Joël Vermin: a power struggle that is changing the hockey map

Getting one of the best players in the league for a backbencher (Tim Bozon) and a talent (Petr Cajka) isn’t really possible. To put it controversially: Servette stole Joël Vermin.

The starting point of this crazy story is a dispute between goalkeeper Luca Boltshauser and Joël Vermin. In the emotions of the day, the headstrong manager of Lausanne, Petr Svoboda, decides in July to set an example and celebrate his authority. In the sense: It is not possible with us and watch out guys, I’m the boss. And what underscores the manager’s position of power more than being kicked out of a star?

It is the style that is often maintained in North America. And it usually (but not always) works. The player’s deposit is much larger than ours and the players’ “religious authority” anyway. Anyone can be moved anywhere every day. The “Vermin case” is nothing more than a “power struggle” between the general manager and the star player, a dance on the dressing room floor. Personal ego becomes more important than sober sports considerations.

What the great Zampano of Lausanne does not realize: Luca Boltshauser and Joël Vermin have long since gotten rid of the matter. There is no need to act anymore. Instead of restoring order to the dressing room, the team is restless about weeks of theater. And in the end weakened: Tim Bozon and Petr Cajka cannot replace Joël Vermin.

The medium and long-term consequences of this transfer change the map of French hockey. In the summer of 2019, after moving to the new hockey temple, a French hockey Versailles, Lausanne is poised to become No. 1 in western Switzerland at Servette’s expense. Also because in Geneva the wait for a new stadium will take even longer than waiting for the resignation of the Minister of Government Pierre Maudet.

And sporting director Jan Alston made Lausanne a superior team with smart transfers after promotion in 2013 (including Tobias Stephan, Joël Vermin, Lukas Frick, Joël Genazzi, Christoph Bertschy, Ronalds Kenins). In Geneva, however, the conflict with Chris McSorley is reaching a critical point and will in fact lead to a separation in the spring of 2020.

But Lausanne cannot take advantage of this formidable starting position. Once again, foreign investors are taking over. Jan Alston is fired and Petr Svoboda is installed as a man they trust. And without any sensitivity to our hockey culture, the former NHL star is now on the verge of “dismantling Lausanne.”

In Geneva, most contracts have a duration of two years. So we will continue to watch Chris McSorley’s Servette for the next two years. With the coach who coached, with the players he recruited. And now, with the silver hero of the World Cup Joël Vermin, an “imperial transfer” has been achieved that would never have been possible under normal circumstances.

It is a transfer that reinforces the self-confidence of the entire organization and at the same time weakens local rivals. Joël Vermin’s transfer changes the hockey map in French-speaking Switzerland for at least the next two years. A few weeks were enough for Servette to once again be No. 1 in French-speaking Switzerland at the expense of Lausanne. Servette is about to have two better years. The new sports director Marc Gautschi will not have to put together a new team until 2023. For now, he has established himself as the winner at the “Teatro Vermin”.

Is there at least calm in Lausanne now? No. Petr Svoboda is still Petr Svoboda. According to the motto: “I am the boss and I have to prove it to the world every day. I can’t help it. “It is not a question of if, but only of when the next alternate theater will be. That is why the question” Is Lausanne too stupid to become a champion? ” It’s justified, but we can’t rule out that Servette will have to pay the bill for Chris McSorley’s eviction in two years.

After everything we saw and heard in Lausanne and Geneva in 2020, we better understand why French hockey has been waiting for a champion since 1973.