Fribourg-Gottéron Wins Spengler Cup For The First Time

Fribourg-Gottéron has become the third Swiss team in three years to win the Spengler Cup, defeating the Straubing Tigers from Germany 7-2 in the final on Tuesday in Davos.

Seven different players scored for Fribourg in the game, with Christoph Bertschy and Jakob Lilja each tallying three points in the victory.

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Fribourg lost the first game of the tournament, 3-2 in a shootout to Czech club Dynamo Pardubice, but then won three in a row – 6-4 over Kärpät Oulu from Finland in the group stage and host HC Davos 4-2 in the semifinal before facing Straubing in the final. Former San Jose Shark Marcus Sörensen led the team in scoring during the tournament with six points, followed by fellow Swede Jacob De La Rose and Bertschy with five each. Veteran Swiss national team goalie Reto Berra played three of four games in goal.

“The team showed enormous qualities,” said Fribourg sports director Gerd Zenhäusern. “We are proud of this success and convinced that it will strengthen the group for the rest of the season.”

This was Fribourg’s first-ever Spengler Cup win. The club has never won a championship in Switzerland, and currently sits ninth in the 14-team National League with 42 points in 32 games.

The opponents in the final, the Straubing Tigers, lost both of their group-stage games to HC Davos and Team Canada by scores of 5-0 and 6-3, but then beat Dynamo Pardubice in the quarterfinals and got revenge on Canada in the semis, winning both games by 4-2 scores. Mike Connolly, who played two games with the Colorado Avalanche in 2011-12, led the team offensively with five points.

The Tigers were the first German team to make it to the final since Kölner Haie won the tournament in 1999. Straubing currently sits seventh in the 14-team DEL with 46 points in 30 games.

This wasn’t the only international club competition this season for either of the finalists. Both also competed in the Champions Hockey League but were both eliminated in the round of 16 in November. 

This was the 95th edition of the Spengler Cup, which was first held in 1923, and it was the 22nd time that a Swiss team won the tournament. The most successful teams have been Team Canada and host HC Davos, which have both won 16 times. 

Fribourg might not get a chance to defend its title in December 2025. It is already being reported that the SCL Tigers will probably the Swiss representative, in addition to host Davos, next season.