Schlittschuh Club Bern (Ice-skating Club Bern in English) is a professional ice hockey team based in Bern, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. For the 18th year in a row, the club is the most attended ice hockey team in Europe for the 2018–19 regular season, averaging 16,290 spectators.[1]
SC Bern versus SCL Tigers in an outdoor game 14 January 2007.
The ice hockey section of the Bern Sports Club, which was established on 3 November 1930, officially began playing on 1 January 1931.
Today, SC Bern is a highly popular team and regularly fills its home stadium, the PostFinance Arena, one of the largest ice hockey stadiums in Europe. In 2006, they set a new record among European clubs for average attendance, with an average of 15,994 in 22 home games.[2] They have won the Swiss Championship thirteen times, with the most famous victory coming in 1989 over HC Lugano
After a disappointing run in the 2006 playoffs, the club replaced head coach Alpo Suhonen with John Van Boxmeer and general manager Roberto Triulzi with Sven Leuenberger.[3] Leuenberger had previously played thirteen seasons of defence with the club, totaling 67 goals, 145 assists, and four national championships. His jersey number 16 is one of many that has been retired by SC Bern.
On 30 September 2008, SC Bern faced off against the National Hockey League's New York Rangers to celebrate one hundred years of ice hockey in Switzerland. Forty-nine years since the Rangers' last visit to Switzerland, the blueshirts beat the home team 8–1 in front of a sellout crowd. Despite the slanted score, SC Bern played a close game with a 2–0 score at the end of the second. Former Phoenix Coyotes' Canadian-born defenceman Travis Roche scored SC Bern's goal early in the third period, bringing the game to 2–1. SC Bern only allowed two even-strength goals, but could not withstand the Rangers' potent power play in the final frame (6-for-9). "We played for our pride tonight," said center Sébastien Bordeleau after the exhibition game. Christian Dubé wore the captain's "C" because Ivo Rüthemann was injured.
During the 2013–14 season, Guy Boucher signed a contract as coach of the SC Bern for the current year and two more seasons. He has since been relieved from his duties, moving on to coach the Ottawa Senators, being replaced by former assistant and SC Bern player Lars Leuenberger, who guided the team to the championship in 2016. Leuenberger was then replaced by former Finnish national team coach Kari Jalonen prior to the 2016–17 season. Jalonen went on to win the NL title in his first year at the helm of the team.
On January 28, 2020, Jalonen was relieved of his duties following terrible results. Hans Kossmann stepped in to replace him as head coach for the remainder of the 2019/20 season.
^Morreale, Mike G. (1 October 2018). "Hischier gives fans night to remember in Switzerland". NHL.com. Retrieved 2 October 2018. The 19-year-old was selected No. 1 in the 2017 NHL Draft, the only Switzerland-born player be chosen No. 1.
