Sparta Prague's Yorick Treille will be facing his former club, Servette Geneva. Photo: Sparta Prag

The Spengler Cup will be a special tournament for Yorick Treille, the French national player currently playing for Sparta Prague: He will be facing his former team Servette Geneva in a preliminary round game.

Forward Yorick Treille played for Servette between 2005 and 2007. The club from Geneva finished the 2006/2007 Swiss championship in fifth place, which was a huge success for them. With 32 points in 43 games, Treille contributed substantially to this remarkable result. Even though Servette Geneva would have liked to keep him on their team, Treille moved on to Ingolstadt. But the season in Germany didn't fulfill his expectations; due to a lengthy shoulder injury, he was only able to play 29 games. "The team also played way below everyone's expectations," said Treille after the season.

A Hockey "Nomad"

Before the beginning of last season, Treille changed to yet another league and joined the Czech club Vitkovice Steel. "The level of the three European leagues I've played in so far is very high. But in the Czech Republic, I experienced that competition within the teams themselves is a lot stronger than in Switzerland or Germany", says Treille. In Vitkovice, success finally returned: The team reached the playoff finals, where they were beaten by HC Pardubice, and finished the Czech championship season in second place.
Despite this accomplishment, hockey "nomad" Treille didn't stay in Vitkovice: After playing eight seasons in North America, one year in Finland, two seasons in Geneva and one in Vitkovice, he signed a contract with Sparta Prague before the start of the current season. The Frenchman is very happy about his new employer and his new domicile. "Prague is a very attractive city with lots of possibilities. Since my Czech language skills are still quite limited, I'm especially glad that Prague's atmosphere is rather international." Another advantage: He now lives very close to his brother Sacha, who's currently playing for Kladno, a hockey club from Prague's suburbs. Since Sparta Prague is participating in this year's Spengler Cup, one game will be very special for Yorick Treille: He will be playing against his former team from Geneva.