Last Tuesday, the ZSC Lions won the second Champions Hockey League title in the club’s history after 2009 – back then still in the old format – thanks to a 2:1 victory against Färjestad Karlstad. As the defending champions, the Zurich team are guaranteed a place in the European competition next season, securing Switzerland a fourth starting place. The teams in first and second place in the regular season qualify. If the Lions remain in the top two until the end of the qualifying round, the third-placed team will also play in Europe next season. And if these teams then also decide the Swiss champion among themselves, the fourth-placed qualifier will also be eligible to take part in the 2025/26 CHL season. The EVZ therefore still has it in its own hands to qualify again after a two-year absence and fight for the European Trophy against the best teams in Europe. 

But until then, the Zug team still has two duels against higher-ranked teams in its last four games. The first is against the ZSC Lions on Saturday evening. In the head-to-head of the current season, the Zurich team has the edge with 6:3 points and 10:6 goals. In the last home game against the reigning champions, the EVZ suffered a bitter 4-0 defeat, but the other two games ended with only a one-goal difference. In the remaining games against ZSC, Geneva, Kloten and finally Lausanne, interim head coach Michael Liniger’s team will be looking to secure the points they need to finish in the top four and thus secure home ice advantage in the playoff quarter-finals.