With Sparta Prague, one of the most renowned, tradition-rich, and currently strongest clubs in Europe is taking part in this year’s Spengler Cup. In the group with Fribourg and Helsinki, the Czechs are among the favorites to qualify directly for the semifinals. The opening game against defending champion Fribourg already carries particular weight.

Sparta Prague pursues the highest sporting ambitions. In the 2024/25 season, the team secured first place in the Czech Extraliga’s regular season and, after a quarterfinal victory over Třinec, reached the semifinals, where they only narrowly lost to eventual champion Kometa Brno. Their hunger for the next title has by no means diminished. After a mixed start to the season, the club parted ways with the coaching staff around Pavel Gross already in the autumn.
Since October 8 of this year, Jaroslav Nedvěd has been behind the bench. Nedvěd is no stranger in Prague: After his playing career — during which he also spent several seasons with Sparta and took part in the Spengler Cup three times between 1999 and 2001 — he worked for many years in Prague’s youth system from 2012 onward and was also assistant coach of the first team between 2017 and 2020.
The Prague roster reflects the club’s high ambitions. Alongside goalkeeper Jakub Kovář, well known in Switzerland, the squad includes defensemen such as Mark Pysyk, Michal Řepík, and Mikael Seppälä. Offensively, Sparta also boasts standout names like Filip Chlapík, Roman Horák, and Michael Špaček.

About a month before the opening game of the 97th Spengler Cup Davos, Sparta’s Sports Director Tomáš Divíšek comments on the expectations for his team, the players’ current form, and the special challenges that a tradition-rich tournament like the Spengler Cup brings with it.

Sparta had a solid start to the season, performed strongly in the CHL group stage, and never lost touch with the leading pack in the domestic league. Nevertheless, the club made a coaching change just a few weeks into the season. Were the sporting expectations higher than the results at the time suggested?

Our game wasn’t at the level we had envisioned from the start of the season. Although the coaches did their best to prepare the team for every match, the performance and overall progress weren’t meeting the expectations of either the coaching staff or the management. You never want to change the coach, but unfortunately we concluded that a change would help us.

Under new head coach Jaroslav Nedvěd, the team has continued to improve in the league and is now among the leaders in the Extraliga, even topping the table at times (as of late November). In your view, is Sparta currently on track to achieve its season goals?

Since the coaching change we’ve improved in terms of results. We’re still not quite where we want to be, but the influence of the new coaching staff is starting to show. However, in the end it’s the players on the ice who determine the results.

The Spengler Cup is still a few weeks away. Does the tournament already play a concrete role in your sporting planning?

Our schedule is extremely busy — we’ve been playing three games a week since the start. We’ll fully focus on the Spengler Cup only after our last league game. We need to stay 100% mentally ready for every match and not look too far ahead.

Sparta has plenty of Spengler Cup experience. This will already be your eleventh appearance in Davos, six of them since 2000. Most recently, you lost the 2022 final only in a shootout. Can this long-standing experience be an advantage, given you are among the most seasoned teams in the field?

We’re proud to have such a history at this beautiful tournament. We’ve always enjoyed it, both on and off the ice. We’re really looking forward to it and we hope to play all the way until the final day. But every year is different and the teams change, so I don’t think we’ll gain any real advantage from past editions.

What does your immediate preparation for the Spengler Cup look like? When will the team travel to Davos — and how will the players spend Christmas?

We will fly to Davos right after Christmas Eve, on the 25th, so the players can spend the holiday time at home with their families. We’ll certainly prepare some team activities, but at the same time we want to give the players enough free time to spend with their loved ones.

Text: Spengler Cup Online-Redaktion Photo: Keystone