Swiss hockey clubs begin Champions Hockey League campaign

The Champions Hockey League season begins this week, featuring prominent Swiss clubs including HC Fribourg-Gottéron, Servette Genf, and HC Davos.

HC Fribourg-Gottéron, the reigning Swiss champions, will start their campaign with two away matches in Austria, facing the Graz99ers on Thursday and playing in Klagenfurt on Saturday. Fribourg-Gottéron's coach, Roger Rönnberg, noted the difficulty of playing in Graz, describing their arena as a ‘bunker’.

Other Swiss teams face different schedules: HC Davos will host Norway's Storhamar, while Servette Genf will host Berlin's Eisbären. Servette remains a strong contender following their recent success in the league. The tournament format consists of 24 teams playing six preliminary round matches, with the top 16 advancing to the playoffs.