“It’s a wild season,” says Jan Daron. On the one hand, he is referring to his personal playing time. The striker for the U21 Elite team has already made nine appearances in the National League. The first – in October – took him by surprise. Suddenly he was on the ice for almost eleven minutes in front of over 16,000 fans at the PostFinance Arena in Bern. The following week, he scored the goal in Zug’s 3:2 win at the Swiss Life Arena in Zurich to make it 2:0. These were big weeks for Jan Daron. “I never thought I’d be playing in the National League at the age of 17,” says the commercial apprentice on EVZ’s The Hockey Academy training programme.
The oldest EVZ juniors with striker Jan Daron have won three in a row – the U18 team is also on the upswing.
The U21 Elite team is also having a wild season. After a tough start in terms of results, the system is working better and better – Head Coach Reto Suri’s team is now aiming for a play-off spot. After three wins in a row, EVZ is in ninth place, one point behind SC Bern Future. Two home games are scheduled this weekend at the OYM in Cham: on Friday against the LHC Academy (from 6.30 pm) and on Sunday against the Fribourg-Gottéron Young Dragons (3.45 pm).
«We players have to be adaptable. I am convinced that we are capable of more.»
Jan Daron, EVZ player
The ups and downs are also due to the fact that the Zug team has made a lot of changes: 34 players have been used so far – which sometimes makes the teams very young. For Jan Daron, this should not be used as an excuse for negative results: “We players have to be adaptable. I am convinced that we are capable of more.” He wants to set a good example. “I try to be a role model on the ice.” This attitude has also put the Zurich native on the radar of the coaches of the Swiss junior teams. Last year, he was part of the gold team at the European Youth Olympic Festival. Jan Daron is currently an U18 national player and has been called up for the five-nation tournament in Kloten at the beginning of February.
Keyword U18: The Zug elite team at this age group is also doing well now. Head coach Sven Lindemann’s team has recently won five games in a row and is in 12th place in the table. On Sunday, the Zug team will host the ZSC Lions (12.15 pm, OYM, Cham).
