It鈥檚 deja vu all over again for a Lumby couple.
Like they did in 2022, Pat and Bob Pointer will spend the Christmas holidays watching their grandson, goalie Thomas Milic of Coquitlam, playing for Team Canada at an international event.
Milic led Canada last year to a gold medal at the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championships in Halifax, defeating Czechia 3-2 in overtime. The proud Pointers watched their grandson on TV at last year鈥檚 event, and will do so again this holiday season.
Now in the pros, Milic was loaned to Team Canada for the 95th Spengler Cup hockey tournament in Davos, which begins Boxing Day. The Spengler Cup features five club teams from Europe, including the host HC Davos, and Team Canada. The Canadian squad is made up of players currently employed in Europe or, as in Milic鈥檚 case, the North American minor pro leagues.
Canada is in Group Torianni and will open the event Boxing Day, at 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time, against Fr枚lunda HC of Gothenburg, Sweden (site of this year鈥檚 World Junior tournament). Fr枚lunda HC are the five-time Swedish champions. No Swedish team has won the Spengler Cup since 1994.
The loser of Canada-Fr枚lunda will play the host HC Davos on Wednesday, Dec. 27, at 11:15 a.m. Pacific. The winner of Canada-Fr枚lunda plays HC Davos on Thursday, Dec. 28 (11:15 a.m. Pacific).
Canada, looking to add to its record 16 tournament titles, is led by former Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce (There It Is) Boudreau and general manager, long-time NHL star Joe Thornton. Canada was eliminated in the pre-semifinals at last year鈥檚 event. They last won the tournament in 2019.
Group Cattini features the defending tournament champion HC Ambri Piotta from Switzerland, HC Dynamo Pardubice of Czechia, and 2018 winners, KalPa Kuopio of Finland, the first Finnish team to take the tournament trophy.
The event was not held during COVID in 2020 and 2021.
The first Spengler Cup was played 100 years ago in 1923.
After guiding Canada to World Junior gold, Milic then led the Seattle Thunderbirds to the Western Hockey League championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup in Kamloops. The T-Birds made it to the final, but Milic and Seattle lost 5-0 to the Quebec Ramparts.
He was then drafted by the National Hockey League鈥檚 Winnipeg Jets in the fifth round of the 2023 selection, and was assigned to the Norfolk Admirals of the East Coast Hockey League. In 14 games with the Admirals, Milic has a 9-2-2 record, a 2.44 goals against average and a 0.910 save percentage.
Milic was called up the Jets鈥� American Hockey League farm team, the Manitoba Moose. He appeared in four games for the Moose, compiling a 1-1 record.
This story was updated Wednesday, Dec. 27, after the original story erroneously said the Pointers were heading to Switzerland to see their grandson play live. We apologize for the mistake. PS: Canada won its opener, 4-0, over Frolund盲, with Aaron Dell in goal. Canada will play Davos Thursday, Dec. 28.
