HC Bozen–Bolzano

  • Italian: HC Bolzano
  • German: HC Bozen
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 Kai Suikkanen
Captain Anton Bernard
Website www.hcb.net
Franchise history
1933–present 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 2 (2014, 2018)

Hockey Club Bolzano-Bozen Foxes, also known as commercial name HCB Alto Adige Alperia (in Italian) or HCB Südtirol Alperia (in German) is an Italian ice hockey team located in the city of Bolzano, South Tyrol autonomous province, that plays in the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL). It remains 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 Südtirol in the EBEL (the main sponsor is the tourism promotion agency of the Alto Adige – Südtirol region), 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]

In May 2016 it was announced that the South Tyrol engery producer Alperia would became the main sponsor of the team.

In 2018 the HC Bozen Alperia defeat the EC Red Bull Salzburg in game-7 of the final to win the EBEL championship for a second time. After the successful final, historic captain Alexander Egger announced his retirement from professional ice hockey.

Honours

Current roster

Updated August 20, 2016.[4]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
88 Italy Anton Bernard (A) W R 29 2010 Bolzano, Italy
17 Italy Alexander Egger (C) D L 38 2008 Bolzano, Italy
5 Italy Max Everson D L 25 2016 Edina, Minnesota, United States
94 Italy Daniel Frank W L 24 2013 Merano, Italy
13 Italy Luca Frigo LW L 25 2016 Moncalieri, Italy
23 Italy Markus Gander RW R 29 2012 Vipiteno, Italy
65 Italy Alex Gellert D R 29 2016 Milano, Italy
8 Italy Marco Insam (A) W R 29 2010 Selva Gardena, Italy
19 United States Denny Kearney W L 30 2016 Hanover, New Hampshire, United States
6 Italy Michele Marchetti F L 24 2016 Trento, Italy
1 Slovakia Marcel Melichercik G L 31 2016 Poprad, Czechoslovakia
44 Italy Hannes Oberdörfer D R 29 2012 Silandro, Italy
11 Canada Travis Oleksuk C L 29 2016 Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
9 United States Nick Palmieri RW R 29 2015 Utica, New York, United States
15 Canada Brodie Reid RW R 29 2015 Delta, British Columbia, Canada
20 United States Jesse Root C L 28 2016 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
3 Canada Clark Seymour D R 25 2016 Brockville, Ontario, Canada
2 Italy Jacob Smith G L 23 2016 Oakville, Ontario, Canada
88 Canada Marc-Olivier Vallerand RW L 29 2016 Longueuil, Quebec, Canada
12 United States Andrew Yogan LW L 26 2016 Coconut Creek, Florida, United States
Staff
Title STAFF MEMBER
Head coach Kai Suikkanen

Former players

References

  1. ↑ "Giornata storica: il Bolzano sbarca in Ebel" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 29 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "Bozen earns championship title in overtime" (in German). Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. 13 April 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-13.
  3. ↑ "Bolzano confirms league participation" (in German). Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-31.
  4. ↑ "HCB South Tyrol - Team -Roster". HCB South Tyrol. 2014-08-17. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
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