Geprügelt, geschlagen, ausgeschieden: der HC Davos

HC Davos won last year's Spengler Cup and had to defend their title, but this won't be possible anymore. With the third defeat in the third match HC Davos has 0 points and is last in the table. With just one match to play, it's impossible for the host to reach the final-games.

Davos had to win against Pardubice to keep their chances alive. The Czechs lost yesterday versus top-team of Ufa and were trying today to win their first match in this tournament. Today's match began well for the Pardubice, just after 3 minutes they scored the leading goal. Rolinek with his second goal in this tournament opened the score. Pardubice was controlling the first 10 minutes of this match. In the last minutes of the first period Davos had some serious occasions to level the result, but they failed and one reason for their inefficiency was Czech keeper Lasak.

The second third began like the first. Just after 2 minutes Pardubice scored and doubled their lead. Seconds before Hlinka scored the second goal for his team, Riesen had the best chance for Davos to score. But once again Lasak was on his post and saved his team. Lasak was not just the man of the second third but also of the match. In several occasions he showed how outstanding his performance today was. It has also to be mentioned that Davos-players seemed not to be concentrated enough, concerning all these serious chances.

In the last 20 minutes Davos could finally beat Lasak and shorten the advantage of Pardubice. The match was launched again and the supporters boost their team to score another one, but the Czechs were merciless. 3 minutes after Davos scored, Pardubice's Pivko doubled the lead again and buried all hopes of Davos to win this match. The final result of 3:1 let the Czechs hope for the final-games, for host
Davos there is just single match left; against the Russians of Ufa. This means that HC Davos won't defend their title this year also because of keeper Lasak - he was today the best player on the ice.