The star striker who gives Ambri new hope

In May, the Czech Republic became world champions in Prague, Dominik Kubalik scored five goals and was his team’s third-best scorer. In Sementina, Ambri’s coach Luca Cereda watched the World Cup on TV and thought: What a player. Kubalik, 29, grew up in Pilsen before his star rose in Ambri between December 2017 and spring 2019. Kubalik became the top scorer in the National League, and with Dominic Zwerger he formed the league’s most exciting wing duo. Their modus operandi, Zwerger’s cross pass and Kubalik’s finish, guaranteed goals.

Kubalik was more than just a scorer for Ambri, he became a shining light and changed the self-image of this eternal outsider. It is the people of Leventina who created the Ambri myth. The club knew its village kings, the Celios and Zamberlanis. But it was often foreign players who made themselves immortal: Dale McCourt, Oleg Petrow, Jean-Guy Trudel. And Kubalik.

The village club has not won a play-off series since 2000, and in the last eighteen seasons the team has only managed to qualify twice. With Kubalik, Ambri finished fifth in 2019, its best result since 2002 and catapulted the club into the Champions Hockey League.

Sports director Duca takes Kubalik to Ambri twice

There were rumours in the summer that the winger could return. Ambri’s sporting director Paolo Duca had wisely kept in close contact over the years. He didn’t really believe in the coup either, but dreaming has paid off with this player before: After seeing Kubalik in training at the 2017 World Cup in Paris, he was so impressed by his class that he commissioned Ambri’s then Czech striker Lukas Lhotak to organise the cell phone number.

Kubalik had long since committed to playing for Salavat Ufa in the KHL for 2017/18, but Duca thought that you never know, especially in Russia, where the promises are big and the staff turnover is even bigger because the managers don’t always keep their word. Duca’s instinct was not wrong: when Kubalik was surplus to requirements and unhappy, Ambri financed his release clause. It was the beginning of a fou love affair.

In the summer of 2024, the case is more difficult. After all, it was only two years ago that Kubalik produced 45 points in 81 games for the Detroit Red Wings. There is no doubt that he is good enough for the NHL. But the longer the hoped-for contract offer from overseas failed to materialize, the more hope grew in Ambri. More in the environment than in the sporting management. At the end of August, they signed a third foreign defender, Kodie Curran.

A few days later, Kubalik got in touch: he didn’t want to wait any longer, he wanted to play. Cereda said: “We had just played a warm-up game in Herisau when the call came. And I thought: ‘Porco troia’, it’s actually happening. I was really surprised.”

Kubalik can get out of his contract until December 15th, and he may be gone tomorrow. But his arrival has triggered something around the club. CEO Andreas Fischer, who was appointed in the summer, speaks of euphoria; the club had “Cuba” shirts specially printed, which sold very well, perhaps also because of the ambiguity with the socialist republic in the traditionally left-leaning Curva Sud.

Personality cults are rare in Swiss ice hockey. Last season, ZSC sold fewer than 200 jerseys of Denis Malgin, the shining NHL returnee and figurehead. The proportion of people who secure a ticket because they want to see an individual player is small. That’s how it is when the stars all play in the NHL. Kubalik can be an exception; he is an asset for Ambri and the league.

On Friday evening shortly after 10 p.m., Kubalik is standing in front of the guest dressing room in the Swiss Life Arena. His team has given the champions ZSC everything they could, but despite leading three times in overtime, they lost 4:5. You can tell that Kubalik has spent the last five years in the NHL; his answers are brief and determined.

In Europe, Ambri was the only option for him, he has the best memories of his time here. And he checked the results every match day overseas too. Today, he is not thinking about the NHL, but wants to help this club and would have no problem spending the entire season here. He loved the Valascia, but the comfort in the Gottardo Arena, which opened in 2021, is an upgrade, the working conditions are much better.

Does Kubalik compensate for Ambri’s glaring deficiencies in defense?

A few meters away from him, coach Cereda has grabbed a plate of vegetables and offers words of warning: “We must not forget that ice hockey is a team sport. Cuba is a huge asset for us. But we must not think that he will solve all our problems, he cannot fix it alone.”

Cereda and Duca are in their eighth season at the helm of Ambri and cannot avoid putting a lot of energy into dampening expectations. It is a Sisyphean task that is regularly sabotaged by the good-natured President Filippo Lombardi – the former CVP Council of States member notoriously sees his club as being on the verge of making the big splash. This is one of the reasons why the sporting leadership has shown signs of fatigue in recent years; Cereda and Duca have long considered resigning.

They decided against it, partly out of love for the club; they are both sons of Leventina and deeply connected to the club. But they are under pressure to succeed after several difficult sporting years with the lone highlight of the Spengler Cup triumph in 2022. With Kubalik, the top 10 is a must, actually even direct play-off qualification, that is the tenor in the environment.

There is no guarantee that Kubalik will be able to compensate for the team’s glaring weaknesses in defense and goalkeeping – and if so, for how long? At least: On Saturday, the star striker secured Ambri’s first win of the season in a penalty shootout, a 3:2 win against Kloten, in which the favorites once again squandered a lead. The first three championship rounds prove Cereda right: Even Kubalik cannot lead Ambri to happiness on his own.