Davos wins 16th Spengler Cup title – Coach Holden happy with mini World Cup

The 16th championship title is real. HC Davos beat Pardubice 5-3 in the final on Sunday afternoon. By defeating the Czech team, HCD tied with Canada. For HCD coach Josh Holden, the win is a reward for his past performance. “The way the season has gone so far, the boys deserved to win. I've been working hard over the past four or five months.»

Dennis Rasmussen paved the way for the title. The Swede was unstoppable in the final either. Shortly after a goal that made it 1-0 in favor of Pardubice, which was later disallowed for offside, the striker scored to give Davos a 1-0 lead. This was his fourth goal in this tournament. “I think the first goal, which was disallowed, gave us the chance to score“Holden says.

With his goal, the Swede once again found a response to the goal he conceded in a short period of time. Because against Frölunda in the semi-final match on Saturday he scored shortly after the opponent's goal to equalize the score 2-2. He later described the goal as “important because it brought us back into the game.”

The longer the game goes on, the better Davos finds his way into the game. Within six minutes, the Davos side had four good scoring chances in the middle third – including one from Rasmussen. His shot went wide of the goal. Enzo Corvi scored the goal to make it 2-0. The striker scored for the second time in this tournament. “The strategy was similar to previous gamesHolden says and adds:But we asked the players to work harder because we know how organized the Czechs play and how strong they are in duels.»

Déjà vu to the semi-finals

The Czechs also managed to respond in this match. Shortly before the second break, the Davos team had to accept a penalty kick – and immediately scored their first goal. But it didn't stop there. After 13 seconds, the Czech team equalized to make the score 2-2. The scene looked like the last minutes of the semi-final match between the Czechs and Canada.

However, the Davos team was not impressed, as Klaas Dahlbeck raised the score to 3-2 before the break. They immediately carried the momentum into the final third. Rasmussen first restored the lead with two goals before Jesper Olofsson extended it to 5:2. But even with Pardubice's third goal in the 53rd minute and with another player on shortly before the end of the match, victory could no longer be snatched away from Davos.

Overall, Holden is happy with the way the tournament went. «WWhen we look at the Spengler Cup, it's like a mini world championship. Teams that come here want to win. They don't come to ski or go on vacation. So I'm happy for the players who succeeded in achieving this.»