The people in charge of Team Canada already informed the Spengler-Cup-OK on Sunday morning that they had to cancel their participation in this year’s Spengler-Cup. “Tom Renney, Chief Executive Officer, and Scott Smith, President and Chief Operating Officer, emphasize how much Team Canada would have loved to travel to Davos after the Channel One Cup in Moscow, but ultimately made it impossible due to numerous organizational hurdles,” said the HCD with.
Spengler Cup President Marc Gianola also very much regrets the rejection of the defending champion, but also shows understanding: “We know from the exchange with all participating teams how difficult it is to travel these days. It is very unfortunate that Team Canada, with players from various countries and continents, had to accept even more restrictions that ultimately made participation impossible. “
Only a few hours later the OC received the next bad news: After numerous HC Ambri-Piotta players had tested positive, the entire team had to go into quarantine for ten days on official instructions and also cannot participate in the tournament. After all: The Spengler Cup organizing committee was able to sign a new team with HC Slovan Bratislava on Sunday afternoon.
The big surprise followed on Monday evening. “With great support from the three NL clubs SC Bern, EHC Biel and the SCL Tigers, a selection of players from these three teams will travel to Davos and join the traditional tournament as the sixth team,” announced the Spengler Cup OK. So, besides Davos, there is now a second Swiss team taking part in the tournament.
The “Bern Selection” team will ensure a lot of spectacle on the ice and in the spectator stands, the OK is certain. It is not yet clear which players will participate. The OK announced that the GMs from Bern, Biel and Langnau will announce this shortly.