The NHL season opened in Prague in a US setting this year.Image: AP
The North American Championship started this weekend in the Czech Republic. A Swiss city has already taken steps to host the start of the NHL season very soon.
Klaus Zaugg, Prague
NHL teams have of course already played a few games in Switzerland, notably in Zug, at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, in Bern or in Lausanne. But only as pre-season matches, or for the Victoria Cup.
A real NHL spectacle – that is to say a match counted among the 82 qualifying games and celebrated from A to Z according to the rules and customs of the NHL – has never before taken place in our country.
The ZSC Lions beat the Chicago Blackhawks in the Victoria Cup in 2009.Image: KEYSTONE
As part of its global marketing strategy, the NHL has been moving to Europe or Asia since 1997 for the start of the season. The season of the most prestigious league in the world has just opened for the 11th time in Europe, this time in Prague, with a double confrontation between the New Jersey Devils and the Buffalo Sabres.
The cost of the NHL spectacle is enormous. The ice must be the size of the championship across the Atlantic, many conditions must be met (television production, locker rooms, accommodation, etc.) and the costs should reach six-figure amounts or more.
There is only one organization in Switzerland that has the necessary infrastructure and is able to organize and finance such a spectacle: the ZSC Lions and the Swiss Life Arena.
The NHL spectacle thrilled the crowds in Prague.Image: keystone
ZSC manager Peter Zahner confirms that the start of the NHL season in Zurich after the construction of the Swiss Life Arena is indeed on the agenda. “We were already interested in it before. But it quickly became clear that this event was not possible at the Hallenstadion.” It would be possible in the new arena.
“We can reduce the ice surface to NHL dimensions. We would play the championship matches on a “small” ice rink in the North American format until the NHL came at the beginning of October, and only then would we expand the ice surface again to Swiss standards. I think the league would give permission, if it were to happen.
Peter Zahner, manager of the ZSC Lions
Ultimately, it is the NHL that decides the award and sets the conditions. “For us, organizing the NHL kick-off is on the agenda from 2026, not before,” says Peter Zahner. Zurich is in permanent contact with the authorities concerned.
The show – if it were ever to happen in Zurich – would be expensive for fans who wish to attend. With 12,000 seats, the Swiss Life Arena is smaller than the Prague stadium, for example, which has a capacity of 17,000 seats.
Peter Zahner wouldn’t be against hosting the NHL.Image: Marcel Bieri
In Prague, tickets for the start of the season cost between 200 and 300 francs per match. Peter Zahner assumes that ticket prices in Zurich would also be in this range, or even higher. He cannot yet give figures. “We have not yet concretely discussed the financial conditions during the informal talks.”
Translation and adaptation into French: Julien Caloz
More sports articles
Show all articles
Camille Herron, running star, and her husband are accused of having discredited other cracks in the discipline by perfectly mastering technology.
The creators of the famous and widely used online encyclopedia Wikipedia probably did not imagine this. That the use of their tool, for educational purposes, can be similarly diverted. Because to do what running star Camille Herron (42) and her husband are accused of, you have to have a serious ego problem.
Related News :