It is Gotteron’s third tournament participation in Davos – in 1992 they had to settle with 5th place, in 2012 they had to pack their bags after a 5-1 semi-final loss to Team Canada. However, the Dragons have advanced into a top club in Switzerland since then, only narrowly missing their first championship title twice (3rd in 2020-21, 2nd in 2021-22). Only the 2022-23 season was a little setback, as the team bowed out in the pre-playoffs after missing a direct playoff berth with four losses in the final six regular season games.

But that was obviously only a temporary speed bump in their long-term progression. Fribourg has been consistently in the top 3 of the standings this season, the club currently sits in second place. And has set a new record in the process. Every one of this year’s games at BCF Arena, newly renovated in 2020, will be sold out.

Gotteron is also Christian Dube. After more than 800 games and 800 points for Lugano, Bern, and Gotteron, the charismatic Canadian moved directly from the ice to the front office in 2015, and he has been the athletic director and coach since October 2019. Dube will give up the double mandate at the end of the season and focus solely on the head coaching position in the 2024-25 season. The new athletic director will be the homegrown Gerd Zehnhausern, who is currently acting as the assistant athletic director and will take over from Dube on March 1. It comes of little surprise that Gotteron is putting its faith in an internal member. Whenever possible the club hires people from the region – among the players, one third of the team comes from the area or their own youth department.