Fribourg-Gotteron won the 96th Spengler Cup with a 7-2 final victory over the Straubing Tigers on Tuesday afternoon. In a wild opening phase, Fribourg took a 3-1 lead only 192 seconds in. With this Spengler Cup triumph, Gotteron has won its first title in club history.

The 6,267 spectators in attendance at the ice place in Davos, which was sold out for each of the eleven games, experienced an absolutely wild start to the final. 27 seconds in, Jacob De la Rose poked the puck over the goal line in Gotteron’s first attack. 61 seconds later, Jakob Lilja completed a powerful combination to make it 2-0. Tom Pokel, the Straubing Tigers’ head coach since 2017, pulled the emergency break with a very early timeout. His message worked quickly. At precisely the two-minute mark, Tim Brunnhuber pulled his team with in one. The joy was however short-lived. Nathan Marchon made it 3-1 72 seconds later. And Christoph Bertschy increased the lead further in the 10. minute.

The game was decided early after the 4-1 lead in the first period. The final, which was the fifth game within 83 hours for the Straubing Tigers, proved to be one too many. In comparison: as the group winner, Fribourg-Gotteron had had two days off prior to their semifinal game. Despite the unfavourable circumstances, the Germans had sensationally eliminated the two most commonly cited favourites Dynamo Pardubice and Team Canada thanks to their passion and generated excitement in the process. Due to the significant early deficit, the legs felt even heavier for the Tigers players. Fribourg-Gotteron, on the other hand, got into a true frenzy. With their goals, T.J. Brennan, Linden Vey, and Andreas Borgmann increased the lead for the 7-2 final.

With the Spengler Cup triumph, Fribourg-Gotteron has won its first title in club history. It could be the first of many to come. The club’s management has made no secret of the fact that they are targeting their first Swiss championship title in the next three, four years. ‘One has to learn to win titles. For HCD, the Spengler Cup title in 2000 was the beginning of a big title series in the championship as well’, Marc Gianola, head of the Spengler Cup, remembers his own experiences. Even in the short term the “Davos week” could prove helpful to Fribourg-Gotteron, which currently holds ninth place in the National League. The team used the stay in Davos for team building. And for Lars Leuenberger, head coach only since December 22, the Spengler Cup was the perfect opportunity to get to know his players both on and off the ice.
 

Text: Spengler Cup Onlineredaktion    Foto: Keystone