The Spengler Cup, held each holiday season in Davos, Switzerland has a history dating back to 1923.
This year, Team Canada won the title, and there was a local area connection to the winning team.
Shaun Heshka, 31, from Melville lined up as a regular on the blueline for the Canadian team primarily made up of Canucks playing in pro leagues in Europe.
Heshka played with Melville in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League for 53-games in the 2002-03 season, then moved on to Everett in the Western Hockey League.
Turning pro, Heshka has played for 11 different teams from the Manitoba Moose to Kazan in the KHL, and this season he is with Oulun Kärpät of the Finnish Liiga.
“My first year in Europe was in 2010-11 when I signed with EC Red Bull Salzburg in Austria,” he told Yorkton This Week via email.
Since then he has spent years in Finland (Pori Assat 2012-13), Russia (Ak Bars Kazan 2013-14, Admiral Vladivostok 2014-15), Sweden (MODO Hockey 2015-16), and presently back in Finland with Oulun Kärpät (Kärpät means Weasels in English).
Heshka said the European experience has generally been a good one, with the hockey very competitive.
“Having previously spent my pro career in the AHL and briefly in the NHL and ECHL the European game was a new experience for me.
“When I started in Europe the North American game was still very hard hitting and tight checking.
“Europe had a lot more open ice and with that guys would use their skating and skill to their advantage.
“I had to adapt my game to work on my foot speed and take advantage of the extra time I had with the puck.
“I think the NHL now is very similar now to the European game. The added rules to the hooking and holding have opened the game up and have allowed younger guys with speed and skill to really shine.”
And the European experience gave him a chance to don a Team Canada jersey.
“When I received the call to go to the Spengler Cup I was helping to bathe my kids in the tub,” he recalled. “My North American agent rarely calls and when he does it’s usually to talk to another player about a club or living in a city in Europe/Russia/Sweden; so when I saw he was calling I didn’t think much of it.
“You could imagine the shock I had when he asked me if I wanted to play in the Spengler Cup in Switzerland.
“I of course said yes and was honoured just to be invited. We had to first clear it with my club team and get some of the details sorted out which proved to be a little more challenging that I first thought but in the end it all worked out.”
And the effort was well worth it, added Heshka.
“The Spengler Cup was an amazing experience,” he said, adding it was made better by family. “Fortunately, my family Laura (wife), Makayla (two-year old daughter), and Willem (one-year old son) were all able to come which for me was just as special as winning the event. My parents Dale and Linda Heshka actually flew over from Melville to Switzerland for the tournament which I think speaks volumes to the commitment and support they’ve always given my hockey career.”
The chance to represent his country was also hugely exciting for Heshka.
“It was my first time to represent Canada on an international level so I was trying to take it all in,” he said. “The atmosphere for our players was to enjoy the experience as much as you can but realise that every team here wants to beat you and that as Team Canada the expectation is to win.
“So basically you try to enjoy Switzerland and the festivals and events as much as you can with your family but when it comes to game time it’s all business and you have a job to do.”
On a personal level Heshka said he had to adapt to fit into a role on the talented Canadian squad.
“My role normally is a power play and offensive one, but at these kinds of tournaments players need to adapt their game,” he offered. “The coaches wanted me to play a defensive role and be a top penalty killer”
So Heshka did as he was asked.
“I think one of the reasons Canadians do so well internationally is that we know the role that the team needs us to play and we accept that role,” he said. “Everyone puts ego aside for the crest on the uniform.”
Heshka said the team came together over the round robin, having barely any practice time before the event.
“Our first game didn’t go as well as we planned. We ended up losing 7-4 to Dynamo Minsk,” he said. “I felt like our team just wasn’t really sharp. It seemed like we weren’t sure where we were supposed to be in certain situations and that has a lot to do with getting a group of guys together that have never played together before.
“Still, when you looked around the locker room no one looked nervous. We knew the talent we had and we were only going to get better.”
And the team got better after the opening loss.
“Our second game was our toughest game,” said Heshka. “We played the host team Davos. This was their first game of the tournament and our second.
“The Switzerland game is all about speed and puck transition, and they came out flying.
“I joked around with some of the players after the game about how I’ve never shoulder checked behind myself looking for streaking forwards so many times in a game.
“I thought our team played one of our best games of the tournament and after winning this game I knew we would be tough to beat.”
And from there Canada kept winning making the Spengler Cup final.
“Coming into the final game everyone seemed really positive,” said Heshka. “I honestly think that there’s more pressure just getting to the final than the final itself. This was our fifth game in six nights and Lugano’s fourth in six nights. We had a ton of depth within the team and we knew that as long as we put out a good effort that we should be successful.”
Canada would win the game 5-2. It was Canada’s 14th win since being invited to the annual event for the first time in 1984.
“When the buzzer sounded at the end of the game there was a real sense of pride and accomplishment,” said Heshka. “This may of been my only opportunity to represent my country and I felt like I accomplished what I wanted to do and represented my country/province/city the best I could.”
And the win is certainly a career highlight.
“I think the highlight of my career is having the opportunity to play in the NHL, (eight games with Phoenix), however, winning the Spengler Cup has to be a close second,” said Heshka. “I’ve been blessed to be able to play hockey for as long as I have (10 years pro) and hopefully I still have a few years left.”
In the short term at least the career will focus on Finland.
“Currently I am on my first of a two year contract here in Finland. We are mid-season and trying to make a push for the playoffs,” said Heshka.
Of course hockey has long been one of Heshka’s passions.
“Hockey was a big part of growing up in Melville,” he reflected. “My friends and I would always go to the Millionaires games and would try to get on the ice as much as possible.
“When we weren’t practicing as a team we would spend hours at the Parker (Leo & Sharon) outdoor rink behind the Parker family house and only come inside to warm up and have the famous Parker soup!
“We were fortunate to have a great group of young players that were the same age as well as supportive parents that would help us on and off the ice.
“I can still remember going to sold out Melville/Yorkton playoff games at the old Melville Stadium and feeling the intensity of the rivalry from not only the players but the fans. I was fortunate enough to play one year for the SJHL Millionaires in 2002-03 in which we played Yorkton in the playoffs. At the time, it was like a childhood dream to play in a series like that.”
