The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions (ZSC Lions) are a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

team located in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, playing in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(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.

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 German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

for "Zürich Skating Club"), who were struggling financially in

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league ...

, and the ice hockey section of

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds t ...

of the

National League B The Swiss League is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League. The winners of the league each season plays a best-of-seven series against the bottom team of the NL, and if they win, the ...

, 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 HC Slavia Praha (eng: HC Slavia Prague) is a Czech ice hockey team located in Prague playing the Czech 1st National Hockey League, the second-highest league in the country. Slavia played in the Extraliga from 1994 until 2015, winning the nati ...

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 Metallurg Magnitogorsk (russian: Металлург Магнитогорск) is a professional ice hockey team based in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. They ...

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 Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, B ...

, 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 Divisio ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

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

* NL Championship ''(9)'': 1936, 1949, 1961, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2018 * SL Championship ''(4)'': 1973, 1981, 1983, 1989 * Victoria Cup ''(1)'': 2009 * Champions Hockey League/ Silver Stone Trophy ''(1)'': 2009 * IIHF Continental Cup ''(2)'': 2001, 2002 *

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

''(3)'': 1960, 1961, 2016 * Spengler Cup ''(3)'': 1944, 1945, 1952 (disqualified for drug use)

Players

Current roster

References

External links

ZSC Lions official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zsc Lions Ice hockey teams in Switzerland Sport in Zürich 1930 establishments in Switzerland Swiss Women's League teams