Train: Money like Dagobert Duck, talk like Goofy and Captain Raphael Diaz

Eismeister Zaugg

Train: Money like Dagobert Duck, talk like Goofy and Captain Raphael Diaz

When Captain Raphael Diaz leaves Zug, an era will come to an end. Couldn’t have found a better new club than Gottéron. Now Zug is running out of time.

For Gottéron it is an eternal dream: to become a teacher one day! Gottéron had better not become a teacher. So the master dream lives forever, inspires the imagination and opens the wallet year after year. The recurring hope that it will be enough next year is an inexhaustible source of energy and coach and sports director Christian Dubé is a true grandmaster of the ‘business of hope’. The cult status is preserved: we are and will continue to be the best team in history that has never become champions. He failed in the 1992, 1993, 1994 and 2013 finals. The final triumph was the closest in 1992, when the last and final match on his own court was lost to SCB 1: 4.

Díaz fits perfectly with Freiburg

That Raphael Diaz from Zug the fall of his career: he will turn 35 in January! – intends to spend on Gottéron – perfect. Modern Gottéron’s DNA includes playful brilliance and elegance in motion without masterful fame. To put it maliciously: it is the Welsh element too strong. No player from Alemannic Switzerland fits this Gottéron better than the talented four-time loser Raphael Díaz (2017 and 2019 playoffs, 2013 and 2018 World Cup finals). If his new boss, Christian Dubé, had not been a striker but a defender, he would have played like Raphael Díaz. The captain of Zug is the best, the most charismatic leader who has ever become a master. No one at Gottéron will criticize him if he doesn’t win the title either. And it is not without a certain irony that Gottéron’s spectacle transfer comes from Zug of all places.

Winning mentality is missing in Zug

Zug is one of the leading hockey companies in Europe and, measured by its financial strength, it should become champions from time to time. After all, the people of Zug were teachers at one point or another. 1998 under the charismatic and strong leadership, down to earth President Fredy Egli. If you had a leader like Fredy Egli today, you would have become champions at least twice in the last five years.

The people of Zug have achieved great things. The political penetration of an entire canton, a strong network in the local economy, a wonderful stadium and a sports center that is not only one of the best in the country, but also one of the most modern in the world. And we can say without malice: you have money like Scrooge McDuck. The only problem is: political, structural and economic success weakens the most important element of a sports company: the absolute will to succeed. How do you notice that? No, not because of the lack of commitment from the players. No way.

But becoming a teacher starts with thinking. A winning mindset requires a healthy level of self-confidence, which the competition also enviously views as arrogance. As with Bayern Munich. The principle is not to accept defeat and always want to win. Of course, losses are part of that. But they are the oxygen for an even stronger will to win. That used to be the case at SCB. The “Grande Lugano” had this winning mentality for many years, the HCD during the “Belle Epoque” with Arno Del Curto anyway, and today this winning mentality can be felt most strongly among the ZSC Lions. Part of a winning mindset is that you verbally boom from time to time.

Since the summer, the people of Zug only talk about saving. Managing Director Patrick Lengwiler and his sporting director Reto Kläy are now among the league’s most prominent “Crown Blockers.” Whoever wants to become a champion and has a president who is a billionaire does not complain. If you want to save, do it and don’t talk about it. Nobody believes this saving talk anyway, it’s a great template for excuses and it scares the great players who want to become champions. And the people of Zug are careful not to let controversy arise about the club. This is another reason why the contract with coach Dan Tangnes has been extended until 2024. Quiet teams never become champions. Zug’s 1998 championship team was one of the most entertaining, colorful and vibrant in history.

An era is coming to an end in Zug

Santeri Alatalo (30) leaves Zug, captain Raphael Diaz (34) heads for Gottéron. When a player like Raphael Díaz comes out of the locker room, who, with the exception of his trip to the North American side (214 NHL games / 50 points), has spent his entire career in Zug, who has become the “boy of the poster “of the company, then it always works. an era ended. This adds to the feeling that Zug is running out of time: if he fails to become champion next spring, it will be the era of failed championships.

Sporting director Reto Kläy has to rebuild the defense over the next few years. You need a new defense minister. That doesn’t work with whining and saving talk. Only Ambris Captain Michael Fora (25) and Rappis Vice Captain Dominik Egli (22) are really on the market, who are suitable for a future championship team. Michael Fora is expected to extend another year at Ambri.

Reto Kläy has rocked the league twice and has beaten Leonardo Genoni and Lugano Grégory Hofmann. To become champion, Zug’s sporting director needs once again, this time in the defensive position, such a large transfer from a Swiss player. Samuel Kreis de Biel (26) is not such a big transfer. You can’t take Raphael Díaz’s shoes, much less put yourself in his shoes.

Zug people have money like Dagobert Duck, Patrick Lengwiler and Reto Kläy just have to stop talking like Goofy.