HC Bozen: Satisfying the deep longing

The history books of the glorious HC Bozen are thicker than those of any other club in Italy. From 1947 onwards, the club played in Serie A for 65 years without a break, winning the title 19 times. In addition, there were Italian Cup victories, Supercup successes and international triumphs in the Alpine League, the Six Nations Tournament and the Erste Bank Ice Hockey League (EBEL). A trophy was put in the club's cabinet almost every year. Given this series of successes, a dry spell is of course immediately apparent.

And it's hard to believe: Bozen ice hockey is in the longest titleless period of the last half century. Since the EBEL championship in spring 2018, fans from the state capital have been waiting for a title. The last time the HCB chased a trophy for more than five seasons in vain was in the late 1960s.

But that is all over now. The HCB is making a strong push for the Karl Nedwed Trophy, the third championship title since joining the cross-border ICEHL in 3 (then still EBEL). This move is also intended to make people forget two seasons that always lifted the HCB into the illustrious circle of top teams, but each ended in bitter disappointment. In April 2013, the "Füchse" lost the 2th final game against Salzburg in the Sparkasse Arena in the final seconds. A year later, they were again eliminated by the "Red Bulls", this time in overtime of the 2023th semi-final game.

Tradition obliges: In Bolzano only titles count In Bolzano, it is not enough to be one of the best teams. In Bolzano, only titles count. Tradition is an obligation. The highest decision-maker in the white and red clubhouse, Dieter Knoll, knows this. He makes it clear: "We all want to win, the players, the coach and me too."

However, the managing director and sports director warns against putting the HCB at the top of the list of favorites. It seems as if he is deliberately dampening expectations by saying things like: "A lot of factors have to come together for us to make it to the final." Or: "There are competitors who are better equipped than us."

HC Bozen at the Alperia Cup.

The squad planner is trying to take the pressure off his team, but his assessment is not entirely off the mark. Bolzano does have a squad that has an incredible amount of quality. However, the many individual talents of coach Glen Hanlon, who was not involved in the transfer activities but approved all the new signings, still have to be brought together into a functioning unit. The many offensive artists, puck magicians and stick acrobats must not be above doing the dirty work, i.e. playing at the back. And Hanlon, who is highly respected by the players, and the management team around captain Daniel Frank, Scott Valentine and Mike Halmo also have to keep those players happy who don't get to play as much in the Bolzano squad.

Defensive stability could prove to be a sticking point On the one hand, the club officials are probably paying close attention to this aspect when they talk about "direct entry into the play-offs" as a minimum goal. On the other hand, the cautious target is probably also based on the departure of established players.

Josh Teves, probably the best offensive defender in the league, has left Bolzano for Slovakia. Christian Thomas and Connor Ford, the two players with the highest points from last season, also moved to Eastern Europe. Long-time HCB stars Angelo Miceli and Domenico Alberga are also gone. Blake Parlett has not received a new contract either. Although he only found his best form in the season finale, he was an enormous stabilizer there. An experienced stay-at-home defender like him is hard to find in the "new" HCB's squad. Defensive stability could therefore prove to be a sticking point on the planned path towards the top of the league.

Apart from a strong defensive specialist, the Bolzano squad has no shortcomings. Most of the departures described have been replaced by even better new arrivals. The only thing that has not been improved is the goalkeeper position - and why should it? With Samuel Harvey and Gianluca Vallini, the "White-Reds" have one of the best goalkeeping duos in the league. Returning player Harvey saved 90,8 percent of shots last season, while backup Vallini saved 93,4 percent.

You can rely on Harvey and Vallini The soon-to-be 31-year-old from Bolzano has shown that he can be relied on. Nevertheless, the Canadian, who is five years younger, is the undisputed number 5. Although he missed almost half of the preseason because he spent a long time overseas following the early death of his father, he then joined his teammates full of enthusiasm. If the defense falters, it is more than ever up to Harvey to exude the necessary calm. His performances could prove to be the deciding factor in the tug-of-war for the championship trophy.

Samuel Harvey will be in goal for HCB from the start this year. © Vanna Antonello

Harvey is an extremely agile, quick-reacting goalie, but he also needs a solid defensive line in front of him to perform at his best. Long-time DEL star Scott Valentine, whose continued employment was uncertain for a long time, will be responsible for this. Apart from him, only Dylan Di Perna and the currently injured Enrico Miglioranzi are left from last year's defensive department. Miglioranzi will not join the team until mid-October at the earliest after recovering from a partial cruciate ligament tear in his knee.

One of the newcomers to the defensive line has already gained experience in Bolzano, namely Cole Hults. He had offers from Eastern European leagues this summer, but after a year in Slovakia he decided to return to South Tyrol. There he played a key role in reaching the final series in 2023. In addition to Hults, Simon Bourque also has an ICEHL past. The 27-year-old Canadian boosted the Innsbrucker Haie's game for two years before moving to Norway last summer, where he became a key player for the Stavanger Oilers, scoring 2 points from 39 league games.

Spornberger’s title chance “right on his doorstep” The most interesting person in the Bozen back line, however, is neither Hults nor Bourque, but Peter Spornberger. The 25-year-old Rittner is one of the best defenders that Italian ice hockey has produced in recent times. His rise from the DEL2 to the top flight of German ice hockey was rapid and impressive. There he played his way into the spotlight for two years with the Schwenninger Wild Wings, before his development faltered in the last season, partly due to dwindling playing time. Now Spornberger is making a new attempt in the ICEHL. He says: "I want to return to the DEL at some point, but here I now have the opportunity to play for titles and trophies. And it's right on my doorstep."

Jason Seed is tackling his new adventure with similar enthusiasm. The Italian-Canadian, who came from Cortina, was one of the few bright spots at Italy's home World Cup in Bolzano in May. Now, at the age of 32, he has the chance to prove his ICEHL suitability in the Sparkasse Arena.

