Why Fribourg? Because of this!

Switzerland. Known for chocolate, alphorn players, breathtaking mountain landscapes, luxury watches, Roger Federer – and now also for ice hockey. Traditional clubs like the ZSC Lions, HC Davos, and SC Bern are multi-million-dollar brands, their fans famous far beyond the country's borders. The domestic National League is booming: around 7.500 fans flock to the state-of-the-art arenas for each game.

The national team benefits from this, boasting eleven NHL players. Three silver medals in the last eight years demonstrate that the Alpine nation, which played only a minor role internationally before the turn of the millennium, has now become a major force. Nevertheless, the flourishing Swiss ice hockey scene had to wait 17 years for a World Championship on home ice. Bern and Kloten hosted the last tournament in 2009.

A city crazy about ice hockey After the 2020 World Championship in Zurich and Lausanne was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the long wait is finally over. Since Friday, the puck has been whizzing across the Swiss ice once again. Zurich, the country's most populous city, has been confirmed as a host city. Switzerland will play its preliminary round matches in Group A at the brand-new Swiss Life Arena, which has a capacity of 12.000 fans. The arena will also host the two semi-finals and the final.

The crowd after the championship parade. © HC Fribourg-Gottéron

Group B, including Italy, will not play its matches in Lausanne as originally planned for 2020, but in Fribourg. This tranquil town of 40.000 inhabitants, steeped in medieval charm, is the smallest World Championship host city of the 21st century and was not chosen arbitrarily as the second venue. In Fribourg, ice hockey is far more than just a sport – it's a lived passion, deeply rooted in the community.

The man responsible for this is HC Fribourg-Gottéron, founded in 1937 and named after the Gottéron River, near which the first games were played. To understand the Dragons' deep roots in all levels of society in the canton, one must look to the history books. Since their promotion in 1980, they have been a constant fixture in the Swiss top league. However, the reputation Fribourg-Gottéron has acquired over the past five decades has been anything but gratifying: that of the perennial runner-up. The club has finished as runner-up four times.

The long-awaited championship title The local rivals from Bern, just 25 minutes away, responded with derision and mockery. "Come what may: as long as Gottéron doesn't win the championship, everything's fine," was the general sentiment from their big brother. Parallels to the local ice hockey scene, where a similar mentality prevails between HC Bolzano and HC Pustertal, are obvious.

The team's chronic lack of success did nothing to diminish the passion for HC Fribourg-Gottéron – quite the opposite. It intensified the deep affection the local population has for the club. Watson As columnist Klaus Zaugg describes, no other sports organization in Switzerland evokes such profound waves of enthusiasm, hope, and anxiety. The numbers underscore this statement: For over three years, Fribourg-Gottéron has sold every single one of its 9372 tickets for home games. And this is achieved without relying on fleeting fans who flock to the BCF Arena, renovated in 2020, due to sudden bursts of success. The yearning for a major triumph culminated this season with the championship title, which Fribourg-Gottéron secured in overtime of the seventh final game against HC Davos. An entire canton went wild, a state of euphoria reigned – the perennial underdogs were suddenly champions.

The prefectures suspended the night's rest. Laughter, drinking, and dancing continued until dawn. A few days later, 80.000 people—twice the city's population—participated in the championship celebration. Fribourg became the epicenter of Swiss ice hockey—just a few weeks before the start of the World Championship at the same location. An almost kitschy scenario, but one that impressively demonstrated why the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) entrusted a small, sleepy city with hosting its biggest event of the year.

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Why Fribourg? Because of this!

Italy's national ice hockey team will play its games at the Ice Hockey World Championship in Fribourg. At first glance, the choice of venue might seem surprising – but the city in western Switzerland is actually the ideal location for this tournament.

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