EHC Biel

EHC Biel
2019–20 NL season
City	Biel, Switzerland
League	National League
Founded	1939
Home arena	Tissot Arena
Colors
General manager	Ueli Schwarz
Head coach	Antti Törmänen
Captain	Kevin Fey
Affiliates	HC Ajoie
Website	www.ehcb.ch
Franchise history
1939–47	EHC Biel/Bienne
1947–48	EHC Tornado Biel
1948–present	EHC Biel

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.

History

EHC 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

Champions

• NL Championship (3): 1978, 1981, 1983
• SL Championship (5): 1975, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008

Players

Current roster

Updated 4 July 2019.^[1]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
96		Damien Brunner	RW	R	34	2018	Kloten, Switzerland
10		Luca Cunti	C	L	31	2019	Zürich, Switzerland
4		Kevin Fey (A)	D	L	30	2013	Bern, Switzerland
29		Beat Forster	D	L	38	2017	Bütschwil-Ganterschwil, Switzerland
21		Jason Fuchs	C	L	25	2017	Bern, Switzerland
58		Anton Gustafsson	C	L	30	2019	Karlskoga, Sweden
1		Jonas Hiller	G	R	38	2016	Felben Wellhausen, Switzerland
61		Michael Hügli	RW	R	25	2018	Seedorf, Switzerland
44		Samuel Kreis	D	L	26	2017	Egnach, Switzerland
73		Mike Künzle	LW	R	27	2018	Zürich, Switzerland
8		Fabian Lüthi	LW	L	31	2015	Lützelflüh, Switzerland
90		Janis Jérôme Moser	D	L	20	2017	Biel, Switzerland
40		Jan Neuenschwander (A)	C	L	28	2016	Davos, Switzerland
41		Elien Paupe	G	L	25	2014	Delémont, Switzerland
78		Marc-Antoine Pouliot	C/RW	R	35	2016	Quebec, Quebec, Canada
25		Toni Rajala	LW	L	29	2016	Parkano, Finland
27		Yannick Rathgeb	D	R	25	2019	Langenthal, Switzerland
9		Damien Riat	RW/C	L	23	2018	Genève, Switzerland
13		Anssi Salmela	D	L	36	2018	Nokia, Finland
22		Rajan Sataric	D	L	28	2018	Solothurn, Switzerland
3		Peter Schneider	RW	R	29	2019	Klosterneuburg, Austria
17		Ramon Tanner	C	L	21	2018	Appenzell, Switzerland
12		Mathieu Tschantré (C)	C	L	36	2001	Biel, Switzerland
33		Stefan Ulmer	D	R	30	2019	Dornbirn, Austria

Notable alumni

References

External links

• (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]