History
The ice hockey section of the Bern Sports Club, which was established on November 3, 1930, officially began playing on January 1, 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. . They have won the Swiss Championship 13 times, with the most famous victory coming in 1989 over HC Lugano
During the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Daniel Brière, Dany Heatley, J. P. Dumont, Marc Savard, Henrik Tallinder, and Chris Clark played for SC Bern. Although, league rules allow only four players without Swiss passports to suit up in a single game. Quebec natives Daniel Brière and Christian Dubé remain good friends.
After disappointing in the 2006 playoffs, the club replaced head coach Alpo Suhonen with John van Boxmeer and general manager Roberto Triulzi with Sven Leuenberger. Leuenberger had previously played 13 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 September 30, 2008, SC Bern faced off against the National Hockey League's New York Rangers to celebrate 100 years of ice hockey in Switzerland. 49 years since the Rangers' last visit to Switzerland, they beat 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 hold the Rangers' power play (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 2012 NHL lockout, Roman Josi, Mark Streit and John Tavares played for the SC Bern. Tavares quickly became the PostFinance Top Scorer tallying 42 points (17G, 25A) in 28 games.
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