HC Bozen–Bolzano

  • German: HC Bozen
  • Italian: HC Bolzano
CityBolzano, South Tyrol, Italy
LeagueSerie A
1948–1991
1999–2013
Alpenliga
1991–1997
1998–1999
ICE Hockey League
2013–
Founded1933 (1933)
Home arenaSparkasse Arena
(Capacity: 7,200)
Colors   
Owner(s)Otto Massimo
General managerDr. Dieter Knoll
Head coachKurt Kleinendorst
CaptainDaniel Frank
MediaVB33
SDF
Websitewww.hcb.net
Franchise history
1933–presentHC Bolzano
Championships
Serie A19 (1963, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2008, 2009, 2012)
Alpenliga1 (1994)
EBEL2 (2014, 2018)

The Hockey Club Bolzano Foxes, also known as commercial name HCB Alto Adige Alperia (in Italian) or HCB Südtirol Alperia (in German)[1] is an Italian professional ice hockey team located in the city of Bolzano, South Tyrol autonomous province, that plays in the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL). It remains the most successful team in the history of the Italian Serie A, with 19 championships.

History

HC Bolzano was founded in 1933 and in the first twenty years of its existence, home games were played in an outdoor rink until 1953, when the club moved into the Bolzano Exhibition Hall (Messe Bozen), which was the first artificial ice was available. Eleven of the nineteen Italian league titles were won there before the team moved in 1994, to the newly built Sparkasse Arena. At the same time, the team also participated in the Alps League in part, an international ice hockey competition, attended by teams from Slovenia and Austria were involved. In addition to a master and three runner-up titles in this competition, the team also won another seven Italian titles, the last of which in 2012 was given the three-time winning the Coppa Italia, the Italian League Cup competition. Other achievements include three gains of the Supercoppa Italiana and the Six Nations tournament, also called Caucasian Ligacup, in 1994.

In 2013, the HC Bolzano applied again for inclusion in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL), after earlier applications failed each time due to the resistance of the Italian Ice Hockey Federation. However, the chaotic conditions in the Serie A paved the way to acceptance, since a large part of the club that was from the second division had been released. The move was also largely motivated by the need of a new major sponsor to help clear their financial situation.[2]

Known as the HCB Südtirol in the EBEL (the main sponsor is the tourism promotion agency of the Alto Adige – Südtirol region), Bolzano had surprisingly successful inaugural season in 2013–14. On the back of a heavy recruitment scheme which centred in signing Canadian players of Italian heritage, Bolzano finished in fourth place by the end of the Regulation season. In the EBEL finals, they went on to win the championship by defeating the EC Red Bull Salzburg in the finals, and in doing so becoming to first non-Austrian based club to win the Austrian Championship.[3]

With the victory of the EBEL championship, Bolzano ensured qualification to the first edition of the Champions Hockey League, a prestigious tournament for European clubs. Despite their status of EBEL defending Champions, Bolzano due to numerous financial difficulties that risked compromising the entry of the team in these competitions, were late in confirming their status for a second EBEL season.[4]

In May 2016 it was announced that the South Tyrol energy producer Alperia would become the main sponsor of the team.

In 2018 the HC Bozen Alperia defeat the EC Red Bull Salzburg in game-7 of the final to win the EBEL championship for a second time. After the successful final, historic captain Alexander Egger announced his retirement from professional ice hockey.

