HCB South Tyrol

HC Bolzano
City Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy
League Serie A
1948–2013
Alpenliga
1991–1997
1998–1999
Erste Bank Eishockey Liga
2013–
Founded 1933
Home arena Palaonda/Eiswelle
(Capacity: 7,200)
Colors White, Red
         
Owner(s) Otto Massimo
General manager Dr. Dieter Knoll
Head coach Tom Pokel
Captain Alexander Egger
Website HC Bolzano
Franchise history
1933– HC Bolzano
Championships
Serie A 19 (1963, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2008, 2009, 2012)
Alpenliga 1 (1994)
EBEL 1 (2014)

Hockey Club Bolzano-Bozen is an Italian ice hockey team located in the city of Bolzano, South Tyrol, that plays in the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL). It was the most successful team in the history of the Italian Serie A, with 19 championships.

History

HC Bolzano was founded in 1933 and in the first twenty years of its existence, home games were played in an outdoor rink until 1953, when the club moved into the Bolzano Exhibition Hall, which was the first artificial ice was available. Eleven of the nineteen Italian league titles were won there before the team moved in 1994, to the newly built Palaonda/Eiswelle. At the same time, the team also participated in the Alps League in part, an international ice hockey competition, attended by teams from Slovenia and Austria were involved. In addition to a master and three runner-up titles in this competition, the team also won another seven Italian titles, the last of which in 2012 was given the three-time winning the Coppa Italia, the Italian League Cup competition. Other achievements include three gains of the Supercoppa Italiana and the Six Nations tournament, also called Caucasian Ligacup, in 1994.

In 2013, the HC Bolzano applied again for inclusion in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL), after earlier applications failed each time due to the resistance of the Italian Ice Hockey Federation. However, the chaotic conditions in the Serie A paved the way to acceptance, since a large part of the club that was from the second division had been released. The move was also largely motivated by the need of a new major sponsor to help clear their financial situation.[1]

Known as the HCB South Tyrol in the EBEL, Bolzano had surprisingly successful inaugural season in 2013–14. On the back of a heavy recruitment scheme which centred in signing Canadian players of Italian heritage, Bolzano finished in fourth place by the end of the Regulation season. In the EBEL finals, they went on to win the championship by defeating the EC Red Bull Salzburg in the finals, and in doing so becoming to first non-Austrian based club to win the Austrian Championship.[2]

With the victory of the EBEL championship, Bolzano ensured qualification to the first edition of the Champions Hockey League, a prestigious tournament for European clubs. Despite their status of EBEL defending Champions, Bolzano due to numerous financial difficulties that risked compromising the entry of the team in these competitions, were late in confirming their status for a second EBEL season.[3]

Honours

Current roster

Updated August 20, 2016.[4]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
88 Italy Bernard, AntonAnton Bernard (A) W R 28 2010 Bolzano, Italy
17 Italy Egger, AlexanderAlexander Egger (C) D L 37 2008 Bolzano, Italy
5 Italy Everson, MaxMax Everson D L 24 2016 Edina, Minnesota, United States
94 Italy Frank, DanielDaniel Frank W L 23 2013 Merano, Italy
13 Italy Frigo, LucaLuca Frigo LW L 24 2016 Moncalieri, Italy
23 Italy Gander, MarkusMarkus Gander RW R 28 2012 Vipiteno, Italy
65 Italy Gellert, AlexAlex Gellert D R 27 2016 Milano, Italy
8 Italy Insam, MarcoMarco Insam (A) W R 28 2010 Selva Gardena, Italy
19 United States Kearney, DennyDenny Kearney W L 29 2016 Hanover, New Hampshire, United States
6 Italy Marchetti, MicheleMichele Marchetti F L 22 2016 Trento, Italy
1 Slovakia Melichercik, MarcelMarcel Melichercik G L 30 2016 Poprad, Czechoslovakia
44 Italy Oberdörfer, HannesHannes Oberdörfer D R 28 2012 Silandro, Italy
11 Canada Oleksuk, TravisTravis Oleksuk C L 28 2016 Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
9 United States Palmieri, NickNick Palmieri RW R 28 2015 Utica, New York, United States
15 Canada Reid, BrodieBrodie Reid RW R 27 2015 Delta, British Columbia, Canada
20 United States Root, JesseJesse Root C L 27 2016 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
3 Canada Seymour, ClarkClark Seymour D R 24 2016 Brockville, Ontario, Canada
2 Italy Smith, JacobJacob Smith G L 22 2016 Oakville, Ontario, Canada
88 Canada Vallerand, Marc-OlivierMarc-Olivier Vallerand RW L 28 2016 Longueil, Quebec, Canada
12 United States Yogan, AndrewAndrew Yogan LW L 25 2016 Coconut Creek, Florida, United States
Staff
Title STAFF MEMBER
Head Coach Tom Pokel

Former players

References

  1. "Giornata storica: il Bolzano sbarca in Ebel" (in Italian).
  2. "Bozen earns championship title in overtime" (in German). Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2014-04-13.
  3. "Bolzano confirms league participation" (in German). Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. 2014-07-31. Retrieved 2014-07-31.
  4. "HCB South Tyrol - Team -Roster". HCB South Tyrol. 2014-08-17. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
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