The Spengler Cup is a peculiar, hybrid hockey tournament that features a Canadian representative side playing an amalgam of European club teams in a classic ski-resort alpine arena in Davos, Switzerland each Christmas period. Canadian fans tune in with semi-bemused interest to watch the Euro club teams, with their jerseys bedecked with sponsor logos, the referees in cow-themed jerseys and Canadian players they might recall from the NHL or junior.
Two Island players, defenceman Matt Irwin from Brentwood Bay and goaltender Dylan Ferguson from Lantzville, will skate in this year’s Spengler Cup as sa国际传媒 announced its roster Friday. The Canadians open on Thursday with a Boxing Day match-up against host HC Davos on Dec. 26 at 11:15 a.m. PT before playing the Straubing Tigers of the Deutschland Elite League in their next game. The invitational tournament continues through the championship game Dec. 31 at 3:10 a.m. PT. All games are broadcast on TSN.
The Canadian head coach is former Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Las Vegas Golden Knights and New York Rangers bench-boss Gerard Gallant assisted by former Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken head coach David Hakstol. The co-GMs are Brad Pascall of Hockey sa国际传媒 and former Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton.
“All of the players named today are extremely excited to represent their country and wear the Maple Leaf as they compete at the Spengler Cup,” Pascall said in a statement. “Our management group feels we have a good mix of experienced players with a wealth of skill and leadership. This is a unique and exciting tournament, and we know these players will embrace the challenge in front of them.”
Irwin, 37, came out of the Peninsula Eagles Minor Hockey Association, Saanich Braves (now Predators) of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League and Nanaimo Clippers of the sa国际传媒 Hockey League to play 461 regular-season NHL games and 47 in the playoffs in a career primarily with the San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals and was respected by teammates for his dedication and drive wherever he played. Irwin announced his retirement from pro hockey last month and released a statement through the NHLPA: “As I reflect on my career, I can’t help but feel grateful and fortunate to have lived out my childhood dream of playing in the NHL. My success would not have been possible without the support of my family, my in-laws and especially my wife, Chantel, and two kids Beckem and Lennon. You all pushed me to be the best version of myself on and off the ice.”
Irwin, who closed out his pro tenure under contract to home-province NHL club Vancouver, skating in the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks, will this month in Switzerland get a nice little international coda to his career, in Canadian red.
The six-foot-two netminder Ferguson came out of Nanaimo minor hockey and the Notre Dame Hounds of Wilcox, Sask., and has three games in the NHL, one with the Golden Knights and two with the Ottawa Senators. The 26-year-old 2017 draft pick of the Dallas Stars won the Kelly Cup in 2021 with the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL and played last season in the KHL for Dinamo Minsk and has split this season between the Iowa Wild of the AHL and Iowa Heartlanders of the ECHL after being invited to a try-out in the NHL training camp of the Canucks.
The Canadian Spengler Cup team also features three players who have represented sa国际传媒 in world junior championships — Madison Bowey, Sam Gagner and Charles Hudon.
sa国际传媒 last won the Spengler Cup in 2019.
