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The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions are a professional
During the 2008–09 Season, the ZSC Lions participated in the first ever Champions Hockey League. For the group stage, they were placed in group D with HC Slavia Praha and Linköpings HC. The Lions qualified for the semi-finals with a 3–1 record, first place in the group. With their defeats of the Finnish Espoo Blues, 6–3 and 4–1 respectively, they qualified for the tournament final. The first leg of the final was held on January 21, 2009 in the Magnitogorsk Arena where the Lions came back from a 0–2 deficit to Metallurg Magnitogorsk to end with a 2–2 tie. The second leg was played a week later, on January 28, 2009, in the Diners Club Arena in Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland. ZSC Lions won the game and the Silver Stone Trophy with a 5–0 victory.
With their victory in the Champions Hockey League, the ZSC Lions qualified to play the
ZSC Lions official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zsc Lions Ice hockey teams in Switzerland Sport in Zurich 1930 establishments in Switzerland Swiss Women's League teams
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
team located in Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, playing in the National League (NL). Their home arena is the 12,000-seat Swiss Life Arena. The team was founded in 1930 and played at the Dolder-Kunsteisbahn from its establishment until 1950. Between 1950 and 2022 they played at the Hallenstadion.
History
ZSC Lions were formed in 1997 as a result of the merger of the two local teams: the highly popular Zürcher Schlittschuh Club ( German for "Zürich Skating Club"), who were struggling financially in National League A, and the ice hockey section of Grasshopper Club Zürich of theNational League B
The Swiss League, also known as the Sky Swiss League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League (ice hockey), National League. The winners of the league each ...
, backed by entrepreneur and billionaire Walter Frey.
ZSC was the first Swiss team to play in an indoor arena (Hallenstadion). They won the Swiss championship in the years 1936, 1949 and 1961 and the prestigious Spengler Cup in 1944 and 1945. After the merger, the ZSC Lions won the Swiss Championship in 2000, 2001, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2018, and moreover won the IIHF Continental Cup in 2001 and 2002.
Champions Hockey League and Victoria Cup
During the 2008–09 Season, the ZSC Lions participated in the first ever Champions Hockey League. For the group stage, they were placed in group D with HC Slavia Praha and Linköpings HC. The Lions qualified for the semi-finals with a 3–1 record, first place in the group. With their defeats of the Finnish Espoo Blues, 6–3 and 4–1 respectively, they qualified for the tournament final. The first leg of the final was held on January 21, 2009 in the Magnitogorsk Arena where the Lions came back from a 0–2 deficit to Metallurg Magnitogorsk to end with a 2–2 tie. The second leg was played a week later, on January 28, 2009, in the Diners Club Arena in Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland. ZSC Lions won the game and the Silver Stone Trophy with a 5–0 victory.
With their victory in the Champions Hockey League, the ZSC Lions qualified to play the Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...
of the National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
for the 2009 edition of the Victoria Cup challenge. Playing at their home arena, the Lions upset the Blackhawks with a 2–1 victory, winning the trophy. It was the first time since 1991 that the Blackhawks had lost to a club in Europe.
Honors
* Swiss Champions ''(11)'': 1936, 1949, 1961, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2024, 2025 * Victoria Cup ''(1)'': 2009 * Champions Hockey League (2): 2009 (Silver Stone trophy), 2025 * IIHF Continental Cup ''(2)'': 2001, 2002 * Swiss Cup ''(3)'': 1960, 1961, 2016 * Spengler Cup ''(2)'': 1944, 1945Players
Current roster
Updated 19 August 2024References
External links
ZSC Lions official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zsc Lions Ice hockey teams in Switzerland Sport in Zurich 1930 establishments in Switzerland Swiss Women's League teams