The EHC Kloten is back at the Dolomiten Cup. © Reto Turotti / szenemagazin.ch

A traditional Swiss club is coming to the Dolomites Cup

There is still a lot of playoff activity on many ice surfaces in Europe, making it the most wonderful time of the ice hockey year. But behind the scenes people are already busy planning for the next season - including the Dolomites Cup in Neumarkt, which will take place from August 16th to 18th. A traditional Swiss club will also be there.

March 27, 2024

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In the often tough preparation for the ice hockey season, the Dolomites Cup in the beautiful Würtarena is an absolute treat. The renowned pre-season tournament attracts top teams and passionate fans from all over Europe year after year. For the 18th edition, EHC Kloten also followed the call.

The Swiss first division team is the first of four participants in the Dolomites Cup. However, it is not a first for the club from the canton of Zurich. The Swiss had already come to the South Tyrolean lowlands in 2015 and promptly became a big attraction at the tenth anniversary edition. In the final, the Swiss won the title against the top German club ERC Ingolstadt.

This year a South Tyrolean was behind the gang

The EHC Kloten, which was founded in 1934, is one of the largest traditional clubs in Switzerland. The Zurich team 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 highest Swiss league. After a short interlude in the second division, the blue-white-red puck acrobats have been back in the Swiss ice hockey upper house for two years. Kloten finished this year's season in second to last place and wants to start a new attack next winter.

By the way, there was a man from Bolzano at the Klotener gang 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 teachers in South Tyrol and has coached the Schwenninger Wild Wings (DEL), HC Pustertal (ICE Hockey League), Italy's national team and, for six years, HC Thurgau in the second Swiss league.