Games in Zug and Zurich
In last year’s final over 7 thrilling games, EVZ and ZSC faced each other with euphoric fans behind them. Currently, the mood around the flagship clubs from Zug and Zurich was less cheerful over the holidays. After the two championship titles, the champions EVZ are in a hurry, the hunger and the bite seem to be missing as well as an organized defense. Symbolic of this is the catch quota of the goalie record champion Leonardo Genoni, which for the first time within his five-year employment contract (in his 4th year) with the Zug team is well below 90 percent on average over a longer period of time.
The start of 2023 was all the more brilliant for Zug – when they celebrated a real shooting match at Ajoie with an 8-1 away win. EVZ now has to prove that it drew the right conclusions over the days off, preferably today with a second win in the new year – the first at home – against Lausanne. Can the champion find his way back to the consistently strong performances that have characterized him over the past few years? If EV Zug wants to occasionally apply for a playoff home starting place, it would have to find its way back to its old strength.
In the second game on Wednesday, the ZSC Lions welcome SC Bern with their new coach Marc Crawford. After the major investments in recent years, the ZSC has a duty. There are actually no more excuses for the well-paid players in Zurich (similar to Zug). The coach has been changed, nothing less than the championship title is expected at the new stadium this season. So far, however, the Zurich team have acted with the same level of motivation as last season, when it was still enough to qualify for the final. Can the Lions step up to the significant hockey season with their former champion coach Marc Crawford? In today’s classic against SC Bern, the Lions are challenged in front of their home crowd.
The two games EVZ-Lausanne and ZSC-Bern will be broadcast on Sunshine Radio this Wednesday.
(sda, editors)