HC Bozen–Bolzano

Hockey Club Bolzano 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.

  • Italian: HC Bolzano
  • German: HC Bozen
CityBolzano, South Tyrol, Italy
LeagueSerie A
1948–2013
Alpenliga
1991–1997
1998–1999
Erste Bank Eishockey Liga
2013–
Founded1933 (1933)
Home arenaPalaonda/Eiswelle
(Capacity: 7,200)
Colors         
Owner(s)Otto Massimo
General managerDr. Dieter Knoll
Head coachGreg Ireland
CaptainAnton Bernard
Websitewww.hcb.net
Franchise history
1933–presentHC Bolzano
Championships
Serie A19 (1963, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2008, 2009, 2012)
Alpenliga1 (1994)
EBEL2 (2014, 2018)

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 energy producer Alperia would become 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

Players

Current roster

Updated 5 July, 2019.[4]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
– Anthony Bardaro C R 27 2019 Delta, British Columbia, Canada
18 Anton Bernard (C) W R 31 2010 Bolzano, Italy
7 Daniel Catenacci C L 27 2018 Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
94 Daniel Frank W L 26 2013 Merano, Italy
93 Luca Frigo LW L 27 2016 Moncalieri, Italy
– Colton Hargrove LW L 28 2019 Rockwall, Texas, United States
8 Marco Insam (A) W R 31 2010 Selva Gardena, Italy
31 Leland Irving G L 32 2018 Barrhead, Alberta, Canada
26 Angelo Miceli C L 26 2017 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
– Dennis Robertson D L 29 2019 Fort St. John, British Columbia
– Kevin Spinozzi D L 24 2019 Granby, Quebec, Canada
– Ivan Tauferer D R 25 2019 Bolzano, Italy

Notable alumni

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 13 April 2014.
  3. "Bolzano confirms league participation" (in German). Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  4. "HC Bolzano - Team -Roster" (in Italian). HC Bolzano. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
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