ZSC Lions

As part of my christmas pressie chop-chop got us ticket to go and see the ZSC Lions play Lugano. ZSC are a Swiss ice hockey team and chop-chop follows them madly. Id never seen an ice hockey match before, but I loved the film Mighty Ducks with Emelio Estevez which was about a kids ice hockey team. Plus it was a winter sport and being in Swissy with the snow and the chilling cold air Ice Hockey just seemed like something I should experience.


Id got chop-chop a new ZSC hoodie for christmas which he looked gorgeous in. I wore totally inappropriate high heeled black suede boots, denim skirt and a humungous ZSC shirt that almost made it appear my skirt was non-existent.




We got on the tram in the evening to set out for our adventure. As we got closer to the stadium there were people everywhere wearing ZSC shirts and all wending their way towards the stadium through the snowy Zurich night.


All social events involve food and this experience was no different, chop-chop had one of those incredibly large swiss sausages with bread and heaps of mustard (ive never really taken to them) so i had a carton of hot chips (something the swiss dont excel at) and oodles of tomato ketchup. We stood at a podium watching the milling crowds stuffing themselves like us while we all waited for the game to start. Deciding to take our seats we then had to face what i remember as a truly dangerous march thru a wall of cigarette smoking, effusive, chattering band of ZSC and Lugano fans. Not all men, there were lots of women and loads and loads of kiddies too. But the smoke lol, well not so much the smoke as the hot ends of cigarettes casually waved around in the hands of Swiss, german and italian supporters (have you noticed they talk with their hands and their mouths). It was like dodging bullets and something that really sticks in my mind about the evening.

TIP: if you go to one of these games dont wear clothes you dont want a cigarette burn in, unless your like Catherine Zeta Jones in Entrapment and can contort your body through the red rays of a museum security system.

The stadium was huge, there were big screens showing advertisements and replays, a huge computer strip to show the scores and some fans had hung banners promoting their team on the walls behind. The teams came out to a huge roar, much excitement and the game was started. Im not going to pretend I totally understood everything that went on, it seemed to start and stop in bursts, everytime it stopped some music came on and when they started to play again it stopped.


I thought the most amusing part was when someone got sent off and they had special music for that too, tailored to which team member was being a little break in the hole. At one point the ZSC fans all lit little fire/candle (not sure) thingies which they waved around with great enthusiasm. The whole thing was fast and furious and great fun and I dont feel you have to be an ice hockey affectionado or even understand the game to enjoy the evening, I know i did :)

At half time there was a break, and they had 3 people on the ice from the crowd, one was a little boy of about 10 id say. The object of this was they were given a puck and a stick and they had to hit their puck between an impossibly small area to win some money. I mean it was like the dam busters, the area they had to drive their puck thru was incredibly tiny but they all got onto the ice in good sport, grinning up at their respective families and ready to take their chances. Unbelieveably the little boy hit a gold home, the crowd went crazy, cheering and clapping and the little boy was like an olympic hero, he grabbed his stick with two hands, huge grin on his face and jumped up and down performing for his adoring and awe struck family. Way to go little boy!!!!!

Unfortunately ZSC lost so chop-chop was a little forelorn and after running the gaunlet of lit cigarettes we were out on the street in the chilling weather making out way home.

Id love to go again, the ZSC experience was defiantely one I would recommend and want to repeat.


Go ZSC Lions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

History of the ZSC Lions

Locally nicknamed "Z", the team was formed in 1997 as a result of the merger of the two local teams Zürcher Schlittschuh Club (German for "Zurich Skating Club") and Grasshoppers Club (GC), the ice hockey section of Grasshopper-Club Zürich. ZSC played in the National League A, was clearly the fan favourite of the city but in constant financial trouble. Grasshoppers, meanwhile, was playing in the Nationalliga B, failed to qualify for promotion several years in a row and had a small fan base, but was backed by a very wealthy man.
ZSC was the first Swiss team to play in an indoor arena (Hallenstadion).

They won the Swiss championship in the years 1936, 1949 and 1961 and the prestigious Spengler Cup in 1944 and 1945. After the merger, the ZSC Lions won the Swiss Championship in 2000, 2001 and 2008, the IIHF Continental Cup in 2001 and 2002 and the Champions Hockey League in 2008.

During the 2008-09 Season, the ZSC Lions participated in the first ever Champions Hockey League, for which the automatically qualified. The other participating Swiss team, SC Bern, had to first win the qualifying tournament. for the group stage, the ZSC Lions were placed in group D, along with HC Slavia Praha and Linköpings HC. ZSC Lions came first in this group with only one defeat and three victories, thus qualifying for the semi-finals.

On 7 January 2009 they qualified for the first Final of the CHL against the Finnish Espoo Blues, beating them 6-3 and 4-1 respectively. The first leg of the final was held on 21 January 2009 in the Magnitogorsk Arena against Metallurg Magnitogorsk and ended with a 2-2 (0-2,0-0,2-0) draw. The goals for ZSC were shot by Trudel and Wichser respectively in the first third of the game.[1] The second leg was played one week later, on 28 January 2009, in the Diners Club Arena in Rapperswil, Switzerland. ZSC Lions won the finals with a 5-0 with goals by Down, Sejna, Seger, Alston and Trudel.