spengler Cup and bragging rights. Confirmed teams planning to play in the Cup include Germany’s Adler Mannheim, the Czech Republic’s HC Vitkovice Steel, the KHL’s Salavat Yulayev Ufa, HC Fribourg-Gotteron, the host Davos and Team Canada.

This year, depending on how the negotiations regarding the NHL lockout proceed, Team Canada could find itself stocked with NHL talent dispersed around Europe right now.

Spengler Cup organizers confirmed that Canadian NHL players who are currently playing in the Swiss National League A may participate in the tournament. That means Team Canada could potentially have firepower like Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin, John Tavares, Michael Del Zotto and Logan Couture on the roster–again, it depends; if the NHL lockout were to end before the Spengler Cup tournament begins, these players simply may not be able to attend.

Canadian players currently in the Austrian league may also be able to play for Team Canada in the Spengler Cup. This includes NHL players like Derek Dorsett, Derrick Brassard, Andrew Cogliano, Johnny Boychuk, David Clarkson and Sam Gagner.

Teams are able to add four reinforcement players who normally play for other squads, too.

TSN broadcasts the Spengler Cup in Canada, but it does not yet have any American broadcast option. The Spengler Cup has been played since 1923, making it the oldest invitational international hockey tournament in the world. Originally, it was dreamed up to promote teams in German-speaking Europe that had been subject to ostracizing after World War I. Team Canada, Team USA, Team Japan, Britain’s Oxford University, French teams and even Canadian senior hockey teams have all participated in the past.

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