Marcel Jenni was the best player of a powerless team

The Kloten Flyers’ second appearance at the Spengler Cup has come to a sudden end today: In the first pre-semi-final this afternoon, the team from Zurich lost 1:5 against the Czech side from Vitkovice.

HC Vitkovice is currently only ranked 9th in the Czech Extraliga. Although they reached the playoff finals in the two previous years, Vitkovice hasn’t been playing its best hockey yet this season – something they haven’t been able to do in Davos either so far.

Vitkovice: Getting Better with Every Game

The Czechs lost both games of the preliminary round with a total score of 2:9. But this afternoon, Vitkovice won the knock-out game against the Kloten Flyers without any major problems.

The two brothers Jan and Tomas Kana put the Czechs 2:0 in front within 5 minutes when they scored shortly before the first whistle and just two minutes into the second period. Juraj Sykora, assisted by loaned player Franco Collenberg, increased this lead to 3:0 before the end of the second period. The Kloten Flyers weren’t able to react: They didn’t find any means to counter their opponents, and Pohl put his team 4:0 ahead just 45 seconds into the third period.

Did Kloten Underestimate Vitkovice?

Maybe the Kloten Flyers didn’t take the Spengler Cup too seriously, although they always emphasized that they did. Apparently, there are some signs that Kloten may have indeed underestimated Vitkovice.

To name but one example: During the first period, when the score was still 0:0, Roman Wick got the chance to skate towards the Czech goal all by himself, but instead of trying to score, he tried to play a pass behind his back to one of his teammates. The puck, however, was retrieved by one of the Czech defenders and yet another chance was lost.

Vitkovice now against HC Davos

HC Vitkovice is now facing hosts HC Davos in the first semi-final on Friday afternoon. Tonight Team Canada and Wolfsburg are playing against each other in the second pre-semi-final to determine who’ll get to the next round tomorrow evening.

Kloten - Vitkovice 1:5 (0:1, 0:2, 1:2)

Vaillant Arena. – 5,677 spectators. – Referees Jablukov/Massy (Germany/Switzerland). - Goals: 17. Jan Kana (Sedivy) 0:1. 22. Tomas Kana (Juraj Sykora, Gian-Andrea Randegger) 0:2. 39. Juraj Sykora (Collenberg) 0:3. 41. (40:45) Pohl (Marek Malik/penalty Bodenmann) 0:4. 58. Stefanka (penalty Wick) 0:5. 59. Du Bois (Blum) 1:5. - Penalties: 5 x 2 minutes each. – Notes: Goaltenders: Kloten with Rüeger, Vitkovice with Roman Malek.

Results:

Davos. 85th Spengler Cup. Pre-semi-finals: Kloten - Vitkovice 1:5 (0:1, 0:2, 1:2). Team Canada - Wolfsburg (8:15pm CET). – Semi-finals (Friday): Davos - Vitkovice (3pm CET). Dinamo Riga - Team Canada or Wolfsburg (8:15pm CET).