A Christmas Tradition

It's been two years since the trophy to the left was awarded to one of six teams that travel to Switzerland after Christmas. The Spengler Cup will be awarded this year, though, as long as there aren't any major pandemics that hit between now and the final week of 2022. As we know, the hosts from Davos will participate in the tournament, and there's always a collection of Canadians who gather to represent their home nation as Team Canada over the week of hockey. The other four teams who make up the rest of the field are invited by HC Davos to the tournament, and are normally some of the best club teams in Europe from the SM-Liiga, the Swedish Elite League, the Czech Extraliga, the KHL, and more! Who is going this year, you ask? Let's find out who will spend the last week of 2022 in the Swiss Alps playing hockey at the Spengler Cup!

As stated above, the two annual entrants who have had the most success at the Spengler Cup will return once again this season. HC Davos hosts the tournament just as they do every year, and Vaillant Arena will play host to the tournament once more after two long years of missing out due to the COVID-19 pandemic. HC Davos, as we know, play in the Swiss League and often feature some good hockey talent on their roster, so expect the home team to push for the Spengler Cup when action gets underway.

Team Canada will also return to take their place at the tournament as the Canadian squad is made up from players across Europe and North America who aren't under NHL contract. Canada is the defending champion at the tournament after winning the event in 2019 over Czech champion Ocelari Trinec by a 4-0 score, and they'll be aiming to add their 17th Spengler Cup championship to the trophy case with the return of the tournament in 2022. Only HC Davos is close to Canada in terms of overall success throughout the tournament's history, but Canada officially has won the most Spengler Cups in the 93-year history of the event!

Joining them will be Czech team HC Sparta Prague as the Extraliga finalists will make the trip to Davos in December. HC Sparta Prague has won the Spengler Cup twice, so they're no strangers to the week-long hockey tournament. It's been a while since they hoisted the trophy, though, as they won back in 1962 and 1963, but they did finish as the silver medalists at the tournament in 2004. HC Sparta Prague boasted former NHLers Roman Horak, Filip Chlapik, and Vladimir Sobotka on their roster this season, so expect them to bring a strong team to Davos in December.

HC Ambri-Piotta is the second team from the Swiss National League who will play at the event, and they're looking to make some history with their first appearance in the final this season. Known as the "Biancoblù" for their colours - white and blue - HC Ambri-Piotta is an interesting addition to the tournament considering that they've never won a Swiss National League championship in their history either. What shouldn't be overlooked is the quality of players that HC Ambri-Piotta attracts with the likes of Matt D'Agostini, Peter Regin, and Brandon McMillan on their roster this season, so I'd expect HC Ambri-Piotta to make a little noise at the 2022 Spengler Cup.

IFK Helsinki returns to the Spengler Cup for the fourth time after playing in the event in 1994, 1995, and 2004. IFK Helsinki has won the SM-Liiga seven times, so they have a championship pedigree that saw them last win the league championship in 2011. They did finish in third-place in 2021 and were fifth-place in 2022, and they'll be looking for their first appearance in the Spengler Cup final this season. Former Quinnipiac netminder Michael Garteig backstopped the team this year while Jere Innala, Eetu Koivistoinen, and Otto Paajanen led the team in scoring. IFK Helsinki will need a push if they hope to win, but they shouldn't be taken lightly.

The sixth team at the tournament this year is Swedish club Örebro HK. Örebro HK was elevated to the Swedish Elite League in 2013-14 and look to continue their strong play after another season in which they qualified for the playoffs. Örebro HK has never played at the Spengler Cup before, so seeing them make their debut will be special as they write another chapter into their hockey history. Former NHL netminder Jhonas Enroth is Örebro's star, and he'll be expected to stonewall the opposition. The have a handful of players who played in the AHL, but they'll need big tourmanents out of leading scorers Robin Kovacs, Rodrigo Abols, and Nick Ebert if they want to shock their world in the Spengler Cup debut!

The tournament runs from Monday, December 26 through Saturday, December 31 with the games following the schedule posted below.

As you can see, Canada plays on Monday against HC Sparta Prague in the Cattini Group with the losing team in that game playing HC Davos on Tuesday. The winning team plays Davos on Wednesday. Örebro HK's debut will be against HC Ambri-Piotta in the Torriani Group on Monday with the loser moving to Tuesday's match against IFK Helsinki before IFK Helsinki plays the winner of Örebro and Ambri-Piotta on Wednesday.

Quarterfinals are played on Thursday with the second-place teams in each pool playing the third-place teams from the other pool. The winner of the second-place Torriani and third-place Cattini teams will play the first-place Cattini team (which could be Canada) in the first semifinal while the winner of the second-place Cattini and third-place Torriani teams will play the first-place Torriani team. The final happens between the winners of the semifinal games on Saturday for the trophy and the glory of being the 2022 Spengler Cup champions!

I love the Spengler Cup as its one of the best tournaments on the planet to see some great European players and teams that we rarely get to witness in North America. While there are fiercely-contested games on the ice, the crowd in Davos are always revved up and ready to cheer on their heroes. This tournament is on the bucket list of hockey events I want to attend, and I'm glad it's back for 2022 because it's been two long years without the Spengler Cup making my holiday season more enjoyable!

Can Canada win their 17th Spengler Cup? I'll be watching when the action gets under way on December 26!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!