A lot began when the central Swiss introduced Norwegian Dan Tangnes as a coach in the summer of 2018. The mastermind has developed several players into leaders this season. Who led EV Zug to the third title in the club’s history.
Leonardo Genoni: the guarantee of success
Champion for the seventh time: Zug goalie Leonardo Genoni.
He grew up in the youth department of the ZSC Lions. But Leonardo Genoni became champion with HC Davos, SC Bern and now for the second time with EV Zug. It was the seventh title after 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 in the career of the 34-year-old from Zurich. No other player has been champion more often since the play-offs were introduced on Swiss ice. Only Lugano’s legend Jörg Eberle also achieved seven titles. But if everything is not wrong, Genoni should not have laid his hand on the trophy for the last time on Sunday evening. His contract in Zug runs for two more years.
An early extension would come as no surprise. Leonardo Genoni turned an ambitious team into a champion team. His commitment in autumn 2018 was the key transfer of the skilful Zug sports director Reto Kläy. Genoni hasn’t always excelled in these play-offs. At the beginning of the final series against the ZSC Lions, he conceded one or two goals, which one is not used to from him. Even with the early 0-1 in Sunday’s seventh game, he didn’t seem to be blameless.
But Genoni is also probably the best goalkeeper in the history of Swiss ice hockey because he absorbs setbacks and is at his best when it really matters. In game 6 last Friday he almost single-handedly avoided defeat with 36 saves. Not having kept him in the organization should annoy the ZSC Lions to this day. And that is representative of the little careful handling of the people of Zurich with their talents. That’s another reason why they now have to wait for a title.
Jan Kovar: the foreman
Increased in the closing stages: Zug’s Captain Jan Kovar.
In the fall of 2019, Jan Kovar came to EV Zug to replace Garrett Roe, who had been recruited from ZSC. He more than replaced the American. The 32-year-old Czech guarantees the EVZ more or less scorer points at discretion. In the second play-offs he was top scorer for the second time; In 2020, in his first Zug season, the championship decision fell victim to the corona virus.
Kovar looked for the kick early in the finals series. Perhaps he was a little inhibited by the fact that his brother Jakub Kovar was in goal for the Lions on the other side. It was only in the fifth game that he scored his only goal – to make it 4-1 into the abandoned Zürcher Tor.
However, Jan Kovar’s value cannot be seen in his goals alone. Before that he had prepared all 3 of Dario Simion’s goals and also on Sunday he prepared the 1:1 and 2:1. After Kovar’s four-point match last Wednesday, his coach Dan Tangnes said that big players grow in important games. Also because Jan Kovar did that in the most recent final, the EVZ is champion again.
Dario Simion: the Risen One
Dario Simion scored four goals in the final series and started the turnaround in favor of EVZ.
Dario Simion, the 27-year-old from Ticino from the HC Ambri-Piotta ice hockey school, joined EV Zug in 2018 via HC Lugano and HC Davos. Already in the last season he had a decisive influence on the first Zug title since 1998. At that time he was still in the shadow of the even more accurate Gregory Hofmann. Now that Hofmann returned to central Switzerland from the NHL during the season, a similar fate was suspected for Simion.
It turned out differently. In the fourth and fifth final game he scored a total of 4 goals and on Sunday he equalized the early Zurich lead with a power play hit and decided the match 3-1 into the abandoned Zurich goal. Simion played a decisive role in EV Zug getting out of a 0:3 deficit in the series.
With a total of 8 play-off goals, Simion even surpassed Zurich’s outstanding center Denis Malgin (6). Simion benefited from his side players Jan Kovar and Fabrice Herzog. Coach Dan Tangnes formed this line before the fourth match in response to ZSC’s outstanding Malgin storm.
Niklas Hansson: successful stopgap
Had to replace the departed Captain Raphael Diaz in Zug: the Swede Niklas Hansson.
Niklas Hansson took on a difficult inheritance last autumn. In Zug he had to replace Raphael Diaz, who had moved to Fribourg-Gottéron. Many doubted that the 27-year-old Swede would succeed. He came to Zug with a manageable portfolio. He had previously spent his career primarily with Rögle in the Swedish elite series. An attempt to gain a foothold in North America failed in the organization of the Dallas Stars. He spent the three years overseas exclusively in the farm team and therefore returned to Sweden.
But in Switzerland, he caught on right away. In the regular season, with an average of 0.88 scorer points per match, Hansson was the third-best defender behind Geneva’s Henrik Tömmernes (1.14) and Sami Vatanen (1.03). In the playoffs, his influence increased again. At plus 11, he had the best plus-minus record of any player. In addition, he scored a groundbreaking goal in the fourth final game. The doubts about its suitability as a Diaz replacement have been dispelled.
Fabrice Herzog: the taming of the unruly
Scored the groundbreaking 1-0 in game 6: Fabrice Herzog (number 68).
Fabrice Herzog has a dubious reputation. The 27-year-old from eastern Switzerland has been banned eight times for checking an opponent in the head. A good year ago, he ended the career of Bernese defender Eric Blum in this way. In November he was banned again for a charge against Freiburg’s Mauro Dufner and was therefore considered unteachable.
But now, in the play-offs, Herzog showed a completely different face. He was one of the most regular scorers alongside Jan Kovar and only received two penalty minutes twice in the 15 games. In the sixth game, he shot over the leg of Zurich’s Justin Azevedo to make it 1-0, which opened the door to Sunday’s Belle for Zug.
On Sunday he was the game winner in the power play to 2:1. Herzog is now part of the national team that will take part in the World Cup in Finland in May. Just as he recently played in the play-offs, he is one of the physically best players on Swiss ice.
Dan Tangnes: the mastermind
In the fourth year for the second time champion with EV Zug: the head coach Dan Tangnes (here last spring).
When EV Zug introduced Dan Tangnes as the new head coach and successor to the dismissed Harold Kreis in the summer of 2018, many people asked: Dan who? The then 39-year-old Norwegian came from the Swedish top club Linköping, but was still relatively unknown internationally. He had convinced the Zug sports director Reto Kläy in a personal conversation.
Tangnes’ track record in Zug is outstanding. Cup winner and play-off finalist in first season. Now champions in 2021 and 2022. The corona virus had prevented a possible further triumph in 2020.
Of course, Tangnes in Zug has excellent working conditions. The club has made targeted investments in the team and environment in recent years thanks to the funds provided by the billionaire President Hans-Peter Strebel. But how good Tangnes is as a coach, he proved in the last series of finals. Although his team was 3-0 down, he kept calm and cool-headed, outperforming two-time world champion coach Rikard Grönborg on the Zurich side. Tangnes’ composure carried over to his own team. He is under contract with EVZ for another two years.