Big names and a lot of tradition at the DolomitenCup

In the first semi-final, defending champions and record winners Augsburger Panther and Norway's most successful sports club and record champions Valerenga Oslo meet. In the second semi-final there will be a super duel between Europe's top teams SC Bern and Eisbären Berlin.

Eisbären captain Andre Rankel & Co. are appearing at the DolomitenCup for the first time. © PM Dolomitencup

The organizers of the DolomitenCup were able to sign the Eisbären Berlin, the seven-time DEL champion. The club is one of the most popular ice hockey clubs in Europe (average attendance: 12.000). This popularity is no coincidence: the Berliners have won the DEL seven times and were cup winners in 2008. In the former GDR they even won the championship 15 times as Dynamo Berlin. The team's stars include Louis-Marc Aubry, Sean Backman, James Sheppard, Marcel Noebels and Austin Ortega. Berlin has specifically strengthened itself for the coming season: the Eisbären are relying on Danish national goalkeeper Sebastian Dahm (Iserlohn) in goal. Two new defenders are playing: Ryan McKiernan (Düsseldorf) and John Ramage (AHL). In the attack they hope for national player Leo Pföderl (Nuremberg) and ex-NHL player Maxim Lapierre (Lugano). Duel between capital city clubs and spectator magnets At the DolomitenCup in Neumarkt, the Eisbären Berlin will meet the fifteen-time and current Swiss champions SC Bern in the semi-finals. The SCB is Europe's ice hockey club with the most spectators. Over 16.300 spectators make the pilgrimage to the PostFinanceArena every match day. This means that SC Bern has been number 17 in Europe's fan rankings for 1 years (!). Stars like the Finnish world champion Miika Koivisto, Eric Blum, Calle Andersson, Mark Arcobello, Inti Pestoni, Andrew Ebbett, Simon Moser, Thomas Rüfenacht, Jan Mursak and Tristan Scherwey have been causing the club from the Swiss capital to achieve sporting heights for years. SC Bern has won nine championship titles in the past 20 years, the last of them in the spring. It will be interesting to see how young Niklas Schlegel will assert himself as the new number 1 in goal. Valerenga is Norway's most successful sports club With Valerenga Oslo, not only one of the most traditional ice hockey clubs in Scandinavia is coming to South Tyrol, but also one of the most successful. Valerenga has been champion a total of 26 times and thus holds the most titles of all team sports in Norway. Numerous national players grew up at Valerenga Oslo and some also made the leap into the best ice hockey league in the world, such as Patrick Thoresen, Mats Zuccarello Aasen and Espen Knutsen. Stars in the team are the DEL or SHL experienced Mats Trygg, Martin Roymark and Martin Laumann Ylven as well as last year's league top scorers Tobias Lindström and Rasmus Ahlholm.

Valerenga will face defending champions Augsburger Panther in semi-final 1. The four-time tournament winner from Bavaria achieved the best placement in the club's history with third place in the basic round of the DEL championship this year. Augsburg became the record winner in 2018. © M. Pattis

Augsburg already proved last summer that the team is strong. At that time, the Panthers won the high-class final against eventual Swiss runner-up EV Zug 5-1. With this victory, the Augsburg Panthers also entered the tournament history books: After 2013, 2014 and 2016, Augsburg was the first team to win four editions of the International Dolomites Cup. This makes the Augsburg team the sole record winners. This year, Augsburg is again relying on last year's stars Olivier Roy in goal, Brady Lamb, Patrick McNeil, Scott Valentine, Matt Fraser, Sahir Gill, Drew Le Blanc, Adam Payerl, Simon Sezemsky and Christoph Ullmann. The new additions Mitch Callahan (AHL) and Jakob Mayenschein (Munich) are supposed to replace top scorer Matt White, who has moved to Russia. The tournament program: Friday, August 16th, 20 p.m Augsburger Panther (GER) – Valerenga Oslo (NOR)

Saturday, August 17th, 20 p.m SC Bern (SUI) – Eisbären Berlin (GER)

Sunday, August 18, 16 p.m 3rd place match

Sunday, August 18, 20 p.m Final Winners' table DolomitenCup: 2006: Frankfurt Lions (DEL) 2007: Frankfurt Lions (DEL) 2008: Frankfurt Lions (DEL) 2009: Cologne Sharks (DEL) 2010: EV Zug (DEL) 2011: EHC Munich (DEL) 2012: HC Lugano (NLA) 2013: Augsburg Panther (DEL) 2014: Augsburg Panther (DEL) 2015: Kloten Flyers (NLA) 2016: Augsburg Panther (DEL) 2017: EV Zug (NLA) 2018: Augsburg Panther (DEL)

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Big names and a lot of tradition at the DolomitenCup

Puck fans will probably get their money's worth at the 14th international DolomitenCup this summer. At least the field of participants in the preparatory tournament in Neumarkt promises top-class ice hockey. The DolomitenCup 2019 will be held in the Würtarena from next Friday to Sunday.

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