After more than 50 years, traditional Finnish club Ilves Tampere will return to Davos for the upcoming 98th Spengler Cup. The Finns last took part in the prestigious tournament in 1972. In what remains their only appearance, the “Lynx” finished third – behind Slovan Bratislava and Torpedo Gorky, but ahead of the national teams of Switzerland and Norway. These facts alone underline just how long it has been since Ilves last featured at the Spengler Cup.

Today, Tampereen Ilves (Finnish for “Lynx”) is one of Finland’s most traditional and successful professional ice hockey clubs. Founded in 1931, the club is based in Tampere and plays its home games at the state-of-the-art Nokia Arena, which has a capacity of 13,000. With 16 Finnish national championships, Ilves is the second-most successful ice hockey club in Finland, behind local rivals Tappara Tampere. The club dominated Finnish ice hockey particularly from the 1930s through to the 1960s. However, its most recent championship title in Finland’s top league, today known as the Liiga, dates back more than 40 years.
In recent years, Ilves has re-established itself as a leading club both nationally and internationally. The team has qualified for the Champions Hockey League (CHL) four seasons in a row and made a particularly strong impression last season. Ilves won all six of its regular-season games to finish top of the CHL regular-season standings before reaching the quarter-finals. For General Manager Timo Koskela, competing on the international stage is always something special: “In international competitions, we represent not only Ilves, but also Finland and the Finnish Liiga. It is always a great honour for us to represent our country and our league. In these games, we also want to showcase the high standards and quality of Finnish hockey and the Liiga.”

Ilves has also established itself among the top teams in the Liiga over the past five seasons. The team reached the semi-finals four times and won three bronze medals. This progress is the result of a long-term plan, as Timo Koskela explains: “Since the change of ownership in 2017, we have been working systematically and with a long-term vision to build a new foundation for sustainable success. Today, we can say with pride and joy that we want to compete for success every season. We believe that challenging for success in the Finnish Liiga is a realistic goal for Ilves every year.”

One thing is still missing, however: titles. Ilves has been waiting for its next championship since 1985. The Spengler Cup now offers the club an opportunity to compete against top-class opposition on the international stage – and perhaps even reward itself with a title. The team has been coached by Head Coach Tommi Niemelä since 2024. With 38-year-old centre Jan-Mikael Järvinen, as well as 30-year-olds Jaako Lantta and John Nyberg, the squad also has plenty of experience. Only two players in the Lynx roster, however, have previously appeared at the Spengler Cup. Finnish international Tony Sund knows the tournament from 2019, when he took part with TPS Turku. During his brief spell with hosts HC Davos in 2021, however, the Spengler Cup had already been played.

Lithuanian goaltender Mantas Armalis will also be making his second appearance at the tournament. He played for Latvian KHL side Dinamo Riga at the 2017 Spengler Cup and featured in games against the Swiss national team and HPK Hämeenlinna. For most of the players and coaching staff, the tournament in December 2026 will therefore be a new, but no less exciting, challenge on the international stage. “Thanks to the agreement between the Finnish Liiga and the Spengler Cup, we were given the opportunity to take part in the tournament this year. We really wanted to seize this great opportunity and return after such a long absence,” says GM Timo Koskela.

For him, the tournament is about more than just a sporting challenge: “We see the Spengler Cup as an excellent opportunity to strengthen our team spirit, develop our game and, at the same time, prepare for the second half of the season. The timing of the tournament is particularly well suited to that.”

Text: Spengler Cup-Onlineredaktion    Foto: Ilves