“It has nothing in common with the hockey festival.”

The crown pandemic is also bringing the Spengler Cup organizers to their knees. The traditional tournament of the week of the old year in Davos has been canceled.

Unusual Spengler Cup tournaments are rare. Since the event was launched in 1923, it is only the fifth time since 1939, 1940, 1949 and 1956 that it cannot be held. Those responsible found the decision correspondingly difficult.

The organizing committee weighed, discussed within its own ranks and with outside experts, the Spengler Cup advisory board, the HC Davos board of directors and partners about the uncertainties and risks that the special situation caused by the coronavirus brings. A decision had to be made that took into account the tournament’s reputation on a social, sporting and economic level. In the end, those responsible had to realize that there are too many arguments against the implementation in December.

Traditional atmosphere not guaranteed

The planning of the field of participants and the general uncertainty are causing the organizing committee with President Marc Gianola the biggest problems that will make a tournament practically impossible in 2020. The arrival and return of teams from Finland, Russia, Czech Republic and Canada will not it is currently possible or only possible if quarantine measures are observed.

In addition, the trend in the number of cases at present is clearly increasing, which makes it likely that one or more participants will be canceled in the medium or short term and therefore also matches or the entire tournament due to travel regulations and / or official orders. .

Also, the traditional atmosphere would not be guaranteed. “A Spengler Cup without a fan tent, in a half-empty stadium and without a stands has nothing in common with the hockey festival we are used to,” Gianola was quoted in the statement. “In our evaluation, the health of the participating teams always had priority. We cannot offer this guarantee. “

The cancellation of the tournament will also affect the National League schedule. For the last week of the year, the updated calendar now lists three games. The Davos-Ambri-Piotta match is scheduled for Monday, December 28, followed by the Davos-Zug and Genève-Servette-Lausanne matches two days later.