Player of the month November: Kloten-Zurkirchen first knocked out, now in the high
“I struggled with the decision”
Sandro Zurkirchen (32) has come to terms with the fact that he had to make room for loan goalie Tim Wolf in the playoff final. His Finnish colleague Juha Metsola is now pushing him to perform well.
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Sandro Zurkirchen coped well with the difficult times last spring.
Nicole VandenbrouckIce hockey reporter
Swiss goalkeepers find it difficult to oust their foreign competitors and to make regular appearances. Whoever succeeds most often: Sandro Zurkirchen in Kloten. The 32-year-old has been between the posts in twelve games so far, his Finnish colleague Juha Metsola (33) in 16.
The fact that the newly promoted team leaves most of the games to its Swiss goalie may come as a surprise. On the one hand, because coach Jeff Tomlinson could only send out five foreign field players when Metsola was at the gang door until the injured US defender Jordan Schmaltz returned. And on the other hand, because you still have the last bitter playoffs from Zurkirchen.
As a reminder: Kloten secured the services of Ajoie’s Tim Wolf (30) before the playoffs after Dominic Nyffeler had been let go early (to Geneva, now Olten). After a flop in the first semi-final game against Thurgau (2:3 after extra time), Zurkirchen played twice in that series and then not at all in the final. Wolf witchte Kloten into the House of Lords.
Thurgau outnumbered to win: Kloten goalie Zurkirchen with Bock in extra time(01:39)
One wondered whether Zurkirchen could put up with this setback. “I have processed the situation. But to be honest, I was already struggling with the decision back then,” admits the Schwyzer. Because that’s exactly why he moved from Lugano to Kloten in 2021, in order to achieve promotion with the team. “I made a mistake at the wrong time and Tim got the momentum back on our side.” Looking back, Zurkirchen now recognizes that he nevertheless made a major contribution to the rise of the ranks. “If I had caused trouble, it could have gone wrong.”
The fact that the promoted team then occupied a position with a foreign goalie came as little surprise to Zurkirchen. “That’s not bad. In a good tandem you have good competition.” In addition, he knows this situation very well. When he was young at EVZ, he benefited from the Finn Jussi Markkanen, and in Ambri he once played his best NL season (2013/14) alongside Nolan Schaefer (Ka/Sz). “Even now, at 32, I can still learn from a foreigner, they went through another goalie school.”
Zurkirchen, who delivered the best defensive rate of all goalies in November with 93.58 percent, sees his tandem with Metsola as a positive competition and motivation. The fact that coach Tomlinson regularly relies on him “shows me that there is confidence in my work”.
National League 22/23
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8th |
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11 |
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12 |
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13 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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14 |
0 |
0 |
0 |