The 19th edition of the Dolomitencup kicked off on Friday with a veritable goal fest. In the atmospheric Würtharena, Czech ice hockey heavyweights Dynamo Pardubice celebrated a 7-0 victory over DEL2 club EV Landshut and are once again reaching for the coveted pre-season trophy.
Tradition has always been a big deal at the Dolomitencup in Neumarkt. So it was fitting that the 19th edition was opened by two teams that are among the most iconic in their respective countries. Dynamo Pardubice, the newly crowned Czech vice-champions, faced German second division team EV Landshut, who came to Neumarkt with their new star coach Uwe Krupp, in the picturesque Würtharena. The former Stanley Cup winner and ex-national coach saw Landshut fighting bravely behind the boards, but they had no chance against the Dynamo Express. Pardubice stormed into the final with a furious 7-0 victory.
In the almost sold-out Würtharena, it didn’t take long for the stands to get really loud for the first time. After seven minutes, Dynamo’s Tomás Urban danced through the Landshut defence and scooped the puck over goalie Jonas Langmann into the goal with his backhand. It was a magnificent goal, which the 80 or so Dynamo fans who had travelled with the team celebrated frenetically. Pardubice continued to press forward in the Landshut zone and increased their lead to 2-0 in the 14th minute when Patrik Poulicek crossed in front of the goal and Milos Kelemen only had to tap it in.
Pardubice unleashed
Landshut fought bravely and had their best chance shortly before the break with David Elsner, who was standing free in the slot but missed the target. After the break, Pardubice stepped up the pace once again and scored three times in 113 seconds. First, Daniel Gazda’s shot from the blue line rocketed into the Landshut goal (30th minute), then Urban scored his second goal of the game after some fine work from Jiri Smejkal (30th minute), before Smejkal himself got on the scoresheet with a rebound (32nd minute). Ondrej Miklis (46th minute/blueliner) and Tomás Vondrácek (59th minute/wrist shot) put the finishing touches on the game, bringing the score to 7-0 in the final period. By this point, a boisterous party was already underway in the stands, with both sets of fans celebrating this ice hockey festival together.
While Dynamo Pardubice will be battling for its third title in its third Dolomitencup appearance on Sunday at 8 p.m., Landshut will be playing for third place at 3:45 p.m. Their opponent will be determined tomorrow, Saturday. Then another treat is in store at the Würtharena: in the second semi-final, DEL club Löwen Frankfurt and Norwegian record champions Vålerenga Ishockey will cross sticks. The game starts at 8 p.m.
HC Dynamo Pardubice – EV Landshut 7:0
HC Dynamo Pardubice: Will (Vomacka); Dvorák-Ceresnak, Hajek-Gazda, Miklis-Tourigny, Hrádek-Kostálek; Lauko-Sedlák-Mandát, Kousal-Urban-Smejkal, Kelemen-Poulicek-Vondrácek, Formanek-Hercik-Stransky
Coach: Filip Pesan
EV Landshut: Langman (Dietl); Schwarz-Dersch, Bergman-Serikow, Dietz-Has, Tabert-Lindner; Lindberg-Koskenkorva-Elsner, Stümpel-Stieler-Immo, Gaus-Mayenschein-Wenzel, Steck-Park-Scheibengraber
Coach: Uwe Krupp
Goals: 1-0 Tomás Urban (7:07), 2-0 Milos Kelemen (13:47), 3-0 Daniel Gazda (29:37), 4-0 Tomás Urban (29:56), 5-0 Jiri Smejkal (31:30), 6:0 Ondrej Miklis (45:58), 7:0 Tomás Vondrácek (58:06)
MVP: Gazda (Pardubice), Koskenkorva (Landshut)
Referees: Lazzeri, Virta
Attendance: 832
Photo: Max Pattis
