Lauri Marjamäki’s coaching column originally appears in our EISZEIT magazine. Click the button below to take out a subscription now!
Dear EVZ family,
a warm welcome to the 2026/27 championship! First of all, I’d like to say that I’m really enjoying being here in Zug and at EVZ. The organisation and training facilities are brilliant, the town is great, and I love my flat – everything’s just right at the moment!
We had three objectives for the pre-season. The first was to get to know one another. We had lots of one-to-one meetings and communicated a great deal as a team – things are getting better day by day! The second objective was to see how we work together on a daily basis, and how we conduct ourselves in training and in matches. I think things are developing well in that respect too. The third goal was to raise our game to a level we can master and have confidence in before the start of the regular season. Overall, we’re on the right track.
I’m certainly pleased with how the team has performed in pre-season and how they’ve stuck to the discipline and the game plan. We want to control the puck and dictate the pace of the game, and we’ve managed to do that. So far, I’ve got a good feeling and confidence in the players and the team. Of course, we can’t be there yet when the regular season begins. We have to take it step by step.
The line-ups aren’t finalised yet either; after all, we’ve had several players out due to injury. In the pre-season games, the main focus was on giving the young players some playing time. I hardly knew them before, so I didn’t know how they’d perform in a game or how quickly they’d adapt to our system. David Sklenička is the only player I’ve coached before.
I’m satisfied with the signings; no further changes to the squad are planned. In Vinzenz Rohrer, we’ve found a centre who doesn’t count towards our foreign player quota. In any case, we have enough quality to be successful. It will be crucial that we demonstrate a ‘team-first’ mentality, that we commit to the same goal, that we play with discipline and work hard. I hope we stay fit and that the injured players return as soon as possible. I don’t see the fact that we have seven imports and can only field six as a problem. We need a broad squad.
What’s important is that we live in the present and do our job as well as possible every day. That everyone understands this is a process and that we want to keep developing as the season progresses. Everyone must also understand that you can’t look at the league table at the start. We’re kicking off with eight away games, which is certainly no advantage. By the time 18 rounds have been played, we’ll have played just 13 matches – that could mean a 18-point difference! On the other hand, we’ll be playing almost every other day in January. It’s a challenge for the players and coaches to maintain a high tempo in training. But we’ve prepared for this and aim to be successful even with this schedule. I’m optimistic, I always look ahead and see only the opportunities we have. Anything else is pointless.
We also need the support of the spectators; the great atmosphere in the OYM Hall is well known. I’d like to thank you in advance for your support and wish the whole EVZ family an exciting, fair and successful season!
Kind regards
Lauri Marjamäki
