Tornado Luxembourg is a professional ice hockey team in Luxembourg City. The team sometimes plays in FFHG Division 2. However, they are not eligible for the championship because they are a foreign team.
Tornado also participates in the Luxembourg Championship and the Luxembourg Cup.
History Tornado Luxembourg debuted in the 1987-88 season, and played in the Rheinland-Palatinat Liga, a German regional league, which they won. They then finished second in the qualification round for the Regionalliga Mitte Group, and thus qualified for the 1988-89 season. They only played in the Regionalliga for the 1988-89 season, as they finished in eighth place in their group, and failed to qualify for the following season.
Prior to 2005, the Tornado played in the Rheinland-Palatinat Liga. Monique Scheier-Schneider negotiated permission to play in the French Division 3. As part of the agreement, the team is eligible for promotion to the top Ligue Magnus tier, but are ineligible to become the French champion and represent France at international competitions for club teams. Schneider commented on the agreement by saying, "I think it's fair since we are already Luxembourg's champion by regularly beating our only competitor, the Beaufort club". Schneider has operated the Tornado as an amateur team which does not play its players, and covers its costs by a sponsorship from Škoda Auto.
In Luxembourg, the club won the Luxembourg Championship seven times between 1994 and 2003, and the Luxembourg Cup eight times; in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2012.
During the 2012-2013 forward Colm Cannon became the all-time leading goal scorer of the Tornados.
With there being so few ice hockey players in Luxembourg, there are generally a number of players from Tornado on the national team. Eight players from Tornado Luxembourg played for the national team in 2009.
Roster Forwards NumberNameNationalityHeight/Weight10Benny Welter Luxembourg180 cm/80 kg11Robert Beran Luxembourg180 cm/80 kg77Eric Wambach Luxembourg185 cm/82 kg18Jean-Marie Funk Luxembourg172 cm/86 kg83Thierry Holtzem Luxembourg187 cm/80 kg42Steven Minden Luxembourg175 cm/70 kg22David Donzel France179 cm/75 kg64Pierre Huther France178 cm/84 kg15Patrick Schon Luxembourg191 cm/83 kg25Daniel Androne Belgium? cm/? kg 5Georges Scheier Luxembourg180 cm/70 kg27Sampsa Jarvenpaa Finland187 cm/82 kg23Frank Schram Luxembourg185 cm/92 kg9Jeff Meyer Luxembourg182 cm/92 kg28Fredrik Olsen Denmark? cm/? kg16Markus Eriksson Sweden? cm/? kg28Jani Rautjarvi Finland? cm/? kg4Agi Ichinorov Mongolia169 cm/62 kg69Teemu Hinkula Finland184 cm/80 kg20Michal Loksa Czech Republic? cm/? kg
Defence NumberNameNationalityHeight/Weight14Ronny Scheier Luxembourg180 cm/80 kg3Serge Milano Luxembourg172 cm/80 kg12François Schons Luxembourg180 cm/70 kg7Rafael Springer Luxembourg190 cm/83 kg17Kai Linster Luxembourg186 cm/82 kg21Christophe Hernandez Luxembourg178 cm/87 kg19Yves Barthels Luxembourg190 cm/86 kg33Thierry Magalhaes Luxembourg184 cm/71 kg 6Gilles BieverLuxembourg||? cm/? kg
Goaltenders NumberNameNationalityHeight/Weight30Gilles Mangen Luxembourg176 cm/70 kg1Yann Livolant Luxembourg175 cm/100 kg
Results Germany Rheinland-Palatinat Liga 1986-87 1st place 1987-88 1st place 1989-1990: second place 1990-1991: fourth place 1991-1992: fourth place 1992-1993: second place 1997-1998: second place 1998-1999: second place 2001-2002: second place France FFHG Division 3 2007-2008: third place 2008-2009: third place in Group H 2009-2010: Carry off play-down tournament faced with Asnières 2. 2010-2011: seventh place in Group C Luxembourg Luxembourg Championship winners 2002-03, 2001-02, 2000-01, 1999-00, 1998-99, 1997-98, 1996-97, 1993-94 Luxembourg Cup winners 2012-13, 2011-12, 2006-07, 2002-03, 1998-99, 1996-97, 1995-95, 1993-94
References
External links Official site