“A team that fights, inspires and brings joy”

This interview appeared in EISZEIT Sport in May 2026 and was conducted by Eugen Thalmann.

Was the women’s team championship title your personal highlight last season?
It was a highlight for the EVZ. The fact that we won the championship title in just the third year of the Women & Girls programme is a huge satisfaction. I’m delighted for the whole organisation because it took a huge effort from a lot of people. It was simply wonderful to experience this success together.

Champions 2026, Cup winners 2025 and 2026 – did you expect these women’s successes so quickly?
The success didn’t surprise me because we had already raised the project to a semi-professional level when we launched it in 2023, which other clubs didn’t have. We gave the players this opportunity for the first time in Switzerland. We knew that we were tackling an open field and would be successful sooner or later. We also put together a strong squad and consistently pursued a long-term plan from the outset. Admittedly: The championship title came a year earlier than expected.

What surprised you in particular?
I was very pleasantly surprised by the development of the number of spectators, which was difficult to estimate at the beginning. We had around 4,000 spectators at individual highlight matches, which is super cool and makes me happy. But much more important for me is the average number of spectators, i.e. the number of regular matchgoers for the women’s team. This average now stands at 1,300 spectators in year 3 – that’s a record in Europe! This confirms that we have positioned the Women’s Team matches correctly and that the varied programme is well received.

The Women & Girls programme is now self-supporting, right?
It has been financially self-supporting since the second year. We’ve had huge support not only from the spectators, but also from our sponsors. Right from the start, they recognised why and how we wanted to do it and that we were pursuing a long-term plan. They trusted us and supported us. We have provided impressive proof of this and followed up our words with corresponding actions. At the beginning, three years ago, we also received a lot of criticism from those around us. These have since fallen silent or changed in a positive direction. Today, we are recognised nationwide as a pioneer and role model for the development of women’s and girls’ ice hockey.

“If we want to take Swiss women’s and girls’ ice hockey further, we need a joint movement and not just one club.”

Patrick Lengwiler, EVZ CEO

Can the Women’s Team keep up this pace?
We have made a great start, which now needs to be confirmed. We will when I look at the top squad for next season. But ultimately, our main goal is to trigger a movement in Swiss ice hockey in favour of adequate support for girls and women. Only if several clubs and the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation consistently focus on women’s and girls’ ice hockey will it be possible to establish it in the long term. There are positive trends here when I look at the work being done in Davos, Bern, Zurich and, more recently, Lausanne. Thanks to our initiative, a jolt has gone through numerous organisations. If we want to take Swiss women’s and girls’ ice hockey further, we need a joint movement and not just one club. There is still a lot that needs to be done and a lot that can be done, but there is also a lot of positive work in progress.

What are the next goals in the Women’s & Girls programme?
Three years ago, we started at the top with the Women’s Team as a flagship project and at the bottom with our own hockey school for girls. Our long-term goal is to be able to field an all-girls team at all age levels. We fielded an U12 and an U9 team last season and will be taking part in the newly founded Junior Women’s League with an U16 team in the coming season – and have launched the “EVZ Women’s NXT” programme. We are on the right track!

It was a season to forget for the men’s team – for you too?
I never forget a season. It was a difficult season with many disgusting circumstances, including a change of coach. We hoped that we would be able to redeem ourselves for the dismal defeat to Davos in the previous season, but we didn’t succeed. Instead, we went even further downhill.

Why do you think the team failed to fulfil expectations?
It’s the sum of many things, starting with the many injuries, which have an impact on the performance of any team to this extent. On the other hand, we also said that we would have to rebuild the team over the next few years. When planning the squad, we have to selectively part with individual, deserving players and rejuvenate them. After the two championship titles, we didn’t change enough in this respect, and this process will take a few years. However, such a reorganisation always has a disruptive effect on the current team and is not easy to implement.

The men’s team is no longer one of the top teams in Swiss hockey at the moment.
No, we’re not at the moment. But it’s part of the sport that after very good years there are also more difficult years. The performance of the teams is close together, so it takes very little for it to no longer be enough. Of course, everyone always wants to stay at the top, but that is difficult or even impossible. There haven’t been more than two titles in a row in the last 20 years. In today’s professional sport, that only happens where a team has much, much more money at its disposal than the competition and can keep its hunger for success high with targeted changes. Compared to some clubs, we are lagging behind with our self-generated opportunities. We have to work on this and find a way to become a top address again, so that players want to come to the EVZ again because they see good opportunities here to play at the top.