Not only does the HCB have to make do without a player in defense with Miglioranzi, there is also a player missing at the start of the season: Mike Halmo. He is still suffering from the injuries sustained in last year's season finale. Although he is already back on ice training, he will miss the first few weeks of the championship. In general, the 33-year-old leading player and crowd favorite with NHL experience has a special role to play. It is therefore quite possible that his playing time will be reduced during the regular season in order to give his body the necessary recovery phases.

The offensive is the showpiece The Foxes can afford this luxury because the offense has a lot to offer in terms of quality and quantity even without Halmo. The local club veterans Daniel Frank and Luca Frigo are joined by dual citizens Daniel Mantenuto and Dustin Gazley. Their national team colleague Michele Marchetti has returned to Bolzano six years after his departure. He played for Asiago in the past, as did the two trained center forwards Giordano Finoro and Anthony Salinitri. The latter left the "Stellati" a year ago to hunt for goals in Graz and Stavanger.

Daniel Mantenuto (right) will continue to celebrate in the HC Bozen uniform next season. © Leo Holzknecht / Vanna Antonello

After a very strong season (54 points) and a much weaker following season (26 points), Finoro is moving from Veneto to South Tyrol. These commitments will definitely move Brad McClure and Cristiano DiGiacinto to the wing positions. The skilled technician McClure is entering his third year with the "White-Reds", DiGiacinto only arrived from overseas in the last season's finale, but quickly earned his place with passionate performances and his overall style of play. Helewka, Bradley and Co. create euphoria The players listed here alone have treated spectators to many delicacies in the ICEHL in the past. But as if that wasn't enough, the Bolzano squad planners have added three more icings to their offensive department. Their names are Matt Bradley, Braden Christoffer and Adam Helewka. Between them they have made 3 appearances in the league and an incredible 184 points, but also a whopping 227 penalty minutes.

Helewka, who was from Innsbruck at the time, was the league's top scorer in 2022/23 (28 goals), Christoffer played his way into the limelight in North Tyrol two years earlier, while Bradley caused a sensation in Vienna for a year and a half. Bozen was already interested in all three players at the time, but then had to let them go to Finland (Helewka and Christoffer) and Germany (Bradley). Helewka moved directly to the Czech Republic last season, where he promptly won the championship with Trinec. "These are absolute dream players. Now the opportunity has arisen to bring them to Bozen," reveals Knoll.

By signing these dream players, Knoll has not only given himself a present, but also the fans. Helewka, Bradley and Co. are making the fans' enthusiasm for their HCB soar. Want proof? The first 1000 season tickets for the new season went on sale in August. The Foxes are therefore assured of the support of the loudest fans in the league, as the club proudly calls them.

At 22, Brunner is the youngest player Now it's up to the men in white and red to let the euphoria spill over onto the ice. Pascal Brunner is one of them. The talented Meran native has just completed his first full ICEHL season and has certainly impressed. However, given the depth of the squad, it will not be easy for him to take the next, necessary step towards more goal threat. At 1,90 years old, the 22-meter giant is the youngest player in the oldest squad in the league. The average age of the Bozen team is 28,78 years. This is a slight reduction from the previous season's figure (29,75), but they still lead the rankings ahead of Fehervar (28,54), Linz (27,68) and Pustertal (27,62).

The average age of the Bozen players is likely to vary over the next few weeks and months. According to the regulations, every ICEHL club must have at least 10 local players on the team, including two under-12s, in addition to 24 foreign players. Brunner is, however, the only player who is younger than 24 and has a permanent place in the squad.

Now there are two options: Either the Foxes tackle the championship games with only 2 men instead of 21, or an U22 player is called up from the farm team partners Meran, Unterland and Gröden. With the strikers Moritz Kaufmann (24 years old / Unterland) and Daniel Gellon (21 / Meran), the HCB has two talented options in reserve. Both have completed part of the preseason preparation with the Bozen team and Gellon also played in a test match.

Coach Hanlon wants his first championship title Coach Glen Hanlon not only has to form a unit that organizes the many offensive stars into a functioning concept, but also has to show a fine touch when it comes to putting the line together. However, he is right when he says: "That's my job and who wouldn't want to do that job?" In fact, the long-time NHL goalie has to solve mainly luxury problems in his third year as HCB coach.

Hanlon has been given all the tools he needs to put a stop to champions Salzburg and the other title contenders from Graz and Klagenfurt. The club management has invested even more money this summer than in previous years to lay the foundation for a successful title hunt. Not only have new signings been presented who guarantee an incredible amount of quality, but with the exception of Spornberger and Seed, all of them already have league experience. Now Hanlon and his friend and assistant, tactical fox Fabio Armani, have to prove that they can handle the tools provided.

The coming season will be one of the most important ever, especially for Hanlon, who has been earning his living in ice hockey for 50 years and has experienced an incredible amount in his long career. His first title would probably be the crowning glory of his career. A happy ending, so to speak. Because neither as a player nor as a coach has Hanlon ever been able to lift a championship trophy. In comparison, the six-year dry spell for the Bozen players and fans must feel like a moment of temporal inertia. Whatever the case, the wait is now over - for Hanlon, for the Foxes and for all of Bozen ice hockey. It's all about the championship title!

ICE Regular Season ICE	SP	TV	P
1. Graz99ers	7	23:14	19
2. HCB South Tyrol	7	26:14	18
3. Olimpija Ljubljana	7	18:17	14
4. EC Salzburg	6	28:22	13
5. EC Klagenfurt	8	25:26	12
6. Vienna Capitals	8	14:17	11
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HC Bozen: Satisfying the deep longing

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