The Copenhagen Tridents, a team of great balance and depth with a Mexican goalie, defeated Berlin in Game 6 of the Finals to win the Season 10 EURO Cup.
The Tridents played 4 good teams in the playoffs and they walked through all of them. The Smurfs won 2 games against Ken Hitchcock’s team, but Minsk, Stockholm and Belfast managed just 2 wins combined against the Tridents.
Twenty-seven-year-old Andres De La Garma played every minute in the playoffs for Copenhagen and he finished with an 89.4 save percentage and a 2.97 GAA. He was a little better in the regaular season, with a 90.6 save pct. through 67 games, but he would be the first to credit the team play in front of him for the Cup win.
The Tridents were able to field four good lines, even with Marko Dano off the top line with an injury for half the Finals. He, Auston Matthews and Johnny Gaudreau drew all the headlines and attention, which allowed the other lines to score goals all year.
Swedish winger Simon Hjalmarsson had a breakout season if there ever was one. The 1st-round pick in Season 5 (20th overall) went from 26 points to 74 this season as the third-line center for Tomas Jurco and Brandon Pirri, while the second line of Brandon Dubinsky, Cedric Paquette and Jean-Gabriel Pageau put up plus-minus ratings of +40, +35 and +26, respeectively.
On defense, Dougie Hamilton, who was once a Frankfurt Inferno blueliner, elevated his game in the playoffs and especially in Game 6 when he scored 5 points in a 7-4 win over Berlin. Slava Voynov, who was once a Smurf, was Hamilton’s partner and together they were the team’s point leaders among defenseman. Former Belfast Giant Victor Hedman and former Lisbon H.C. defenseman Seth Jones made a strong second-pairing and rugged Dalton Prout teamed with Dan Girardi and then Noah Hanifin on the third pair this season.
EURO teams might have to deal with the Trident defense for another season because GM Martin Sayle has all of them – and De La Garma – signed into Season 11. They might have to shuffle some forward lines to stay under the cap, but Copenhagen, which placed 4th overall, will be back near the top next season too.
