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Kelowna Rockets vet victorious in Switzerland

McMillan wins 2022 Spengler Cup
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Brandon McMillan won the 2022 Spengler Cup with HC Ambri-Piotta. (Brandon McMillan/Twitter)

Longtime Kelowna Rockets fans may have recognized a familiar face if they tuned into the Spengler Cup hockey tournament over the holidays.

Brandon McMillan, who spent his entire junior hockey career with Kelowna between 2006 and 2010, hoisted the championship trophy with Swiss club HC Ambri-Piotta on New Year’s Eve.

Held between Boxing Day and the New Year annually in Davos, Switzerland, the Spengler Cup pits European clubs as well as a Team Canada squad made up of players playing in Europe against each other.

The 32-year-old McMillan had 169 points in 251 games in the WHL, enough for him to be drafted in the third round of the NHL draft by the Anaheim Ducks.

He spent the next five seasons bouncing around between the Ducks organization and the Arizona Coyotes, even making an eight-game pit stop with the Vancouver Canucks, before crossing over to European leagues.

In his second season with HC Ambri-Piotta, he has notched nine points in the first 29 games of the National League season.

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@JakeC_16
Jake.courtepatte@kelownacapnews.com

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Jake Courtepatte

About the Author: Jake Courtepatte

Editor of Kelowna Capital News & West K News since February 2022. I have spent the majority of my career working in the Toronto area as both a sports reporter and a general reporter.
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