Richard "Bibi" Torriani (1 October 1911 – 3 September 1988) was a Swiss

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player and coach, and

luge A luge () is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds Supine position, supine (face-up) and feet-first. A luger begins seated, propelling themselves initially from handles on either side of the start ramp, then steers by using the Ca ...

athlete, also known as Riccardo Torriani. He played for

HC Davos Hockey Club Davos is a professional Swiss ice hockey club based in Davos, Switzerland. Davos plays in the National League (NL). It is generally referred to by its abbreviation "HCD" by the fans. The team is usually a strong force in the league a ...

from 1929 to 1950, and served as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the

Switzerland men's national ice hockey team The Switzerland men's national ice hockey team (; ; ) is a founding member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and is controlled by the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. As of 2024, the Swiss team is ranked 5th in the IIHF World Rankin ...

from 1933 to 1939. He scored 105 goals in 111 international matches for the national team, won two bronze medals in

ice hockey at the Olympic Games Ice hockey tournaments have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1920. The men's tournament was introduced at the 1920 Summer Olympics and was transferred permanently to the Winter Olympic Games program in 1924, in France. The women's tourname ...

and won an additional four medals at the

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...

. Playing for HC Davos, he won 18 Swiss championships and six

Spengler Cup The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss team ...

s. He was chosen as the

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a colour-bearer or flag-bearer, is a person who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

for Switzerland at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1948 (; ), were a winter multi-sport event held from 30 January to 8 February 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the ...

, and recited the

Olympic Oath The Olympic Oath (distinct from the Olympic creed) is a solemn promise made by one athlete, judge or official, and one coach at the Opening Ceremony of each Olympic Games. Each oath taker is from the host nation and takes the oath on behalf of a ...

at the same games hosted in

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

. He later served as

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the Switzerland and

Italy men's national ice hockey team The Italian men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Italy, and is controlled by the Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio (FISG), a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Tournament record Olympic Ga ...

s, and led

EHC Visp EHC Visp is a Switzerland, Swiss professional ice hockey team based in Visp and competing in the Swiss League (SL). The club was founded in 1939 and became Swiss champion in 1962. Visp has also won the league title in NLB three times; 1960, 2011 a ...

to a

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league h ...

championship. He won a silver medal competing in men's singles at the

FIL World Luge Championships 1957 The FIL World Luge Championships 1957 took place in Davos, Switzerland. It marked the first time the event was held under the auspices of the International Luge Federation The International Luge Federation (French language, French: ''Fédératio ...

held in

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

, Switzerland. He is considered the best Swiss ice hockey player ever, and was inducted into the inaugural class of the

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...

in 1997. He is the namesake of the Torriani Award, given by the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey to ...

since 2015 to recognize a player for a great international playing career.

Early life

Torriani was born on 1 October 1911, in

, Switzerland. He was nicknamed "Bibi" as a youth, due to being the youngest child and baby of his family. He played youth hockey in St. Moritz as a

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, and was also known by the name "Riccardo".

Playing career

Torriani's professional career began as a member of EHC St. Moritz during the 1927–28, and 1928–29 seasons. In his first season with St. Moritz, he won the 1927–28 Swiss National Ice Hockey Championship. Torriani was selected to play for the

at age 16, since the

1928 Winter Olympics The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1928 (; ), were an international winter multi-sport event that was celebrated from 11 to 19 February 1928 in St. Moritz, Swit ...

were hosted in St. Moritz and the national team did not incur extra expenses to include exceptional local talent. He scored one

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

in four games played in

ice hockey at the 1928 Winter Olympics The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, was the third Olympic Championship, also serving as the third World Championships and the 13th European Championships. Canada, represented by the Univer ...

, and won a bronze medal with the national team. His appearance in the Olympics made him the youngest person to compete at a senior

Ice Hockey World Championship The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the E ...

. Torriani joined

after his father died in 1929, and remained with the team until 1950. He made his

debut in 1930 with Switzerland, and scored one goal at the 1930 World Ice Hockey Championships, and won a bronze medal. Switzerland opted not to participate in

ice hockey at the 1932 Winter Olympics The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, Lake Placid, United States, was the fourth Ice hockey at the Olympic Games, Olympic Championship, also serving as the sixth World Ice Hockey Championships, World ...

. Torriani and the national team participated at the Ice Hockey European Championship 1932 instead, and Switzerland won the bronze. Torriani served as the Switzerland national

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

from 1933 to 1939. He played on a forward line known as "The ni-storm" (), with brothers Hans Cattini and Ferdinand Cattini. The line was named for the last syllable (''-ni'') of players' surnames. The ni-storm was regarded as the top line of HC Davos and Switzerland's national hockey team from 1933 to 1950. On this line, he scored five goals in six games at the 1933 Ice Hockey World Championships, 14 goals in seven games at the

1934 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1934 Ice Hockey World Championships were held from February 3–11, 1934, at the Palazzo del Ghiaccio in Milan, Italy. Canada won its seventh world championship, defeating the United States in the final. The World Championship bronze medal a ...

