With a 2–0 win in the first game of their eight-final series against SaiPa Lappeenranta, Genève-Servette have the advantage heading into the second leg. However, although pleased with their win, all players on the team are well aware that it isn't over yet.
by Rémy Lamon
GENEVA – The Champions Hockey League is a great opportunity for teams all around Europe, and being one of the final 16 teams is already something to brag about. One of the eight match-ups is between Genève-Servette and SaiPa Lappeenranta, with the first leg played in Genève on Tuesday.
“I am very happy to play in the CHL,” said Genève forward Kevin Romy, who scored the only two goals of the game. “We have far more games to play than usual because we also have the Swiss Cup and the CHL, but it's great for the city of Geneva and for the team to prove ourselves on the international scene. We can show that Swiss hockey is very good, and that we can compete and win against Swedish and Finnish teams.”
It may seem like a lot to ask for a Swiss club to compete and beat teams from Sweden and Finland, two countries that are always battling for medals at the World Championships. Don't forget, though, that the Swiss have been competitive with the best teams in Europe for the last several years. In 2009, ZSC Lions Zurich won the first season of the Champions Hockey League, and just two years ago the Swiss national team won the silver medal at the IIHF World Championship.
As for Genève, they were even in points in Group C with Frölunda Gothenburg, who are considered one of the top clubs in the competition. The two teams split their games, each winning at home but Frölunda took first place with a better goal difference. Now Genève play home-and-away against a Finnish club, but this time must win the goal difference. After one game, they have a two-goal advantage.
The game began very quietly, both teams getting to know the other a little better. But the second period saw Genève wake up, with assistant coach Louis Matte explaining, “Small details made the difference tonight. SaiPa is a very well-structured team, giving almost no room to their opponents. We knew we had to work on our counterattack. Our first goal was really lucky. We then had one objective: not to give them any chance to organize their counterattacks. Both teams studied each other carefully before tonight's game. We took advantage of our second goal and that forced SaiPa to open their game. We were very well-structured.”
Sticking to the system that a team works on for hours during training seems to be the main point for each coach. SaiPa head coach Pekka Tirkkonen said, “It was a close game. We stuck to our game plan, but lost patience in the second period, which gave Genève the chances to score goals. For me, we created enough scoring chances, but we should have scored at least once. There was a two-goal difference tonight.” Looking ahead to next week, he said, “We still have a chance to win this series. Next week, we have to play as active as tonight, but skate better. We need more speed and our passing wasn't good enough tonight.”
When one looks at the Genève lineup, which includes several well-known players such as Matt D'Agostini, Matthew Lombardi and Paul Ranger, their success in the CHL might not be a surprise. However, all that talent hasn't translated into success so far in the Swiss National League A, having only won one game in their last seven domestic contests. That one win was in the Swiss Cup, with the team facing elimination.
Perhaps that's the key for this Genève club. They need to have the pressure on to succeed.
“We are a Cup team,” said captain Goran Bezina. “We play well in that type of tournament, because we have less pressure. Teams don't know each other as well as in the national leagues. The other teams have less time to adjust to our system. We have no complex in such a competition and that releases us. We had exactly the same experience last year during the Spengler Cup.”
“We love challenges,” confirmed Matte. “We give ourselves fully. As mentioned when we joined the CHL, we are here to win our games. Therefore, we are a Cup team. The boys know their opponents less than usual and we therefore indulge in playing. We play to the full; we want to go as far as possible. In this competition, we do our best to compete against the big clubs. It's an honour for us. We did the same during the Spengler Cup last year and we won. We are good at this type of competition because we take it one game a time, willing to win each game.”
The first game of the series was both exciting and emotional, especially near the end when Genève's Daniel Rubin received a five-minute penalty for high-sticking. SaiPa attacked furiously and Genève looked tired. They could have got back into the game – even one goal would have made their situation better entering the second leg – but goaltender Robert Mayer stopped everything to preserve the shutout.
“Having to play the five last minutes of the game as the last line of defence on the PK filled my heart with excitement and I had fun with it,” said a smiling Mayer, who still couldn't contain his excitement after the game was over. “Moments like these are exactly why you play the position. We practice this situation a lot so we're all on the same page. I trust my teammates. We played well and intensively today.”
Trust. It's important for a goalie to trust his teammates and vice versa, and this was especially true when the Czech-Swiss goalie was injured during the first period. His teammates rallied around him, though, limiting SaiPa to only 20 shots on goal, and keeping Mayer's workload light until the frantic final minutes. At the other end, veteran Jussi Markkanen, who is no stranger to Geneva, having visited many times when he played for EV Zug, stopped 25 out of 27 shots.
“For next week, we have the advantage of having scored two goals,” said Matte. “We must therefore be very strong defensively. We must stick to our system and score very quickly.”
Romy agreed that the team can't just sit back and try to sit on the lead. “Next week we go to Finland to win. In hockey, you can't hold back. You always have to move forward and try to win.”
But nothing is written in advance. Every game is different, and the one in Lappeenranta will be as well. SaiPa are well-aware of the situation and will surely come out attacking hard on their home ice in front of their home fans. They will surely give Genève all they can handle, as only one of these two teams will advance to the quarter-finals.
Who will be the better “Cup team”?