The ZSC goalie Simon Hrubec delivers the expected impressive reaction to his bear market with a shutout. And a swallow enrages the Zurich audience so much that the decibel volume wakes up his team. Thanks to the 3-0 win, ZSC has all the advantages again in the play-off final against Lausanne.
A not insignificant part of the ZSC’s DNA is rooted in the era of the old indoor stadium. A venue that the followers filled with life through an anarchic, rebellious spirit. People smoked uncontrollably in the stands and beer cups flew down on the opposing players. It was a legendary place where the ZSC won five of its nine championship titles; a kind of legal vacuum too.
After the indoor stadium was renovated in 2005, things became significantly quieter; The wild rock’n’roll flair was a thing of the past, everything became more civilized and bland too. Some evenings you felt like you were in a cinema, it was so quiet. In autumn 2022, the ZSC moved to the Swiss Life Arena in Altstetten. A modern hockey arena with a huge video cube and nice catering, but with its gray interior it lacks some charm.
The ZSC hasn’t been playing there for long, it hasn’t won a title in this hall, and it’s not yet a place of worship where heroes were born. That could change in the next few days. Not least because the spirit of the old indoor stadium returned for a few minutes on Thursday evening when ZSC took the lead in the final series again with a 3-0 win against Lausanne.
A phantom penalty first woke up the crowd and then the team
In the 28th minute, Derek Grant was given a two-minute penalty for sticking. However, the video images showed: It was a swallow from Lausanne defender Andrea Glauser. The audience initially reacted angrily – and then went wild. It was not possible to continue the game for a long time because objects kept flying onto the ice. As if today’s Ajoie coach Christian Wohlwend was sitting in the arena – he will never forget how he angrily threw water bottles onto the ice in Davos two years ago.
The Lausanne players’ bench was also covered with items; The former ZSC professional Ronalds Kenins therefore fought fiery verbal battles with spectators. The ZSC coach Marc Crawford later said: “I have never experienced this arena like this. It was downright electrifying.” And Chris Baltisberger, who after 14 years at ZSC has no shortage of opportunities to compare, said: “The energy in the stadium was unique.”
His team managed to draw strength from this collective eruption of emotion. Initially, ZSC survived the outnumbered game unscathed. And shortly afterwards he made the decision with a double strike within 51 seconds. The winning goal was scored by Juho Lammikko, who beat Lausanne goalkeeper Connor Hughes with an embarrassing shot. “I wasn’t actually trying to score a goal,” said the two-time Finnish world champion frankly.
Two days earlier in Lausanne, it was ZSC goalie Simon Hrubec who initiated the defeat with convincing goals. In Game 5, the Czech showed an impressive reaction, just as Crawford had prophetically predicted. For every clean sheet, Hrubec receives a special bonus – and has to buy donuts for the whole team. Lammikko says: “He lives right next to a coop and he always brings things from there. I’ve never tried them. I don’t like eating sweets in the morning. And after training everyone is always gone. . .» It was Hrubec’s fourth play-off shutout. He could probably now afford to put a few extra copies in the cabin so that Lammikko can enjoy them too.
WHAT.A.WELL.GAME!
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The ZSC Lions win the fifth final against Lausanne and take a 3-2 lead in the series. This means that a playoff game with match puck will take place on Saturday away from home for Marc Crawford’s team and… pic.twitter.com/TaMkURjN5I— ZSC Lions (@zsclions) April 25, 2024
The ZSC paid dearly for the victory: two key players were injured early on
What concerned the ZSC more than culinary temptations after Thursday’s match was the health of two key players: defender Yannick Weber and attacker Rudolfs Balcers were injured in the starting third. It is unclear whether they will be operational on Saturday evening; As usual in the play-offs, Crawford remained vague and only said: “We’ll see how serious your injuries are.”
It won’t be trifles: the high pain tolerance of ice hockey players is more than just the creation of legends. And the 35-year-old Weber has never been a champion in his long, illustrious career; If it had been possible at all, he would have continued playing.
It is ZSC’s luck that it has such a broad squad that it can cushion possible absences. With the Canadian defender Scott Harrington (269 NHL appearances) there is an additional foreigner available. And with the attackers on Thursday, Simon Bodenmann, a long-time national striker whose career ends after this play-off, sat in the stands as a surplus.
Regardless of which staff the ZSC travels to Lausanne with on Saturday: the task remains tricky. The opponent also appears more confident at home because he is supported by an excited audience. So far there have only been home wins in this series. The fact that Lausanne recently traveled to the away game a day earlier for the first time did not change this.
The ZSC did not need psychological tricks of this kind. On Thursday he could rely on the spirit of the old indoor stadium. It is not impossible that the ZSC will have to summon him again if there is a game on Tuesday, a crucial seventh game.