From Piché to Yogan: This is how the HCB feeds the league with stars

Is HC Bozen the much-quoted springboard into the well-paid sport of ice hockey or the training club beloved by the competition? The fact is that the 19-time Italian champion and EBEL champion in 2014 is used as a stopover by countless foreign cracks. They usually come across the pond from North America without any major references and adapt to European ice hockey in their white and red uniform. If they succeed in the change, they will say goodbye to the Bolzano audience just months later. There is usually a reunion, as many of the foreign skate artists present themselves again shortly afterwards in the ice wave - as opponents.

13 players took part in the competition

In the four years of membership in the league, the EBEL clubs fished 13 players out of the Bolzano pond. There are also MacGregor Sharp and Tomas Duba, who found their way to the Austrian competition via DEL. Most of them came to the HCB as nameless players, rose to prominence there and are now undisputed top performers in Villach, Linz or Vienna. Examples range from master players Sébastien Piché, Ziga Pance, Rick Schofield and Mark Santorelli to Taylor Vause, Jerry Pollastrone and Joel Broda to recent departures Andrew Yogan and Ryan Glenn. These two will not be the last in this series, as other players from last year's squad have aroused the desires of their competitors.

In return, it is rare for the HCB to keep a convincing foreign player, such as Nick Palmieri, on the banks of the valley or even to find reinforcements among their colleagues. The 13 league-internal departures of the past few years are compared to just 4 new arrivals from the EBEL: Mark Cullen (from Salzburg), Justin Keller (Vienna), Kim Strömberg (Znojmo) and Ziga Pance (Laibach).

It's about money

One reason for these transfer activities is the fact that HC Bozen does not want to put obstacles in the way of any of its players or slow down their career development. But primarily it's simply about cash, i.e. finances. A Sharp or a Piché earns twice as much in Vienna or Linz as they did in Bolzano. The financially strong clubs know about the HCB's modest budget and lure players with higher salaries. You save yourself time-consuming scouting or expensive player agents and at the same time take very little risk because these players have already proven themselves in the EBEL.

A turning point in sight?

But how long can HC Bozen keep turning this wheel without endangering the sporting development and scaring away the fans? Club boss Dieter Knoll never tires of repeating: “As long as we are not debt-free, we cannot compete on the market with the big players in the league. Until then, that's the only way." If everything goes according to plan, the HCB should present a balanced balance sheet in two years. So we can only hope that Alexander Egger and Co. will continue to deliver sporting success, that fans will continue to flock to the ice wave in droves and that the local economy will provide financial support. Only then will well-known EBEL cracks cross the burner.

The EBEL-internal departures from HC Bozen:

2017 Andrew Yogan (USA) ? HC Innsbruck Ryan Glenn (CAN) ? Villacher SV

2016 Joel Broda (CAN) ? EHC Linz Sean McMonagle (ITA) ? HC Orli Znojmo Taylor Vause (CAN) ? EC Vienna Capitals Jerry Pollastrone (USA) ? EC Vienna Capitals

2015 Ziga Pance (SLO) ? Villacher SV Rick Schofield (CAN)? Villacher SV Phil DeSimone (USA) ? Graz 99ers

2014 Kim Strömberg (FIN) ? Klagenfurt AC Sébastien Piché (CAN) ? EHC Linz Mark Santorelli (CAN)? Villacher SV Tom Zanoski (CRO) ? Olimpija Ljubljana

SN/Alexander Foppa

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From Piché to Yogan: This is how the HCB feeds the league with stars

For the club it is the only possibility of economic activity, for the fans it is an eternal lyre: year after year, its best players leave HC Bozen just in time for the end of the season. Almost without exception, they end up with direct competition in the Erste Bank Ice Hockey League.

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