Where are we at the moment?
In terms of personnel costs for the NL team, we have been in 5th-8th place for many years. The teams are very close to each other there, but the gap to the top 4 teams is large. We also have four stadiums in Switzerland, which are much bigger and offer much more revenue opportunities. The spread within the entire league is very wide. Nevertheless, the league is very balanced and several teams have become champions in recent years. This proves that money alone does not guarantee success and does not make champions. We also proved a few years ago that you can become champions with less money than others. For me, it’s much more important than the financial conditions that everyone, really everyone, in the organisation wants the same thing and is committed to it. That’s what got Davos and Fribourg into the final. In this respect, we have to find ourselves in Zug.

“Our team needs a leader like Lauri Marjamäki again.”

Patrick Lengwiler, EVZ CEO

How far along is the rejuvenation process?
Not as far as we had hoped. We’ve made a few good additions in this respect. But when I look at the current squad, we are ultimately lacking top performers between the ages of 25 and 30. The market here in Switzerland is very limited, and the players who fulfil this criterion are increasingly being tied to a club with longer-term contracts. That makes it even more difficult. What’s more, not everything you want always works out. Other clubs are also looking for these players.

Why does the choice of coach give you hope?
Personally, I have gained a very good impression of Lauri Marjamäki as a person. He also has an impressive track record as a coach, has a lot of experience and fits in with our club in terms of age and philosophy. He has done a very good job in Kloten and has a clear way of dealing with the players. Our team needs a leader like him again.

After the unsatisfactory sporting result, is a negative financial result also to be expected?

The result is not yet known. But it is clear that last season, with the change of coach and the additional changes to the 1st team squad, led to unexpected additional expenditure. At the same time, we effectively had fewer spectators in the OYM hall, which is also reflected in the catering turnover. On average, we had around 500 fewer people at home matches than in the previous year. This has to do with the team’s performance, but also with the very tight fixture schedule due to the Olympics. The Zug catchment area is definitely far too small for three home games in four days. We will end this year and next year with a negative operating result. However, this is partly due to the expansion work at the OYM hall. We have restrictions or additional expenses that affect the operating result. This year, for example, the stadium catering is completely closed from June to September and we don’t have our first home game of the coming season until 23 October. Over the next two years, we cannot afford any major financial leaps.

What else is going on in the ECC organisation?
We are very busy in all areas with the expansion of the OYM hall. This will offer the EVZ more opportunities, but also present it with new challenges – we are preparing the operational team for this. The entire south volume will be opened for the 2026/27 season, including the new Sportsbar 67, the Tugium restaurant and the new top premium product “The Box”. The new EVZ Store will also open, and we will operate the merchandising ourselves for the first time. In the summer, the rear roof section in the north will be pushed up so that construction of the north volume can then continue. This will then be fully available from the 2027/28 season and the expansion of the OYM hall will then be complete. We need to prepare the EVZ for this new era. Independently of the expansion, we are working on all fronts to keep the ECC fit and future-orientated at all times. Together with our catering team, we were also able to open the new lido in Zug a few days ago.

Are you not worried that the expanded stadium will not be fully utilised?
The potential is there and ultimately Zug is growing very strongly. But 9,000 people only come if you have a good reputation. That has a lot to do with how the NL team plays and how the organisation operates as a whole. We’ve had too many games and phases in recent years where the men’s team hasn’t performed the way we want it to. That doesn’t help us. We need a team that fights, inspires and brings joy. I know several people who stayed at home more often last season because they were no longer happy or didn’t agree with the way the team was playing. We must and will change that again, it’s entirely up to us.

What was the reaction to the new branding?
I have received all kinds of reactions. But the tendency is cautious to positive. In other words, the new look is great!

Why was this time chosen?
It was the right time because we are already realising the first things with the expansion and redesign in the south. The ECC is financing the expansion of the OYM hall itself, so it should also be recognisable. We also made a strategic decision to operate the merchandising with the new ECC store ourselves. It was therefore the right moment for us to change the visual appearance. Changing the logo in a few years’ time would have cost us a lot more money.

How do you see the EVZ’s future? Up to and including the 2027/28 season, the entire EVZ organisation will be working very hard on many fronts. It’s a big and difficult challenge to act simultaneously on the short, medium and long-term timeline. The expansion of the OYM hall is crucial for the club’s long-term future. At the same time, it is important to ensure that the National League team, as a figurehead, gets back on the road to success as quickly as possible. Many things are currently undergoing a challenging transformation process.

What motivates you to be EVZ CEO at the moment?
There are two things. On the one hand, I have always had and continue to have the personal ambition to make the EVZ a model organisation in the world of sport. We already do a lot of things very well, but we still have great potential in many areas. On the other hand, after the last few difficult seasons, we are also endeavouring to ensure that we can bring more joy to all our fans and spectators. If you remember the faces of the players, coaches, staff and fans in Fribourg after the championship title, one thing is very clear: nothing triggers so many emotions, nothing moves the masses as much as sport. Those who have to suffer are all the more happy. I want to trigger this joy and positive emotions again with the EVZ!

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