It is February 14, 2023. Our colleague Ruben Steiger then headlined, in the 24 Hoursan article with a strong sentence: “Power-play undermines the development of Lausanne HC”. And our esteemed colleague continues: “For several years, the Vaudois team has had one of the worst power plays in the league.” It must be said that that season again, the LHC was dragging itself to the bottom of the rankings with one more man on the ice, with a 17.16% success rate.
A year and a half later, it was the excellent Cyrill Pasche, at the opening of the current season, who gave his diagnosis: “To get better, the LHC will have to unlock its power-play,” he wrote. It must be said that the season was still young, but the findings were already clear. After four matches in the new year, the LHC had still not found the fault in power-play. The same evening, Janne Kuokkanen unlocked his team and gave his team victory in overtime, against Bern (3-2 after).
Since then, like ketchup, everything has come out at once. Geoff Ward’s troop became lethal in the exercise. They are the best formation in the elite with one more man on the frozen surface, scoring on 30.23% of their opportunities. This is better than Genève-Servette (29.11%), Ajoie (27.59%) or even Berne (25%) and Zug (24.18%). The National League average is set at 20.22% and Lugano is the worst team in the specialty with only 15% success. Less than half compared to the LHC.
This Thursday, while the LHC took (with 4 more matches than Zurich…) the head of the Swiss hierarchy, the demonstration in power-play was total. The Vaudois scored 4 times out of their 5 possibilities at the start of the evening. Add to that two numerical inferiorities suffered without damage at the end of the first period and you will obtain a special situations plan which took place without the slightest hitch. And above all an incredible development in the space of a few months, Geoff Ward seeming to succeed in small steps in further progressing a collective which came close to the supreme title a few months ago.
With 26 goals scored in the exercise this season, the LHC basically plants 4 goals at 5 against 4 every 5 matches. So why this development? The targeted offseason recruiting appears to have been done accordingly. And even without the designated specialist Kuokkanen, without the international Ken Jäger who was so good this year – both were ill – the “PP” is running at full speed. Against Kloten, the authority and virtuosity with which Ahti Oksanen and Antti Suomela led and concluded power plays was sometimes irresistible.
They say that attack wins matches and defense wins championships… But often, special situations also bring happiness.
