The 2015 edition of the Spengler Cup starts tomorrow. We'll have a new champion this year, as two-time defending champs Geneve-Servette HC are not participating this year.
Group Torriani sees the return of Jokerit Helsinki, who hope to improve after an abysmal performance last year. Alder Mannheim returns after a two year hiatus, and will (just like Jokerit) want to have a better finish than last time. Rounding out the group is HC Lugano, who are back in the Spengler Cup for the first time since 1991.
Group Cattini is highlighted by the host HC Davos, who look to win their tournament for the first time since 2011. Team Canada is back in the host's group, and will want to end their two year cup drought. Newcomers Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg round out what will be a tough group.
Note: Rosters from Spengler Cup website.
Alder Mannheim (DEL)
Goalies: Dennis Endras, Youri Ziffzer
Defensemen: Sinan Akdag, Dominik Bittner, Mathieu Carle, Christopher Fischer, Steve Eminger*, Nikolai Goc, Kevin Maginot, Denis Reul, Danny Richmond, Steve Wagner, Kyle Wilson*
Forwards: Ronny Arendt, Martin Buchwieser, Marcel Goc, Jochen Hecht, Kai Hospelt, Andrew Joudrey, Marcus Kink, Ryan MacMurchy, Glen Metropolit, Lennart Palausch, Brent Raedeke, Jon Rheault, Philip Riefers, Jamie Tardif, Christoph Ullmann, Brandon Yip
Top Threat: Normally a strong team, lead by German national goalie Endras.
Weakness: Coming into this tournament in a bit of a slump. An old team as well, as most of their forwards are 30 or older (including 41-year old Glen Metropolit!).
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (KHL)
Goalies: Leonid Fomin, Jakub Kovar, Igor Ustinsky
Defensemen: Ilya Antonovsky, Tommi Kivisto, Dimitri Megalinsky, Alexander Shchemerov, Nikolai Timashov, Pavel Turbin, Alexei Vasilevsky, Yegor Zhuravlyov
Forwards: Andrei Alexeev, Egor Dubrovsky, Eero Elo, Artyom Gareyev, Anatoli Golyshev, Petr Koukal, Alexei Mikhnov, Evgeni Mityakin, Alexander Pankov, Kirill Polozov, Vitali Popov, Ondrej Roman, Alexei Simakov, Alexadner Torchenyuk, Igor Velichkin, Sergey Yemelin
Top Threat: Young team. Golyshev is having a breakout year.
Weakness: Unfortunately youth doesn't always translate to greatness. Kovar isn't having a good year.
HC Lugano (NLA)
Goalies: Elvis Merzlikins, Mark Owuya*
Defensemen: Alessandro Chiesa, Philippe Furrer, Ryan Glenn*, Steve Hirschi, Lorenz Kienzle, Clarence Kparghai, Riccardo Sartori, Dan Sprang*, Stefan Ulmer, Julien Vauclair
Forwards: Alessio Bertaggia, Damien Brunner, Giacomo Dal Pian, Luca Fazzini, Ilari Filppula, Gregory Hofmann, Linus Klasen, Diego Kostner, Tomy Martensson, Fredrik Pettersson, Sebastien Reuille, Matteo Romanenghi, Raffaele Sannitz, Tim Stapleton, Julian Walker
Top Threat: Coming into this tournament hot, as they are 7-1 in December. Merzlikins leads the NLA in save percentage.
Weakness: One question: will they make their opponents feel Dal Pian? (I'm sorry)
Jokerit Helsinki (KHL)
Goalies: Riku Helenius, Henrik Karlsson
Defensemen: Tobi Jaakola, Jesper Jensen, Arturs Kulda, Ville Lajunen, Philip Larsen, Atte Ohtamaa, Jere Sneck, Daine Todd
Forwards: Juhamatti Aaltonen, Frank Gymer, Niklas Hagman, Jesse Joensuu, Pekka Jormakka, Niko Kapanen, Brandon Kozun, Tomi Maki, Atte Makinen, Miro Makinen, Mathis Olimb, Eetu Poysti, Peter Regin, Jani Rita, Jere Sallinen, Saku Salminen, Petteri Wirtanen
Top Threat: One of the top teams in the KHL, heading into this tournament on a five game winning streak.
Weakness: Same goaltending as last year, which didn't help them much.
HC Davos (NLA - Host)
Goalies: Leonardo Genoni, Gilles Senn
Defense: Jan Brejcak, Felicien Du Bois, Marco Forrer, Beat Forster, Samuel Guerra, Kevin Hecquefeuille*, Fabian Heldner, Sven Jung, Simon Kindschi, Ville Koistinen*, Claude-Curdin Paschoud, Noah Schneeberger, Jens Nater, Ruben Rampazzo, Silvio Schmutz
Forwards: Marc Aeschlimann, Andres Ambuhl, Dick Axelsson, Enzo Corvi, Chris Egli, Mauro Jorg, Tino Kessler, Perttu Lindgren, David Moss*, Marcus Paulsson, Sven Ryser, Gregory Sciaroni, Devin Setoguchi, Lukas Sieber, Dario Simion, Samuel Walser, Dino Wieser, Marc Wieser
Top Threat: Top two team in the NLA, have the best goal differential and top point scorer (Lindgren). They should be fine.
Weakness: Pressure from home crowd? Not too much to be worried about with this team.
Team Canada
Goalies: Jeff Glass, Drew MacIntyre,
Defensemen: Keith Aulie, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Trevor Carrick, Mark Cundari, Aaron Johnson, Alexandre Picard, Daniel Vukovic
Forwards: Kevin Clark, Cory Conacher, Matt D'Agostini, Chris DiDomenico, Matt Ellison, Cory Emmerton, Kris Foucault, Alexandre Giroux, Matthew Lombardi, Manny Malhotra, Daniel Paille, Tom Pyatt, Derek Roy, James Sheppard
Top Threat: Nice mix of players from the AHL and Europe. Offence shouldn't be an issue for this team.
Weakness: Defence on the other hand...
*denotes reinforcement players
Predictions
Group Torriani
1 - HC Lugano
2 - Jokerit Helsinki
3 - Alder Mannheim
Group Cattini
1 - HC Davos
2 - Team Canada
3 - Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg
Final
HC Lugano - HC Davos
Winner: HC Davos
HC Lugano should be able to win Group Torriani, with Jokerit Helsinki edging out Alder Mannheim for second. Host HC Davos has the skill to win Group Cattini, Team Canada will finish right behind them, while Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg ends up in last. In the quarter-finals, Jokerit Helsinki beats KHL counterpart Avtomobilist while Team Canada wins against Alder Mannheim. It could be a Swiss sweep in the semi-finals, as HC Lugano beats Team Canada and HC Davos takes out Jokerit Helsinki. It'll be a hard-fought final, but in the end HC Davos will win, giving the home crowd something to cheer for.
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