Perfect start for the Lausanne Hockey Club. At home, the Lions won their first match of 2025 against Kloten. A 6-1 victory in style.
After the New Year, LHC supporters (and a small delegation from Zurich) braved the elements to spend this Thursday afternoon at the Vaudoise Aréna. And in Lausanne, the new year is celebrated first of all with an expected return to the match sheet: that of Michael Raffl. The Austrian was returning from a new injury which had kept him away from the game for several months.
But if outside, the wind was unleashed between the tree branches, we had to wait a little before seeing a semblance of a whirlwind on the ice. “I thought the first part of the match was like a game of chess,” describes coach Geoff Ward. “Both teams didn’t concede much.”
In the first third, the statistics are slightly misleading. The Lausannois had 12 shots on goal, compared to 8 for Kloten, but it was the Aviators who were the most aggressive. They particularly worked hard at the end of the period while they were in numerical superiority.
There is no holiday among the Lions
However, despite significant pressure on Kevin Pasche’s cage, Zurich did not turn this powerplay to their advantage. Conversely, upon returning from the locker room, the Lions were not idle. After some nice but unsuccessful actions, the counter was unlocked by Lukas Frick. The defender left the Lausanne defensive zone towards the cage. At the blue line, he passed to Fabian Heldner who returned the puck to him in front of the cage. The number 38 then had no difficulty sliding it into the back of the net (27th, assists: Fabian Heldner and Antti Suomela).
Geoff Ward’s men were thus launched. A few moments later, Théo Rochette offered the supporters one of those superb goals for which he has the secret (30th, assists: Lauri Pajuniemi and Michael Raffl). A success made possible thanks to the excellent work of Raffl to keep the puck in the zone.
Ahti Oksanen made it 3-0 (35th, assist: Suomela). While Suomela, at the gang, had put the puck back on Keijo Weibel’s cane, the Zurich player completely missed his control. No need to point it out twice to Oksanen who grabbed the puck and had no one around him to worry him.
And on this public holiday Thursday, Suomela wasn’t just there to serve caviar to his teammates. With his back to the Zurich goalkeeper, Oksanen received the puck but had no option to turn around. He therefore cleared it and the Lausanne Top Scorer arrived in perfect timing to send the puck flying into the net (38th, assists: Oksanen and Damien Riat).
“It’s exactly what we wanted.”
For Jason Fuchs, this second third of madness can be explained quite simply by points that had to be picked up after the break.
And for this first match of the year, the Lions were unstoppable. Oksanen did it again in the middle of the third period. In powerplay, the Finn had a first opportunity in front of the cage, but he once again failed to turn around. And after a few moments of patience, No. 29 was perfectly positioned to deflect Suomela’s shot into the goal (50th, assist: Suomela and Jason Fuchs).
For the honor, Klotena reduced the score in the 55th thanks to a shot passed straight from Harrison Luc Schreiber. But it was ultimately Damien Riat who had the last word (60th, assist: Gavin Bayreuther).
In the Lausanne ranks, it was therefore satisfaction that reigned after the meeting.
Before the holidays, we left Lausanne residents very tired. Rest was therefore necessary to continue the good momentum of December 2024.
The LHC thus takes the lead in the National League standings with 3 points ahead of the ZSC Lions. Zurich which nevertheless has four games less than the Lausanne team. The two teams will meet again on Sunday at the Swiss Life Arena.
