Zug, Switzerland – Today, the Swiss Ice Hockey Cup returns to Swiss ice hockey stadiums for the fourth time. With the first round underway, four clubs from the canton of Bern will play against each other, guaranteeing a local derby atmosphere. The upcoming season will see some adaptions, which will make the competition even more appealing for fans and teams.
The Swiss Ice Hockey Cup starts on 19 and 20 September with eight games each day. A total of 12 National League clubs, 10 Swiss League clubs and the top 10 regional clubs will compete to reach the Round of 16, which will be played on Sunday, 22 October 2017.
In addition to the local derbies of clubs from Bern (EHC Burgdorf vs. EHC Biel-Bienne, EHC Brandis vs. SC Bern), the game between EHC Dübendorf and HC Davos promises to be a thrilling spectacle as well. In the opening round, the following matches will be broadcast live on Teleclub and blick.ch:
Live on Teleclub
Live on blick.ch
The legendary knock-out competition has always had loyal and strong partners by its side, who will continue to support the Swiss Ice Hockey Cup in the upcoming season. Insurance company Zurich will continue to lead the sponsorship field as Presenting Partner. In addition, Official Partners Teleclub, Motorex, Jeep and BWT AQUA will benefit from strong visibility in the stadiums and on the players' shirts. The sponsorship portfolio is rounded off by Tissot as Official Timekeeper.
For the first time ever, all of the participating teams wear the official cup shirts from the Round of 32, offering partners even more visibility on the ice. Another new feature is that 12 games are broadcast live on the Teleclub platforms (pay and some games also free) and two games on blick.ck, which provides fans with even more ice hockey excitement. The Final will again be broadcast on SRF, RTS and RSI as well as on Teleclub (Teleclub Sport1). In addition, the Round of 16 (22 October 2017) and the Final (4 February 2018) will be played on Sundays.
Together with the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation, InfrontRingier reintroduced the Swiss Ice Hockey Cup in the 2014/15 season and is responsible for the entire implementation and distribution of media, marketing and merchandising rights.
InfrontRingier Sports & Entertainment Switzerland AG, based in Zug, Switzerland, is a 50/50 joint venture between the international sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media and the largest Swiss media group Ringier. It unifies the competencies and experiences of both mother companies and has developed into the leading sports marketing company in Switzerland. InfrontRingier supports organisers of sports events as well as top athletes as a marketing, consulting and service partner. The high-level national portfolio includes, besides others, the Raiffeisen Super League, the Swiss Ice Hockey Cup and the Tour de Suisse.