The ZSC Lions will probably be the qualifying winners for the first time since 2020 and will be the big favorites in the play-offs. In addition to the strong goalkeeper performances, the young striker Vinzenz Rohrer is one of the discoveries.
Denis Malgin from the ZSC Lions (center) and his teammates celebrate the goal to make it 2-1 against Lausanne.
Philipp Schmidli / Keystone
Marc Crawford tries his best to demonstrate humility. It was a tough qualification, his team was challenged a lot and had to go through various lows, says the ZSC Lions coach. “We had to pass a lot of tests.” Once again, the rest of the National League would like to see these concerns from the industry leader.
Because the ZSC has the best, broadest squad in the championship. No other team concedes fewer goals. The special teams are working. Crawford was able to have some fun with the composition of the lines. Striker Denis Malgin is in the mood to play, and Simon Hrubec is not only statistically the best goalkeeper in the league. The average number of goals conceded by the Czech is 1.88. It’s an insane value; not even ZSC legend Ari Sulander ever came close to achieving it.
The co-favorites Zug and Geneva/Servette are weakening
The Lions’ lead in 7th place and the first pre-play-off team is thirty points. Three laps before the end, with a reserve of seven points on Freiburg, the Zurich team can hardly take their first qualifying victory since 2020 away. 1st place entitles you to take part in the Champions Hockey League next season, a format in which the ZSC has so far been bitterly disappointing; Since 2014 and the new edition of the competition, he has never made it further than the quarter-finals.
Above all, the classification underlines the quality and standards of this organization, which has only been able to celebrate one title in the last nine years despite enormous financial efforts. In the next two months, the hunger for success should be satisfied again. And it’s a good omen that ZSC is playing the best regular season in its history; the average point is 2.12 per match. He was only that good in 2013/14, also with coach Crawford, when ZSC confidently won the play-off thanks to a 4-0 win in the final against Kloten. It is the only championship title in five attempts with former Stanley Cup champion Crawford.
Marc Crawford (center) wants to win the championship title with the ZSC Lions for the second time.
Manuel Geisser / Keystone
The play-offs will decide how this ZSC season will go down in the annals – and possibly also whether Crawford, who is under contract until 2025, will keep his job. Anything other than the tenth title in the club’s history would be a bitter disappointment, especially since the competition reveals weaknesses.
EV Zug, which started as one of the favorites, is in a crisis and is struggling with injury concerns. Last year’s finalist Biel even has to worry about taking part in the pre-play-offs and released coach Petri Matikainen on Sunday. Fourth-placed Lausanne was hopelessly overwhelmed with 12:39 shots when it lost 3-1 to the ZSC Lions on Saturday. And the title holders Geneva/Servette cannot get their defensive problems under control.
Relationships in the notoriously over-the-top cosmos of the Montreal Canadiens
The qualification has already produced winners from the ZSC team. One of them is Vinzenz Rohrer, a nineteen-year-old Austrian who was trained in the ZSC organization, did not burden the foreign contingent and was drafted in the third round by the Montreal Canadiens in 2022. On Friday, the versatile attacker led the ZSC to victory at Ajoie with two penalty goals, and he also scored against Lausanne.
Rohrer is a fast-paced, slim striker who has already collected 17 points in his first professional season and stands out with his remarkable maturity. He says he deliberately avoids using social networks so as not to have his head turned.
In the notoriously over-the-top cosmos of the Montreal Canadiens, this is probably a wise decision. Rohrer is currently learning French, which will be popular in the bilingual province of Quebec, where it is an unwritten law that the Canadiens coach must speak French. Rohrer also uses his free time to teach himself how to play the piano.
The discovery of this ZSC winter: Vinzenz Rohrer (2nd from right).
Philipp Schmidli / Keystone
Rohrer, son of former tennis professional Stefan Lochbihler, faces an exciting future. Crawford says that there is no question for him that Rohrer will make the jump to the NHL in the medium term: “His development is very pleasing.” Crawford now also uses it in outnumbered games and on the face-off. Among the strikers, Rohrer gets significantly more ice time than veterans like Chris Baltisberger, Reto Schäppi or the often redundant former national player Simon Bodenmann.
And Rohrer is likely to stay with ZSC next season, he says: “I have signed a two-year contract here. The options are to stay in Zurich or move to the NHL. There’s a very small chance that I’ll make it straight into the NHL in the fall.”
💪First NL game, first NL goal! You can do it Vinzenz Rohrer!
zsclions I #NationalLeague I #IamFan pic.twitter.com/qu3jKZ8TaQ— MySports (@MySports_CH) September 15, 2023
“The mission is clear: the only thing that counts for us is the championship title.”
Rohrer says there are many facets of his game that he needs to work on, including physicality. With his posture of 1 meter 80 and 78 kilograms, the play-offs with the ZSC will be his first real endurance test. “The mission is clear: the only thing that counts for us is the championship title.” Rohrer quickly internalized the sense of entitlement in Zurich.
The Lions, who complete their qualification next Monday against the SCL Tigers, will only know their first play-off opponent after the pre-play-offs. Then it will become clear whether Crawford was right in his assessment that his people had been challenged enough this winter.