DAVOS, Switzerland — Jake Livanavage didn’t think the U.S. Collegiate Selects would have many fans at the Spengler Cup.
“You come over here and you think you’re going to be the enemy,” said Livanavage, a junior defenseman at North Dakota. “It’s been the opposite. Everyone’s got our back.”
The local Swiss hockey fans have become enthralled with the U.S. Collegiate Selects, an NCAA all-star team playing in the 97th annual tournament in Davos.
They’ve backed them at games and bought Selects merchandise. They stop the players everywhere they go in Davos to take pictures or ask for autographs. Some yell, “Go USA!” at them on the streets.
While almost nobody showed up to watch their first practice in Davos, some fans are now starting to attend their skates.
“The people here are so nice,” Livanavage said. “Everyone knows who we are when we’re walking around. It’s a cool experience and a lot of fun.”
The Selects have stunned the locals, who feared they’d get blown out three times by the professionals and head back to the United States. But they ended up winning their group and getting a bye to the Spengler Cup semifinals.
The Selects lost a narrow 3-2 decision to Team Canada — a squad with 15 former NHL players — in Friday’s opener. A day later, the Selects beat host HC Davos, the best team in the top Swiss league and one of the best squads in Europe.
Although the hometown fans wanted HC Davos to win, they applauded the Selects when they left the arena.
“We’re obviously surprising people over here,” Livanavage said. “It’s awesome for college hockey. We’re here for our experience, but we’re also here to grow the game of college hockey.”
Jake Livanavage / USCS
When Livanavage received an invite to play for the Selects at the Spengler Cup, he called UND coach Dane Jackson.
Jackson, who played in the 1996 Spengler Cup with the Rochester Americans, advocated for Livanavage to accept the offer and gave him a rundown of the tournament.
But Livanavage said the experience has been even better than he could have imagined.
“It’s been awesome,” Livanavage said. “It’s hard to put into words. It’s an experience I won’t forget.”
Livanavage said the atmosphere inside the arena has been wild with fans chanting and cheering throughout games.
“It’s more of a European soccer atmosphere,” Livanavage said. “It’s what you see on TV and clips from those games.”
Jake Livanavage / USCS
The U.S. Collegiate Selects had hoped to perform well enough to get invited back in the future — whether that’s on an annual basis or a semi-annual basis.
With their strong performance and the fan support, it’s safe to say that they secured a future trip.
“It’s been awesome to represent our schools and college hockey,” Livanavage said. “You want college hockey to be as good as it can be. Coming over here and showing a bunch of Europeans how good college hockey is. . . it’s been awesome.”
Cameron Boon / USCS
Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald’s circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year twice. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at bschlossman@gfherald.com.