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Biel’s Yannick Rathgeb (left) fights a hot duel with Jérôme Bachofner from the ZSC Lions.
Marcel AllemanReporter ice hockey
In ice hockey, games in the NHL on January 1st are just as traditional as in football in the Premier League. Now Swiss ice hockey can also enjoy a New Year’s game for the first time. At 8 p.m. the top game ZSC Lions – Biel will take place. The return of coach Marc Crawford to the ZSC gang receives an additional explosiveness. And broadcast live on free TV on TV24.
But it will remain a one-time pleasure, at least for the time being. A New Year’s cracker that is attractive for the sport will not become a tradition in ice hockey until further notice. Because actually it is not allowed to start championship games of the National League on January 1st! This day is a blocked date for the Spengler Cup in Davos, which ends on December 31st. This is regulated between the National League and the traditional tournament.
Problems with Sundays and the ZSC Lions
The otherwise always so prudent game plan general Willi Vögtlin simply did not know this. And he was in real trouble himself. First, he must place TV 24’s total of 20 Sunday games, but had only found 19 possible. By scheduling a game for January 1st, which is also a Sunday, this problem was solved.
The ZSC Lions posed a second problem for Vögtlin. Since they were unable to play any home games before the opening of their Swiss Life Arena in mid-October, it was still necessary to find catch-up dates. Then January 1st offered itself again. And so the first New Year’s championship game in Swiss ice hockey ZSC Lions – Biel came about.
ZSC is “cautiously positive”
The response was initially not very positive, but Vögtlin kneeled everyone: “I saw no other solution to be able to set up a proper game plan with all the specifications.” And so his wish was waved through as a one-off action, despite being forbidden to play on January 1st. But it should be a one-time exception that should not be repeated. At least not for now.
The ZSC Lions, who are hosting this New Year’s game, are “cautiously positive”, as CEO Peter Zahner puts it. “At first I was skeptical because we don’t have any experience on January 1st, it’s completely new territory. But in the meantime we are happy to be able to have this experience. We are expecting well over 10,000 spectators.”
Gianola: “That’s why we don’t do theatre”
But what does Spengler Cup boss and HCD CEO Marc Gianola have to say about the fact that a ban on the Spengler Cup was ignored? Relaxed, he says: “That’s why we really don’t have to make a fuss! We really appreciate Willi Vögtlin’s work year after year, and in this case he simply ran out of options.”
Gianola can even imagine removing the January 1 blocking date from the Spengler Cup regulations for the league: “If the sports directors of the clubs want this and at the same time agree to release their players for the Spengler Cup, I would have no problem with that.”
Will the New Year’s game then become a tradition in Switzerland at some point?
National League 22/23
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