Rotweiss Wettingen welcomes Europe’s finest clubs to Switzerland with eight teams all looking to land men’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup.

The hosts are among two former winners of the competition, taking the laurels back in 2002 with Mannheimer HC are the most recent victors in 2011 in Lucerne.

The competition initially has two groups of four from which the top two advance to the semi-finals while the bottom two contest the relegation pool.

Each game will be broadcast live on www.eurohockeytv.org with a weekend pass costing €7.99 or you can get a EuroHockeyTV Season Pass for €39.99, covering this event as well as the EHL FINALS and the EuroHockey Championships.

Today, we will look at all the entrants from Pool B of the competition which features HAHK Mladost (Croatia), hosts Rotweiss, Royal Léopold (Belgium) and debutants Voordaan (Netherlands).

** Click here for the match schedule – further info on squad lists is available on the “More Info” tab

Pool B – team by team preview

HAHK Mladost (Croatia)

Mladost are looking to back up their incredible run to bronze last February in Arminen, producing a remarkable debut for the club in the top division. It was also the second successive event in which Croatia have taken a medal, HK Zelina landing silver in 2022.

Last year’s success was down to a strong marriage between homegrown internationals and powerful imports. This year, there are quite a few changes to the line-up with seven of the panel returning this time around.

Coming in, they have named in their wider panel Belgian Max Plennevaux and Spaniard Alfonso Moreno who were part of Royal Léopold’s panel a year ago in Arminen while defensive lynch-pin Marian Klink could reprise his role from 12 months ago.

They also have a cohort from the Croatian side who finished ninth at the FIH Indoor World Cup two weeks ago including goalkeeper Hrvoje Fijucek, captain Josip Jazbec and defender Fran Gjurinski while Marin Buljević was with the Under-21 international side who finished in fourth place in January in Switzerland. Fran Zlatar and Vitalii Kalinchuk provide a powerful forward duo.

They also have the same coach as the Croatian national team in Nikola Hanzek, providing a wealth of know-how.

HC Rotweiss Wettingen (Switzerland) – pictured above

The 28-time Swiss indoor champions are hosting the men’s top level event in Wettingen for the third time having welcomed the competition in 2001 and 2018.

Over that time, they have been on a rollercoaster and have a unique accolade as winners of the Club Cup (2002), the Club Trophy (last year in Plzeň) and the Club Challenge I (in 2022).

They have a wealth of experience, particularly in the Morard brothers Michèl and Yves. They will complemented by experienced players like Mika Conrad and Robin Aebi.

On the goalkeeping front, long-time international Joel Schüpbach will fight for the place with the Under-21 European Champions Timo Graf. Indeed, Graf was joined by Max Fischbach and Jens Flück in that famous Swiss success in January and they will look to continue that vibe.

In preparation, the squad played many matches against German top tier teams in Frankenthal and Düsseldorf. They missed out on retaining their national title, however, at the hands of HC Olten who took the laurels in a shoot-out.

Royal Léopold (Belgium)

Royal Léopold will be looking to enjoy the use of a wider panel at the EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup this weekend following 2024’s miracle of Arminen.

A string of late withdrawals last year due to injury and Pro League call-ups left the Belgian indoor kings with only seven regular players for the intense four-day tournament a year ago.

Key players like Philippe Simar, who was the top scorer at the last World Cup in Croatia, Dylan Englebert, and Romain Henet who also participated in the World Cup were all unable to make the event.

As such, they had to field 48-year-old coach Christophe Moraux but they nonetheless finished in sixth place in the 10-team tournament, avoiding the bottom four who were all relegated.

This time around, the seven-time Belgian champions will be much stronger with star indoor players like Tanguy Zimmer and Tom Dergoote getting much more help in the rotation.

In addition, they also have the services of two French men, Olympian Viktor Lockwood and his brother Igor, who will be crucial.

Voordaan (Netherlands)

Voordaan are a complete newcomer to this stage – it follows their run to the Dutch final in 2024 and while they missed out on the title, HC Rotterdam opted not to travel to Wettingen, opening up the position for them to participate instead.

Their key players are Mike Huisman, Mats Tigchelhoff and the twins Hidde (best indoor player of the Netherlands last year, awarded by the KNHB) and Kjell Plantenga.

The tournament comes during a very busy schedule preparing also for second part of the Hoofdklasse, going on a training camp in Rome and then also practicing against the Australian national team. Domestically, they finished in fourth place in the Dutch indoor season.

Coach Adriaan Stolk says of the tournament: “This is an historic event for our team and our club, let’s get everything out of it!”