Since 2017, no team has managed to defend the prestigious Spengler Cup title. In the past 20 years, only two teams have succeeded: Genève-Servette in 2014 and Team Canada in 2016 and 2017.

Previously, however, successful title defenses at the traditional Davos tournament were not uncommon. Between 1984 and 2004 – the same 20-year period – this happened nine times. What was once seen as a sign of dominance has, in recent years, become the exception rather than the rule. The reasons for this are manifold – yet also easy to understand.

One of the most important lies in the unique dynamics of the tournament: the Spengler Cup takes place over just a few days between Christmas and New Year, with a tightly packed schedule. Often, defending champions cannot compete with the same roster as the previous year due to injuries, call-ups for the U20 World Championship, or player transfers.

In addition, the composition of the participating teams changes every year. Top teams from various leagues – for example, from Switzerland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, and national selection teams from the USA or Canada – meet with increasingly similar playing systems. At the same time, this heterogeneity also creates more unpredictable matchups – for instance, a penalty shootout or a goalie who outperforms in a single game – which increases the role of chance and makes sustained dominance more difficult than in a national league, where teams repeatedly face familiar opponents.

A tightly scheduled format, few games, and suddenly decisive moments – in short tournaments, small mistakes are enough to knock a favorite out of contention. The unfamiliar altitude, the sometimes long journey to Davos, and short recovery times between games also play a role.

Finally, the motivation of the challengers is crucial: every team wants to defeat the reigning champion, while the defending champion also has to cope with the pressure of meeting expectations.

Conclusion: Winning a title often requires a special boost of motivation, luck, and timing – defending it, however, demands consistency and the management of expectations. At the Spengler Cup, a compact format, highly motivated challengers, and changing conditions amplify this difficulty. That is why defending a title is a challenge: the combination of sporting, psychological, and organizational factors makes it significantly harder than achieving the first triumph. This is also true this year for Fribourg-Gottéron.

Text: Spengler Cup-Onlineredaktion    Foto: Keystone