EHC Biel-Bienne is a professional ice hockey club based in the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne, Switzerland and plays in the National League (NL). Since the city of Biel is completely bilingual, alongside the German name EHC Biel (Abbr: EHCB) the team also has a French name, HC Bienne (Abbr: HCB). The team plays its home games in the 6,521-seat Tissot Arena.
| EHC Biel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Biel, Switzerland |
| League | National League |
| Founded | 1939 |
| Home arena | Tissot Arena |
| Colors | |
| General manager | Ueli Schwarz |
| Head coach | Petri Matikainen |
| Captain | Gaëtan Haas |
| Website | www.ehcb.ch |
| Franchise history | |
| 1939–47 | EHC Biel/Bienne |
| 1947–48 | EHC Tornado Biel |
| 1948–present | EHC Biel |
 Current season | |
History
editEHC Biel played in lower Swiss ice hockey leagues until they got promoted in the second-tier Swiss League in 1960. In 1975 EHC Biel won the Swiss League-title and got promoted to the first level, the National League. During the 20 years between 1975 and 1995 the club won three national championships in 1978, 1981 and 1983 under three coaches (František Vanek, Ed Reigle, Kent Ruhnke). After the relegation in 1995 EHC Biel had to wait 13 years until their return to the NL. After three consecutive championship victories in the second-tier Swiss League, EHC Biel was reinstated into the NL, winning the promotion/relegation best of 7 series against EHC Basel 4-0 in 2008.
A strong local rivalry exists with the SCL Tigers, SC Bern, EHC Olten, and HC Ajoie. Games between these teams often attract sell-out crowds.
During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Biel were strengthen by the acquisitions of NHL All-Stars Tyler Seguin and Patrick Kane. They were joined by future NHL players, goalkeeper Reto Berra and winger Nikolaj Ehlers.
Honors
editChampions
edit- NL Championship (3): 1978, 1981, 1983
- SL Championship (5): 1975, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
Players
editCurrent roster
editUpdated 5 July 2024.[1]
Notable alumni
edit- Jean-Jacques Aeschlimann
- Olivier Anken
- Mauro Beccarelli
- Gaetan Boucher
- Gino Cavallini
- Chris Chelios
- Gilles Dubois
- Daniel Dubuis
- Normand Dupont
- Heinz Ehlers
- Rico Fata
- Pierre-Alain Flotiront
- René Furler
- Paul Gagné
- Gaston Gingras
- Richmond Gosselin
- Shawn Heaphy
- Jonas Hiller
- Barry Jenkins
- Ramil Juldashew
- Patrick Kane
- Willy Kohler
- Jakob Kölliker
- Francis Lardon
- Steve Latinovitch
- Marc Leuenberger
- Bob Lindberg
- Kevin Lötscher
- Urs Lott
- Serge Martel
- Serge Meyer
- Cyrill Pasche
- Guido Pfosi
- Dan Poulin
- Jörg Reber
- Michel Riesen
- Valeri Schirjajew
- Kevin Schläpfer
- Björn Schneider
- Sven Schmid
- Tyler Seguin
- Jiri Slegr
- Laurent Stehlin
- Martin Steinegger
- Alexandre Tremblay
- Marko Tuomainen
- Claude Vilgrain
- Marco Wegmüller
- Daniel Widmer
- Bernhard Wist
- Aldo Zenhäusern
References
edit- ^ "EHC Biel team roster". www.ehcb.ch (in German). Retrieved 2024-07-05.
External links
edit- (in German and French) EHC Biel official website
- (in German) Website Fanclub Fire-Lords
- (in German) Website Fanclub Seeschwalbe
- (in French) Website Fanclub Red Youngs 05
- (in German) Website A2 Supporter Club EHC Biel
- (in French) Blog "Fan du HC Bienne"
- (in English) [1]