Honours

  • Austrian Hockey League
    • Winners (2): 2013–14, 2017–18
  • Serie A
    • Winners (19): 1962–63, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2011–12
  • Coppa Italia
    • Winners (3): 2004, 2007, 2009
  • Supercoppa Italiana
    • Winners (4): 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012
  • Alpenliga
    • Winners (1): 1994
  • Six Nations Tournament:
    • Winners (1): 1994
  • Coppa delle Alpi:
    • Winners (1): 1963

Players

Current roster

Updated 17 June 2025

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
67 Canada Matt Bradley C R 28 2024 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
77 Italy Pascal Brunner W L 23 2023 Merano, Italy
90 Italy Dylan Di Perna D R 29 2020 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
10 United States Dustin Gazley RW R 36 2020 Novi, Michigan, United States
29 United States Shane Gersich C L 29 2025 Chaska, Minnesota, United States
38 Canada Samuel Harvey G L 27 2022 Alma, Quebec, Canada
9 Italy Daniel Mantenuto C L 27 2022 Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
19 Canada Brad McClure RW R 31 2022 Stratford, Ontario, Canada
18 Italy Bryce Misley C L 25 2025 Calgary, Alberta, Canada
39 Canada Brett Pollock C L 29 2025 Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
73 United States Philip Samuelsson D L 34 2025 Leksand, Sweden
44 Canada Scott Valentine D L 34 2022 Metcalfe, Ontario, Canada

Notable alumni

  • Sweden Roger Åkerström
  • Canada Glenn Anderson
  • Belarus Alexander Andrijevski
  • Canada Dave Baseggio
  • Canada Scott Beattie
  • Russia Oleg Belov
  • Canada James Black
  • Italy Jim Boni
  • Canada Robin Bouchard
  • Canada Steve Bozek
  • Italy Markus Brunner
  • Canada and Italy Jim Camazzola
  • Canada Dan Currie
  • USA and Italy Matt DeMarchi
  • Canada Doug Derraugh
  • USA and Italy Nate DiCasmirro
  • Italy Flavio Faggioni
  • Canada Mario Doyon
  • Canada Mark Dutiaume
  • Sweden Daniel Fernholm
  • Canada Ron Flockhart
  • Canada Martin Gendron
  • Canada and The Netherlands Phil Groeneveld
  • Canada Chris Hajt
  • Finland Jari Helle (coach)
  • Slovenia Rudi Hiti
  • Sweden Niklas Hjalmarsson
  • Latvia Viktors Ignatjevs
  • Italy Tony Iob
  • Canada Kim Issel
  • Sweden Lars Ivarsson
  • Czech Republic Jaromír Jágr
  • Canada Regan Kelly
  • Canada Jordan Krestanovich
  • Canada Brian Loney
  • Canada Jamie Lundmark
  • Canada and Italy Bob Manno
  • Canada Daniel Marois
  • Canada Shayne McCosh
  • Canada Paul Messier
  • Canada Robert Mulick
  • Canada and Italy Jason Muzzatti
  • Canada Mark Napier
  • Latvia Sergei Naumov
  • Canada Jeff Nelson
  • Czech Republic Jan Němeček
  • Sweden Kent Nilsson
  • Italy Robert Oberrauch
  • United States of America Josh Olson
  • Canada and Italy Gates Orlando
  • Latvia Grigorijs Panteļejevs
  • Canada Dave Pasin
  • Italy Gino Pasqualotto
  • Italy Martin Pavlu
  • Canada Mario Nobili
  • Canada Michel Petit
  • Canada Neil Petruic
  • Canada Frank Pietrangelo
  • Canada Ray Podloski
  • Canada Deron Quint
  • Canada and Italy Mike Rosati
  • Canada and Italy Adam Russo
  • Canada Peter Schaefer
  • Canada Jeff Sebastian
  • Canada Patrice Tardif
  • Italy Lucio Topatigh
  • Canada Sylvain Turgeon
  • Canada Perry Turnbull
  • USA and Italy Tony Tuzzolino
  • Russia Ramil Yuldashev
  • Canada Rob Zamuner
  • Canada and Italy Bruno Zarrillo

References

  1. ^ "HCB Südtirol Alperia" (in German). 24 April 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Giornata storica: il Bolzano sbarca in Ebel" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 29 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Bozen earns championship title in overtime" (in German). Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. 13 April 2014. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Bolzano confirms league participation" (in German). Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.