Defeat in the Dolomites Cup final

EVZ narrowly missed out on winning the Dolomite Cup. In the end, the Zug side were unable to turn a 0–2 deficit – conceded within 12 seconds in the opening period – into a victory.

Let’s get straight into the match. Matia Birchler starts in goal. Leo Genoni – who was named Man of the Match in Saturday’s semi-final against the Eisbären – is given a rest. Coach Lauri Marjamäki also rotates his outfield players: Tomas Tatar, Jacob Moverare and Sven Leuenberger are given a rest. Sam Guerra, Robin Antenen (yesterday’s 13th forward) and Colin Lindemann come on in their place.

Midway through the first period, the Czechs open the scoring with a little help from Zug. Within 12 seconds, two Brno shots are unfortunately deflected into Matia Birchler’s net by EVZ players. In the second period, however, the team steps up their game: Jan Kovar pulled one back to make it 1–2. Frustratingly for Zug, the score became 1–3 just seconds later; however, Sven Senteler was able to respond, ensuring that EVZ trailed by just 2–3 after two periods. In the final period, however, the puck simply wouldn’t go in. As a result, EVZ finished the tournament in second place, having secured a victory over the German champions Eisbären Berlin and suffered a narrow defeat against HC Kometa Brno.

Dolomite Cup, Final

EVZ – HC Kometa Brno 2–3 (0–2, 2–1, 0–0)

EVZ: Birchler , Genoni; Sklenicka, Diaz, Hofmann, Rohrer, Gredig; Guerra, Bengtsson, Kubalik, Kovar, Wingerli; T. Geisser, Schneller, Petrovic, Senteler, Wey; Stadler, Balestra, Lindemann, Egli, Antenen.

Final Standings

1. HC Kometa Brno
2. EVZ
3. Eisbären Berlin
4. Augsburg Panthers

EVZ have also won their second pre-season match. They secured a 2–0 victory against the German champions, Eisbären Berlin, in the semi-final of the Dolomite Cup.

Goalkeeper Leonardo Genoni is named Man of the Match. In his first appearance since the World Championship final at the end of May with the Swiss national team, Genoni once again proved unbeatable after 60 minutes and over 20 saves. After a somewhat shaky start for Zug, Loris Wey opened the scoring. He deflected a thunderous shot from Moverare into the Eisbären’s net. The longer the match went on, the more Berlin pressed for an equaliser. But Zug were in control of the game – and whenever things got dicey, they had Leo Genoni in goal. In the closing minutes, the Eisbären went on the attack with six players and no goalkeeper. EVZ capitalised on this situation: following a masterful assist from Sven Leuenberger, Chris Egli, making his debut in the EVZ jersey, sealed the 2–0 final score with an empty-netter.

EVZ are therefore through to the Dolomiten Cup final. There, they will face the Czech side HC Kometa Brno on Sunday evening at 8 pm. The match will once again be available via our live ticker or via the paid livestream (see below).

EVZ – Eisbären Berlin 2–0 (1–0, 0–0, 1–0)

EVZ: Genoni , Birchler; Sklenicka, Diaz, Hofmann, Rohrer, Tatar; T. Geisser, Schneller, Kubalik, Kovar, Wingerli; Moverare, Bengtsson, Gredig, Senteler, Wey; Stadler, Balestra, Petrovic, Egli, Leuenberger, Antenen.

The EVZ are travelling to Italy for the Dolomites Cup with 23 outfield players and two goalkeepers. Elia Riva, Lino Martschini and Mike Künzle remain sidelined through injury. Mathieu Croce is absent; Matia Birchler, who is on loan to Visp, has been called up to the squad to replace him. New signing Chris Egli is set to make his debut. The 29-year-old forward missed the start of pre-season training following meniscus surgery.

Goalkeepers: Leonardo Genoni, Matia Birchler
Defenders: Jacob Moverare, Livio Stadler, Raphael Diaz, Samuel Guerra, Lukas Bengtsson, Tobias Geisser, Eric Schneller, David Sklenicka, Nic Balestra
Forwards: Rico Gredig, Vinzenz Rohrer, Nik Petrovic, Gregory Hofmann, Andreas Wingerli, Jan Kovar, Sven Leuenberger, Loris Wey, Dominik Kubalik, Robin Antenen, Sven Senteler, Tomas Tatar, Colin Lindemann, Chris Egli.

The Dolomiten Cup has been held since 2006 and has since become one of the most established international pre-season tournaments in European ice hockey. For EVZ, this year’s edition marks a return after an eight-year hiatus: the Zug-based team previously took part in Neumarkt in 2009, 2010, 2017 and 2018. EVZ went on to win the tournament twice (in 2010 and 2017).

All four matches in the Dolomiten Cup will be streamed live for a fee. As usual, the EVZ will also be providing live updates on the match against Eisbären Berlin and the other tournament fixture. Further information on the Dolomiten Cup, the tournament programme and tickets is available on the official tournament website.