Title successfully defended! Dynamo Pardubice put on a great show on Sunday evening in Neumarkt/South Tyrol, winning the Dolomitencup final against HC Davos in impressive fashion with a 5:1 victory. The 17th edition of the prestigious preparation tournament is now history.
Dynamo Pardubice’s record in the Würtharena is impressive. Four games, four wins, 15:2 goals. After the Czechs promptly dusted off the title in their first participation in the Dolomitencup last year, they impressively followed up this summer and crowned themselves champions once again. Swiss record champions HC Davos were unable to find an antidote in Sunday’s final – even though Davos legend Andres Ambühl returned to the line-up. He had been absent on Friday due to illness. The only draw was in the stands. There, around 100 fans from Switzerland and just as many Czech supporters ensured a final-worthy atmosphere. A total of 978 spectators attended the special ice hockey evening in the sold-out Würtharena.
On Sunday, the Pardubice cracks picked up where they left off on Saturday in the semi-final against Augsburg (4:0): with power ice hockey at its very best. The men in red rushed across the pitch like high-speed trains, combining as if from a single mould and displaying a level of forechecking that was quite simply impressive. Davos didn’t have a second to catch their breath, with goalkeeper Gilles Senn rushing from one save to the next. The Swiss goalkeeper still had to admit defeat twice: Tomas Dvorak’s blueliner was deflected slightly and slid over the line (9th), while Peter Ceresnak’s slapshot hit the net like a rocket (18th).
Quick as an arrow and highly dangerous
In the middle third, the traditional Czech club, which has played in the first division without interruption for 73 years, kept up the pace and was particularly dangerous on the counter-attack. One of these led to 3:0 when David Cienciala burst through and passed to Adam Musil, who scooped the disc into the net. Shortly before the end of the third period, Lukas Sedlak finished off a remarkable interplay to make it 4:0.
The game was now decided. In the final period, Davos scored a consolation goal through Chris Egli after a fine assist from Aleksi Peltonen (44′), before Ondrej Vala put the finishing touches on the game with an unmarked shot (45′). By this point, the celebrations of the passionate Pardubice fans in the stands had long since begun. For the second time in a row, they were able to make the 800-kilometre journey home as Dolomitencup winners!
In the afternoon, another match took place in the Würtharena. In the small final, the Swedish top club Rögle BK defeated the Dolomitencup record winners, the Augsburg Panthers, 3:0.
