From the grandstand to the ice
That’s how curious Lars Arpagaus made his debut as NL referee
The Chur ex-defender and SL ref Lars Arpagaus (37) jumps in in the final third of the game between Davos and Servette for the absent head referee Ken Mollard. “I had a thousand questions in my head,” says the NL debutant.
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In the duel between Davos and Servette, the middle third has only just started when there is a break.
Nicole VandenbrouckIce hockey reporter
Lars Arpagaus is sitting in the stands with his son Jan (10) and his father Linus, the Swiss League referee wants to continue his education in the game between Davos and Servette and learn from the referee duo Daniel Stricker/Ken Mollard. Especially since Stricker is his so-called “Goddess” in referee training and further education.
But in the final third, Arpagaus is suddenly on the ice himself and throws in the puck for the first face-off. What happened? In the second minute of the middle third, Mollard falls out and has to be guided off the ice. Stricker knows that Arpagaus is in the stadium and has the speaker call him out.
“My father heard my name and told me to go down and have a look,” says the man from Chur, whose first thought is that maybe he should take care of Mollard. But when the 37-year-old steps up to the gang in a break between the penalty boxes, a linesman immediately tells him to get some equipment. “I thought at first he was joking.” But he is serious. There are still eight minutes until the second break.
With skates that are too small
“I immediately went to the materials manager in Davos and told him that I needed ice skates and elbow and knee pads.” Arpagaus gets the skates from the injured Yannick Frehner. The fact that they are half a size too small only becomes painfully noticeable later. He takes trousers and a top from Mollard.
The ex-defender, who once played with Enzo Corvi at Chur, changes clothes in the referee’s dressing room. “I was brutally nervous then. I had a thousand questions in my head.” When head referee Stricker and linesmen Matthias Kehrli and Thomas Wolf finally come in, they calm down Arpagaus. “They said I should just do my best.”
He does. Arpagaus, who is now in his fourth season as a referee after retiring as a player, is fitting in well. “The trio of referees made my debut pleasant and took good care of me.” After the game he gets countless messages, his son is totally over the moon. And his father has come full circle: he too was a referee at one time – and had Stricker under his wing.
National League 22/23
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