Dear EVZ family
With the 0:4 against Davos, we were eliminated in the playoff quarter-finals for the first time in seven years. This is the first time since 2018 that we have not finished in the top 4 of 14 teams. I can understand your disappointment and the critical questions. If you’re disappointed, let me say one thing: I’m even more so!
I am disappointed about the elimination in the quarter-finals, but not surprised per se. Why? First of all, two teams were playing each other who were only separated by two points after 52 rounds. You could expect a close series that could go either way. Above all, I wasn’t surprised because our whole season has been a mixed bag. We were very rarely convincing nor played to our potential, showed no consistency, had too many absences on average with four injured players and never got into a run. In addition, our team usually reacted very poorly to adversity and wasted too much energy on this instead of fighting through it. In this respect, our elimination in the playoff quarter-finals doesn’t surprise me. I’m even inclined to say that we didn’t deserve it either.
But what gives me a lot to think about and makes me very disappointed is the way our team lost. It wasn’t a series of two teams on an equal footing. Yes, we had far too many injured players in the first two games. Six to seven squad players were missing – no team, no matter how good, can cope with that. HC Davos were better in the very first game, but we were close before an individual mistake cost us the game. From then on, Davos and its key players got better from game to game and we got worse. I can only congratulate Davos. Josh Holden’s team played with more energy and determination, with more discipline and finishing quality. They were more well-rehearsed, faster, more deliberate and physically stronger. In short: we weren’t ready, the Grisons deserved to win!
Our remaining key players did not deliver. They didn’t stand up to the pressure and took a step backwards instead of forwards at the crucial moment. That applies to the team as a whole. It applies to the new recruits, the players with foreign passports and the many Swiss players who are repeatedly called up for the national team. What good are the best prerequisites if they are not used? And size has nothing to do with physicality and assertiveness. If the team that scored the most goals in qualifying only scores one goal on average per play-off game, something must be wrong. One thing in particular gives me a lot to think about: there were several moments in the series when our team gave up on itself. That’s not our EVZ, not how I want it to be and not how I know it.
The last time we were eliminated in the playoff quarterfinals, we fired our coaching team and the Dan Tangnes era began. It was a very successful era with the Cup win in 2019 and two championship titles in 2021 and 2022. We always reached the semi-finals at the minimum – until last week. When our head coach asked us to terminate his contract at the end of the season in the middle of the regular season and we communicated it, we believed that this could have a positive impact on the rest of the season. Many players had a long-standing and very good relationship with Dan. We firmly believed that everyone would sacrifice themselves for a good end to the season – for themselves and also for him. But perhaps there was too much wishful thinking or hope on our part. We wanted a good finish for Dan Tangnes. For my part, I think I underestimated the negative effects of this situation – I probably hoped for something different. Our decision was for Dan Tangnes, it didn’t bring the desired conclusion, neither for him nor for the EVZ. I don’t want to accuse the players of a lack of will, but they weren’t able to deliver at the decisive moment. Dan Tangnes did not deserve this farewell, I would have wished it differently for him and for us. However, he would have deserved to be sacked in the middle of the season even less, and we can only speculate about the further course of the season in this case. Despite being eliminated in the playoff quarter-finals for the first time, Dan Tangnes leaves us as a successful coach who has significantly shaped and improved our EVZ during his tenure. He was a charismatic and popular figure in our organization. We will bid him a fitting farewell in the coming season.
The 0:4 was a tough verdict, it was brutal – but it doesn’t reflect the work in our EVZ. Even if frustration and disappointment make you want to put everyone and everything through the mincer, it’s important to take the right measures and not the popular ones. We will analyze what has happened, learn the lessons and implement the feasible consequences. The change of coach has come at the right time. We also need to make decisions together with our new head coach Michael Liniger that will bring us closer to the top again – because we were too far away from it this year.
For all my negative words, I am well aware of the positive work in many areas in our organization and also in our 1st team. We had the second youngest team in the league because we are also preparing for the future. No other National League team has given U20 players as much ice time as we have – not by a long shot. These players have done their part very well and have benefited enormously. That’s part of our strategy and we’ve implemented it brilliantly. But it is also our declared goal to strive for success. There have been years in which we have managed this difficult balancing act and achieved both at the same time – this year we have not managed this.
We have received a real slap in the face – we can no longer change this. We can only control what we make of it and how we come back. We will come back as EVZ – I promise!
