For the second time after the 2022/23 season, EV Zug is in the semi-finals of the Champions Hockey League. On Tuesday, the Central Swiss team will host the Swedish champions Lulea in the first leg and want to get themselves in a good position before the second leg in the far north. In terms of sport, the duel is also a meeting between two teams that are convincing internationally, but are far behind their own standards in the domestic championship.
The path to the final four was anything but self-evident for the EVZ. In the quarterfinals, Zug escaped a duel with a Swedish team, which in retrospect turned out to be a stroke of luck. Michael Liniger’s team also had a hard time with Lukko Rauma and had to respond to a 3-1 defeat in Finland with a 3-0 win in the second leg. But in the three other quarter-final duels, the Swedish superiority prevailed impressively. With Lulea, Brynäs and Frölunda, only teams from the SHL made it to the semi-finals.
While Lulea in the SHL has moved back into the top 6 in seventh place after two wins, the EVZ in the National League is stuck in a crisis. The Zugers are currently only in 8th place and are already eight points behind a direct playoff place. The start of the new year was a complete failure. In five games it suffered five defeats, with a goal difference of 5:19. The 7-0 defeat at the beginning of the year in Lausanne in particular had an impact, and even after that the team couldn’t find a turnaround.
Consistency remains the big problem
A central problem remains the lack of consistency. This season, the EVZ has never managed to string together more than two wins in a row in the National League. New construction sites appear from game to game. Sometimes the defense isn’t right, sometimes there’s a lack of penetration on offense. Head coach Michael Liniger speaks openly about a frustrating situation because everything rarely works at the same time. “It’s very frustrating that we can’t get everything together.”
Finally, what made matters worse was that the offensive top performers, of all people, weren’t able to get going. Dominik Kubalik and Tomas Tatar were largely ineffective in the first five games of the year and were only involved in a single Zug goal. Zug’s captain Jan Kovar spoke of a mental problem on Saturday after the fifth defeat in a row (2:3 against the ZSC Lions). Confidence suffered and decisions with the puck were too slow. At the same time, the Czech made it clear that the team was behind the coach and had to take responsibility.
The situation is particularly challenging for Michael Liniger. The 46-year-old is the head coach in the top Swiss league for the first time and this season, after two years as an assistant, he succeeded the two-time Zug champion coach Dan Tangnes. Liniger doesn’t accept any excuses: “We don’t have to look for excuses, but for solutions. The situation is what it is. We have to deal with it and find ways to deal with it.”
Bright spot with high stress
The semi-finals in the Champions Hockey League almost come at the right time. A different competition, a new opponent, a new starting point. Internationally, the EVZ has so far shown a much more stable face. With strong performances, the Zug team secured their place in the last four in Europe. Lulea also looks back on a successful history in European club competition. The team from northern Sweden won the first edition after the new edition in 2014/15 (with Swiss national defender Dean Kukan) and has since reached the semi-finals three more times.
However, the European soaring is also an additional burden for the EVZ. The program is extremely dense. There are 15 games scheduled for Central Switzerland in January alone, and this week there are four games within five days. In addition, there are important failures such as that of veteran Raphael Diaz, whose return after an injury to the balance system in his head suffered at the end of September is still unclear, or offensive artist Lino Martschini, whose season ended prematurely after a cruciate ligament tear. The coming weeks will be a physical and mental test.
In terms of sport, the people of Zug still have a special opportunity. They could become the third Swiss club after Genève-Servette and the ZSC Lions to make it to the final of the Champions Hockey League. However, the prospect of playing the final game in front of a home crowd like the victorious Geneva (2024) and Zurich (2025) is only theoretical. It would be all the more important to develop a starting position in your own arena on Tuesday that nurtures hope. In a season full of contradictions, the Champions Hockey League is both a ray of hope and a burden for the EVZ.
