As he approaches the start of his tenth full season with the ZSC Lions, we caught up with Zurich born and raised forward Reto Schäppi to look ahead to the start of the new campaign after the longest off-season most players have known – and to another CHL adventure.
“Obviously things didn’t just happen overnight, and we’d kind of seen it coming,” began the Swiss forward, recalling the end of the 2019/20 season in Switzerland which meant the playoffs were unable to start. “Other countries had stopped before us and you started to realise that it would be tough to get the playoffs going. For a while it looked like we’d play the quarter-finals, but then just as we were starting to prepare for that we found out the season as over.”
For Schäppi and his Swiss teammates, the end of the season didn’t just mean missing out on a playoff campaign – but a home World Championships as well. “It would have been a really great experience, and I think the organisers had a great set up planned. I think it was most sad for everyone who’d spend such a long time organising the event, but when you think about everything that was going on in the world then hockey wasn’t a priority” he admitted.
With an enforced early start to the offseason, what then for the Lions’ players? “We had three weeks of vacation but couldn’t really go away anywhere as all long-haul destinations were off-limits, so that made it quite tough. However, at ZSC we started back pretty early with off-ice training from home – the team gave us a schedule of things we needed to do for four weeks and organised for us to go to the gym and collect something we might not have at home,” explained the 29-year-old. “After that, we started to practice in small groups of five in the gym, but overall it’s been a very long pre-season! We finally got back on to the ice around the middle of May, and it was great to see the boys again after being alone for so long.”
Looking ahead to the forthcoming Champion Hockey League campaign, the Lions will face SønderjyksE Vojens in the Round of 32, and have history with Danish opposition. “We found out against Aalborg that you really can’t underestimate anyone in the CHL, and particularly teams from Denmark” said Schäppi, recalling that the Lions needed overtime to beat the Pirates in 2018. “They have very skilled players both at domestic and international level and are very dangerous, if you let them go on the PP they’re very effective. So we know that SønderjyksE can’t be taken lightly, and we definitely won't be.”
The CHL has been something of an enigma for ZSC, with the team having gone no further Quarter-Finals in five attempts. Would it be fair to say it’s a competition the Lions have under-achieved in? “It definitely is,” admitted the forward. “We always set high goals four ourselves in the CHL and in the past we’ve had a tough time reaching them. It’s hard to say why, we have run into some excellent teams along the way, especially from Sweden, and of course, you also need a bit of luck to get into the next round, injuries can hamper you. You only get one chance really and have to prepare for the games quite quickly. It’s a very difficult competition to win, but we are definitely aiming to do better."
Finally, as Schäppi heads into his tenth full season with the Lions, and having played his hockey nowhere else except Zurich, does he still feel the same excitement going into this new season? “Usually I get the same buzz before each new season, but I am wondering a bit about what this season will be like,” he revealed. “It’s different, we have the green light to go but obviously we’re starting later and there are still some uncertainties. But overall, I’m always excited at the start of the season. In Zurich, we always go into a season knowing we have the chance to win trophies and that’s a great feeling.”