EVZ Academy was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

professional

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 who play in

Zug Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; ; ; ; )Named in the 16th century. is the largest List of cities in Switzerland, town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Zug is renowned as a hub for some of the wealthiest individuals in the wor ...

, Switzerland. They have played since the 2016–17 season in the

Swiss League 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 ...

(SL), the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

, it was the primary affiliate to

EV Zug EV Zug is a professional men's ice hockey team from Zug, Switzerland. It is a member of the National League and plays its home games at the Bossard Arena. History EV Zug won its first championship in the 1997–98 season, and the second one in t ...

History

The club name is derived from Zug's junior program "The Hockey Academy" and was founded with the purpose to serve as an affiliate club to shareholder and National League club,

. They submitted an application to play in the

National 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 ...

and were permitted to play in the 2016–17 season. EVZ Academy plays its home games in the Zug's training rink, Academy Arena, as well as occasionally in the

Bossard Arena Bossard Arena is an indoor sporting arena located in Zug, Switzerland. The capacity of the arena is 7,800 spectators and opened in 2010. It hosts indoor sporting events such as ice hockey. It hosts the EV Zug of the National League (NL). It re ...

, home to EV Zug. In their debut season, EVZ Academy collected just 10 wins in 48 games to finish in 10th place. In the 2018–19 season,

Jason O'Leary Jason O’Leary (born August 17, 1978) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach. Career Born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, O’Leary played ice hockey at St. Thomas University in his hometown of Fredericton. Upon graduation, he worked as a ...

replaced inaugural head coach

Stefan Hedlund Stefan Peter Hedlund (born 20 December 1953) is a Swedish academic, an expert on Soviet and Communist studies/Russian studies, and Professor of East European Studies at Uppsala University (since 1990). Currently he is also Research Director aUCRS ...

, who was promoted to EV Zug's coaching staff. Having won the Swiss League in 2017 with

SC Langenthal Schlittschuh Club Langenthal known as SC Langenthal is a Swiss ice hockey team that currently competes in the third tier, MyHockey League. They played in the Swiss League, the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland ...

, O'Leary led Academy to their second playoff berth, claiming 8th position before losing to regular season champions

HC La Chaux-de-Fonds HC La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss professional ice hockey team who currently play in the Swiss League (SL). Founded in 1919, La Chaux-de-Fonds play at the Patinoire des Mélèzes in front of a capacity 5,225. History Hockey Club La Chaux-de-Fonds ...

. At the conclusion of the season, O'Leary left to coach top flight DEL club

Iserlohn Roosters The Iserlohn Roosters are a professional ice hockey team based in Iserlohn, North Rhine-Westphalia. They are members of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) since 2000 and play their home games at the Balver-Zinn Arena which is also known as ''Eissp ...

, and he was replaced by Roger Hansson, as Academy's third head coach. After the 2021–22 season, EVZ Academy was dissolved, as EV Zug could not comply with the new regulations of the Swiss League AG and thus withde it. In the future, the EVZ will focus mainly on the U16 to U20 range. By 2022, EVZ Academy had released 50 players, 16 of whom played in the National League in the 2021/22 season and another 22 players in other Swiss League teams.

References

External links

EVZ Academy official website
Ice hockey teams in Switzerland Ice hockey clubs established in 2016 Zug {{Switzerland-sport-team-stub