The play-offs are still in full swing on many of Europe’s ice rinks, making it the best time of the ice hockey year. But behind the scenes, plans are already being made for next season – including at the Dolomitencup in Neumarkt/South Tyrol, which will take place from August 16 to 18. The traditional Swiss club EHC Kloten will also be there.
In the often tough preparation for the ice hockey season, the Dolomitencup in the beautiful Würth Arena is an absolute treat. The renowned pre-season tournament attracts top teams and passionate fans from all over Europe year after year. EHC Kloten has also answered the call for the 18th edition.
The Swiss first division team is therefore the first of four participants in the Dolomitencup. However, it is not a premiere for the club from the canton of Zurich. The Swiss had already come to the South Tyrolean lowlands in 2015 and promptly became a major attraction at the tenth anniversary edition. In the final, the Swiss won the title against the top German club ERC Ingolstadt. With this in mind: welcome back!
This year, a South Tyrolean was behind the boards
EHC Kloten, which was founded in 1934, is one of Switzerland’s great traditional clubs. The Zurich club has won the championship title five times, including four times in a row from 1993 to 1996. From 1962 to 2018 – 56 years in a row – Kloten played in the top Swiss league. After a brief interlude in the second division, the blue-white-and-red puck acrobats have been back in the Swiss ice hockey top flight for two years. Kloten finished this year’s season in second-last place and is looking to launch a new attack in the coming ice hockey year.
Incidentally, a man from Bolzano was on the Kloten sidelines at the end of the season. Stephan Mair fulfilled a dream at the end of January and took over a Swiss first division team for the first time in his career. Mair is one of the most prominent ice hockey coaches in South Tyrol and has already coached the Schwenninger Wild Wings (DEL), HC Pustertal (ICE Hockey League), Italy’s national team and, for six years, HC Thurgau in the Swiss second division.