, and eight goals in eight games at the

1935 Ice Hockey World Championships The 1935 Ice Hockey World Championships were held from January 19 to January 27, 1935, at the Eisstadion Davos in Davos, Switzerland, in which a record 15 countries took part. The teams first played in four preliminary round groups (three groups ...

. Torriani led Switzerland to a silver medal at the 1935 championships, and a bronze medal at the

1939 Ice Hockey World Championships The 1939 Ice Hockey World Championships were held between February 3 and February 12, 1939, in Zürich and Basel, Switzerland. Austria had been annexed by Germany in 1938, and four Austrians played this tournament in German jerseys. The fourtee ...

. He also competed in

ice hockey at the 1936 Winter Olympics The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, was the fifth Ice hockey at the Olympic Games, Olympic Championship, also serving as the tenth World Ice Hockey Championships, World Championships and ...

, playing in three games with no goals scored. During summers, Torriani maintained fitness by riding bicycles in the mountains with his Davos teammates. Luftbild Eisstadion Davos

Torriani also played with HC Davos in international ice hockey competitions. The hosted the annual

tournament, which he won six times, in 1933, 1936, 1938, 1941, 1942 and 1943. HC Davos placed third at the Winter Sports Week held in February 1941, in

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...

. HC Davos and Torriani won the Grand Prix of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in March 1941, which included other club teams from Europe. HC Davos defeated

Berliner Schlittschuhclub Berliner Schlittschuhclub, also known as Berliner SC or BSchC, is an ice hockey club based in Berlin, Germany. They currently play in the Landesliga (ice hockey), Landesliga, the fifth and lowest tier in their region. The ice hockey section was fou ...

and Rotweiss Berlin, and then defeated Hammarby Hockey by a 4–2 score in the championship game. In 1943, HC Davos participated in a

Gebirgsjäger ''Gebirgsjäger'' () is a German language, German military term for light infantry trained in mountain warfare. Currently used in the militaries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the term includes the word ''Jäger (military), jäger'', anot ...

tournament, versus other players from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Torriani was chosen as the

for Switzerland at the

hosted in St. Moritz. He was also chosen to recite the

on behalf of all athletes participating, and became the first hockey player to do so at the Olympic Games. He then scored two goals, four assists, and six

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

in five games, and led Switzerland to the bronze medal in

ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, was the sixth Ice hockey at the Olympic Games, Olympic Championship, also served as the 15th World Ice Hockey Championships, World Championships and the 26th ...

. Torriani retired from playing in 1950. During his career, he won 18 Swiss championships with HC Davos, and played 111 international matches for Switzerland's national team and scored 105 goals. His ni-storm line had played 239 international matches together and combined for 246 goals scored.

Coaching career

Torriani served as

of the Switzerland men's national ice hockey team in 1946–47, and again from 1948–49 to 1951–52. Under his leadership, the national team finished fourth in Group A at the 1947 Ice Hockey World Championships, fifth in Group A at the

1949 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1949 Ice Hockey World Championships were the 16th World Championships and 27th European Hockey Championships was held from February 12 to 20, 1949, in Stockholm, Sweden. The event was the first World Championships during the presidency of Can ...

, third in Group A at the 1950 World Ice Hockey Championships, third in Group A at the

1951 Ice Hockey World Championships The 1951 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 18th World Championship and the 29th European Championship in ice hockey for international teams. The tournament took place in France from 9 to 17 March and the games were played in the capital cit ...

, and fifth overall in

ice hockey at the 1952 Winter Olympics The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, was the seventh Olympic Championship, also serving as the 19th World Championships and the 30th European Championships. The tournament was mainly played at the Jordal A ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, Norway. From 1954–55 to 1955–56, Torriani coached the

. He led to team to a first-place finish in Group B at the

1955 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1955 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 22nd edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships. The tournament was held in Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Krefeld and Cologne, West Germany from February 25 to March 6, 1955. A total of 14 nations part ...

, and a promotion to Group A.

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; , ; historical ) sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomites, Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the ...

, Italy, hosted

ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, was the eighth Olympic Championship, also serving as the 23rd World Championships and the 34th European Championships. The tournament was held at the Ol ...

. Before the games, his team was strengthened by players of Italian descent who had trained in Canada. Torriani led Italy to a third-place finish and Group A, and seventh place overall by winning the consolation round. Torriani coached in the European professional leagues from 1957 to 1971. His first team was

SC Riessersee SC Riessersee is a professional ice hockey team based in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Oberbayern, Germany. They currently play in the Oberliga (ice hockey), Oberliga, the third level of ice hockey in Germany. Prior to the 2013–14 season, they played ...

during the 1957–58 season, which he led to an undefeated regular season and a first-place finish in the South group of the German Oberliga, and a second overall finish in the champions pool. He remained in Germany for the 1958–59 season, and coached Mannheimer ERC to a third-place finish in the

Eishockey-Bundesliga The Eishockey-Bundesliga ("Federal Ice Hockey League") was formed in 1958 as the elite hockey competition in the Federal Republic of Germany, replacing the '' Oberliga'' in this position.Klein, p. 12 From the 1994–95 season, it was in turn re ...

