Team Canada has eliminated HC Davos from the 84th Spengler Cup. The Swiss team did not have any clear game plan and hardly created any chances to score in their semi-final against the Canadians. As a result, they were outclassed 4:0 by the 14-time Spengler Cup winner.
On 31 December at 12pm, the Canadians will be facing the Russian top team SKA St Petersburg in the final; the game is already sold out. The 2008 Spengler Cup was the last time Team Canada played against a KHL club (3:5 against Dynamo Moscow). But since 2005, the North Americans have been performing very well: The team from the country of the Olympic gold medalist only missed the final once, in 2009.
Bell Out With Knee Injury
HC Davos should actually have equalized Holden's 0:1 (who'd scored after Down's precise cross pass). But, to the disappointment of their enthusiastic fans in the Vaillant Arena, the host team didn't react and couldn't counter the Canadians' lead. When Mark Bell (who dropped out of the game with a knee injury later on) scored the seventh Canadian power play goal of the tournament and Vigier put the score to 3:0, both goals were scored within just 71 seconds, Switzerland's record national champion surrendered.
Without playing brilliantly, but with the necessary cleverness, Team Canada pointed out their opponents' limitations and even made them look like fools at times. Messier's players, the very idea of a competitive team, called upon their strengths at exactly the right time, while Arno Del Curto's HC Davos didn't perform as well as they had in their group game against the same opponent and sank below their usual level.
Davos Way Too Passive
The scene just before the goal to make the score 0:4 (50.) was a perfect example of the Canadians' superiority: Although one Canadian player was in the penalty box, Vigier and scorer Pelletier showed the Davos players up and put the puck into the Davos net without much resistance. Genoni's saves were useless because the rest of the Davos players were way too passive on the ice and didn't fight against the impending defeat. Instead, they allowed their opponents plenty of space and time to develop a Canadian interpretation of "Art on Ice".
Davos had dominated Team Canada in their 2:3 win at the group stage at times. But, from the very first face-off, it had been clear that the Canadians wouldn't let Davos win so easily a second time.
Notes: HCD without Giovannini, Untersander, Guerra (all U20 World Championships), Stoop, Marc Wieser, Reymondin (surplus players). 5. Cross bar Metropolit. 43. goal post Metropolit. 43. Mark Bell out with knee injury. 47. timeout Davos.
