Davos celebrate their second goal on Monday en route to the championship title
Keystone
Davos have won the Swiss hockey league title for the 29th time, beating Kloten Flyers 2-1 on Monday and thus by four matches to three in the championship playoffs.
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3 minutes
It was a game of three thirds, with no side standing out in the first period of play, Davos imposing themselves in the second and then bracing themselves against Kloten pressure in the third.
After a goalless first period in front of 7,600 fans in Kloten, Dino Wieser opened the scoring in the 27th minute.
Five minutes later Dario Bürgler stole a pass to Reto von Arx, who squirted the puck into the net for a 2-0 lead.
Félicien Du Bois gave the Kloten fans hope when he pulled back a goal in the 45th minute, but it wasn’t enough.
Davos, playing their 21st match in 47 days, even squandered a penalty in the 36th minute.
Davos previously won the title in 2007, 2005 and 2002 and almost every year between 1930 and 1950.
Kloten Flyers were aiming to win their sixth league title, and their first since 1996.
World Cup
Monday’s match took place less than a fortnight before the world’s top hockey nations descend on the Swiss cities of Bern and Zurich for the 2009 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
swissinfo’s coverage of the tournament, the country’s largest sporting event of the year, features an exciting dossier with live interactive coverage of games, detailed reports and insightful background articles.
It also provides profiles of Zurich and Bern, the two host cities, information for and about coaches, fans and organisers, and a special Hockey 101 guide for newcomers to the sport.
This year Russia will try to defend its title against strong teams from Canada, Sweden, Finland, the United States and the Czech Republic. But for Swiss fans, the question will be how far their team can progress.
Switzerland has steadily climbed the world rankings during the tenure of coach Ralph Krueger and stands seventh.
The world’s 16 top teams will face off over 56 games in Bern’s PostFinance Arena and Zurich’s Kolping Arena. The newly renovated PostFinance Arena is Europe’s largest hockey venue, although its capacity for the tournament has been reduced to 12,000. The arena in Zurich will host 7,000 spectators.
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The 2009 Ice Hockey World Championship takes place from April 24 to May 10 in Bern and Zurich.
Over 300,000 spectators are expected to attend and another 800 million will watch on television.
It is the tenth time Switzerland has hosted the tournament.
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For several decades in the 1900s the tournament, which now includes 16 teams, was incorporated into the Winter Olympic Games. During Switzerland’s glory years, the country won nine medals but never a gold. It has not finished on the podium since 1953.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.