. He moved to Italy in the 1959–60 season to coach Diavoli HC Milano. He led Diavoli to a first-place finish in the

Italian Hockey League - Serie A Italian Hockey League Serie A, formerly known as Serie A, is the top tier of professional ice hockey in Italy, which first began play in 1925. They are conducted under the authority of the Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio (FISG). The leag ...

during the regular season. Torriani returned to coaching in Switzerland in 1960, and led

for five seasons in

until 1965. His first year coaching resulted in a second-place finish in the 1960–61 season. In the 1961–62 season, he led EHC Visp to a first-place finish in the standings, and captured the National League A championship. His team followed up the championship finishing second place in both the 1962–63 season and the 1963–64 season. In his fifth year coaching, EHC Visp dropped to seventh place in the 1964–65 season. After one year away from coaching, Torriani led

HC Lugano Hockey Club Lugano, often abbreviated to HC Lugano or HCL, is a professional ice hockey club based in Lugano, Switzerland. The team competes in the National League (NL) and has won seven Swiss championships. History The founding of HC Lugano took ...

during the 1966–67 season, finishing the season third place in the east group of

National League B The Swiss League, also known as the Sky Swiss League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League (ice hockey), National League. The winners of the league each ...

. He returned to HC Lugano for the 1969–70 season, and led the team to another third-place finish in the east group of National League B. Torriani's final season coaching was with HC Davos in the 1970–71 season. He led the team to a second-place finish in the east group of National League B.

Personal life

Torriani's older brother Conrad also played for EHC St. Moritz and the Switzerland men's national ice hockey team. The brothers were teammates at the Ice Hockey World Championships in 1930, 1933, 1934, and the 1932 Ice Hockey European Championship. Torriani won a silver medal competing in men's singles at the

held in

, Switzerland. Torriani encouraged his sons to learn

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

in preparation for playing hockey. Two of his sons were involved in Swiss hockey. Romano Torriani played for

EHC Basel EHC Basel are a professional Swiss ice hockey team based in Basel, Switzerland. The team currently plays in the Swiss League, the second tier of ice hockey in Switzerland. The team plays their home games at St Jakob Arena. EHC Basel was founded ...

and HC Davos, and Marco played for EHC Basel and SC Langnau Tigers, and later became president of Genève-Servette HC. As a manager, Marco helped Geneva earn a promotion from Swiss League 1 to

. Torriani died on 3 September 1988, in

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

, Switzerland at age 76.

Honors and legacy

Torriani is considered the best Swiss ice hockey player ever, and has been inducted into the HC Davos Hall of Fame. He was posthumously inducted into the inaugural class of the

in 1997 as a player, and was the first Swiss to be honored. He is the namesake of the Bibi Torriani Cup, an annual competition for players aged 14 representing various

Cantons of Switzerland The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...

. The event is used to identify future players for the national team program. The

(IIHF) established the Torriani Award in 2015, named after Torriani. When the new award was announced, the IIHF president

René Fasel René Fasel (born 6 February 1950) is a Swiss-Russian retired ice hockey administrator. He served as president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) from 1994 to 2021. He started his ice hockey career as a player for HC Fribourg-Gott ...

said; "We wanted to create a trophy which honours players for a great international career irrespective of where they played. Nowadays, with NHL players and international players often being the same, we feel that there are so many top players to honour. Still, we wanted to ensure we recognized players who didn't necessarily win Olympic and World Championship medals but who still had remarkable careers. As a result, we created the Torriani Award, and Lucio Topatigh is a very worthy first recipient". For the 100th anniversary of the Ice Hockey World Championships in 2020, Torriani was named to the IIHF All-time Switzerland team.

Notes

References

External links

*
The Ni-Storm photo gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torriani, Bibi 1911 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Swiss sportsmen Expatriate ice hockey players in Germany HC Davos players HC Lugano Ice hockey people from Graubünden Ice hockey players at the 1928 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1936 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1948 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Italy men's national ice hockey team coaches Medalists at the 1928 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Winter Olympics National League (ice hockey) coaches Oath takers at the Olympic Games Olympic bronze medalists for Switzerland Olympic ice hockey players for Switzerland Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Maloja District Serie A (ice hockey) coaches Swiss expatriate ice hockey people Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Italy Swiss ice hockey coaches Swiss ice hockey right wingers Swiss League coaches Swiss male lugers Switzerland men's national ice hockey team coaches