DAVOS, Switzerland – Canada’s National Men’s Team has won the 2012 Spengler Cup with a 7-2 championship game victory over HC Davos (Switzerland) on Monday. It is the 12th time since Canada began competing in the tournament in 1984 that it has won the Spengler Cup.
In Monday’s championship game, Patrice Bergeron (Sillery, Que./HC Lugano, SUI) scored once and added three assists for Canada, which led 3-1 after one period and 5-1 after two en route to its second five-goal victory over the tournament hosts in five days. Canadian captain Ryan Smyth (Banff, Alta./Edmonton, NHL) and John Tavares (Oakville, Ont./SC Bern, SUI) had two goals each, while Derrick Walser (New Glasgow, N.S./Rapperswil-Jona, SUI) and Jason Spezza (Toronto, Ont./Rapperswil-Jona, SUI) also scored.
Devan Dubnyk (Calgary, Alta./Edmonton, NHL) made 28 saves in the Canadian goal to record his third win of the tournament. Canada jumped on HC Davos early, opening the scoring just 46 seconds in and taking a 3-0 lead nine minutes into the first period on goals from Bergeron, Walser and Smyth.
Canada finished first in the Cattini Group in the preliminary round, which included a 5-0 win over HC Davos and a 2-1 overtime loss to Adler Mannheim (Germany), earning it a bye into the semifinals, where it defeated HC Fribourg-Gottéron (Switzerland) 5-1 on Sunday.
Canada’s National Men’s Team roster for the 2012 Spengler Cup is comprised of Canadian players currently playing in Europe, as well as players available due to the NHL lockout.
Canada has now appeared in 10 of the last 13 championship games. In addition to this year, Canada’s National Men’s Team also won the Spengler Cup in 1984, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2007.
The Spengler Cup, held annually since 1923, is the oldest professional international hockey tournament in the world.
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