It's been a while since HC Lugano has played in a top-level international championship, but veteran defenceman Julien Vauclair was there in the 1999-2000 European Hockey League and the 2006-07 European Champions Cup. He shares some of his memories ahead of tonight's game in Mannheim.
by Maurizio Urech
LUGANO – Veteran defenceman Julien Vauclair, 36, has played over 770 NLA games for HC Lugano and was also an important part of the Swiss national team that won its historic silver medal at the 2013 World Championships in Sweden.
Vauclair won two NLA titles in 1999 and 2006 and one national junior title with Lugano in 1998. His two brothers Geoffrey and Tristan also played for Lugano in at least six seasons and, guess what? Julien scored his first goal for Lugano's A-team in a European Hockey League game against Dynamo Moscow back in 1999, held at their home rink, Resega. That year, Lugano hosted the Final Four tournament and reached the semi-finals, where they lost to Sparta Prague and then TPS Turku to finish 4th place in Europe.
Since then, Vauclair and Lugano also played in the European Champions Cup in 2007 in St Petersburg, Russia, where the team beat Farjestad Karlstad and lost to Ak Bars Kazan. Now they're back on the European stage again, competing in the Champions Hockey League's Group C with Adler Mannheim and Tappara Tampere. First up is a game in Mannheim on Thursday night.
Julien, it's a new hockey season. Getting back on the ice must be something special, even for a veteran like you.
“That’s true. We are all hockey players and we don’t like working out in the gym, running or riding the bike. We are all happy that we can practice on the ice again – that’s our world.”
You have the CHL coming up. What are your memories of your first big European club hockey experience – the year you reached the Final Four, played before a sellout crowd here at the Resega ?
“A lot of great memories. I was a young player – right there you don’t realize what you achieved. We were all disappointed losing our semi-final game in overtime against Sparta Prague – we were so close. I was lucky to live that experience with Lugano. During my player career that was a privileged moment.”
After 10 long years Lugano is back on the European stage and even for the veteran players this must be a special motivation for this season.
“It’s huge for us players, for the club, the whole organization, the city of Lugano, our fans. After a long absence we have the chance to measure ourselves again against the best clubs in Europe – a great moment for us all.”
What can you transmit to the younger players who never played at this high level?
“The most important thing to transmit is what we learned about travelling to the games, how to manage these long trips and the fatigue factor. You’ll have to be ready and fresh for the game.”
Two import players, Daniel Sondell and Patrik Zackrisson, and three Swiss players – Ryan Gardner, Dario Buergler and Massimo Ronchetti have joined the club. What are your first impressions of them?
“Until now everything is fine. As veterans we know how everything works here in Lugano, so our main task is to help the new guys outside the rink so they can discover this beautiful place.”