EHC Kloten

EHC Kloten
2017-18 NL season
City Kloten, Switzerland
League

Swiss League

  • NL
    1962-2018
  • SL
    1947-1962
  • 1. Liga
    1946-1947
  • Serie B
    1941-1946
Founded 1934
Home arena Swiss Arena
General manager Switzerland Matthias Berner
Head coach Switzerland Kevin Schläpfer
Captain Switzerland Denis Hollenstein
Website www.ehc-kloten.ch
Franchise history
1934–2000
2016–present		 EHC Kloten
2000–2016 Kloten Flyers

EHC Kloten is an ice hockey team based in the city of Kloten in Switzerland. The team plays in the Swiss League, the second tier of Swiss ice hockey. It has one of the best youth systems in Swiss ice hockey as its youth teams have won 19 championships during the last 50 years.

The team was called the Kloten Flyers between 2000 and 2016.[1]

EHC Kloten won four consecutive Swiss championships from 1993 to 1996. They had never been relegated until the 2017/18 season.

The team had one of the worst attendances of the National League for the 2016-17 season, averaging only 5,229 spectators over their 25 regular season home games. It was also the only team which failed to sell out at least one game during the regular season.[2]

History

EHC Kloten was founded by a group seven members, led by Emil Hegner, on December 3, 1934. During the first few years, only exhibition matches were played. The home matches were played on the frozen Nägelimoos-Weiher.

When EHC Kloten began to participate in the championship, they had to start in the lowest league, as usual. In 1941, they were promoted into the Serie B and five years later into the Serie A. One year later, in the year 1947, the EHC Kloten was promoted into the Swiss League. In 1962, they joined the National League when the league expanded to 10 teams.

In 1967, they became the champions for the first time, headed by their Czech coach Vladimir Kobera.

The team has remained in the highest Swiss league since their promotion and are the longest-serving team in the NL.

For the 1998-99 season the former Russian ice hockey player Vladimir Yurzinov was asked to become the new coach. He introduced a new playing style and encouraged the development and promotion of young players. Even though many people liked this philosophy, the team remained unsuccessful. During the 2003-2004 season, the team had to play the playoffs for the first time in their history. A year later, in the 2004-2005 playoffs, they again managed to remain in the highest league. However, this strategy is paying off today.

In October 2004, Yurzinov was released as their coach. He took on a new role as a youth promoter until the end of the season. Yurzinov's successor was former EHC Kloten defenseman Anders Eldebrink and assistant Felix Hollenstein. The new coaching duo managed to get the team back to success and are still in charge of the team.

During the 2008-2009 season, the Flyers swept both HC Geneve-Servette and EV Zug in the playoffs before losing the playoff final against HC Davos in seven games. They finished the regular season in 3rd place.

The club has a well known junior program. There’s a partnership between the Kloten Flyers and the teams of Bülach, Dielsdorf-Niederhasli and Winterthur. Since the founding of the elite-junior league, the teams have won 19 titles. The latest being in the season 2005-06.

The team's name was changed back from Kloten Flyers to EHC Kloten for the 2016–17 NLA season[3] after the club had been taken over by businessman Hans-Ulrich Lehmann and Rene Burger who bought the organization from the owner group Avenir Sports Entertainment.[4] Pekka Tirkkonen from Finland was appointed new head coach[5] for the 2016-17 season after Sean Simpson had parted company with the club.

On February 1, 2017, the team won the first Swiss Cup of its history against Geneve-Servette HC in a packed Swiss Arena.

Honors

Champions

Runners-up

Players

Current roster

Updated July 20, 2017.[6][7][8]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
9 Sweden Niclas Andersén D L 30 2017 Grums, Sweden
34 Switzerland Rene Back D L 36 2014 Konstanz, Germany
5 Sweden Mattias Bäckman D L 26 2017 Linköping, Sweden
Switzerland Thierry Bader LW L 21 2016 Winterthur, Switzerland
86 Switzerland Alain Bircher D L 21 Stansstad, Switzerland
39 Switzerland Luca Boltshauser G L 25 2015 Zürich, Switzerland
94 France Tim Bozon LW L 24 2017 St. Loius, United States
44 Switzerland Matthias Bieber LW L 32 2010 Zürich, Switzerland
16 Switzerland Daniele Grassi W R 25 2016 Bellinzona, Switzerland
96 Switzerland Edson Harlacher D L 22 2014 Zürich, Switzerland
91 Switzerland Denis Hollenstein RW L 28 2009 Zürich, Switzerland
19 Switzerland Steve Kellenberger W L 31 2014 Bülach, Switzerland
67 Switzerland Romano Lemm C L 34 2010 Dielsdorf, Switzerland
81 Switzerland Robin Leone RW R 25 2009 Winterthur, Switzerland
87 Switzerland Marc Marchon L 23 2017 Vuisternens-en-Ogoz, Switzerland
13 Austria Patrick Obrist C L 25 2015 Dornbirn, Austria
29 Switzerland Vincent Praplan W R 24 2014 Sierre, Switzerland
6 Switzerland Tim Ramholt D L 33 2016 Zürich, Switzerland
59 Switzerland Dennis Saikkonen G L 25 2017 Bern, Switzerland
8 Switzerland Roman Schlagenhauf C L 29 2016 Zürich, Switzerland
57 Switzerland Lukas Stoop D R 28 2012 Zürich, Switzerland
53 Switzerland Morris Trachsler LW L 34 2017 Zürich, Switzerland
72 Switzerland Patrick von Gunten D L 33 2012 Biel, Switzerland
62 Switzerland Serge Weber D L 21
Switzerland Patrick Zahner C L 21 2016

Honored members

  • 4 Marco Klöti, defenceman 1992-2007
  • 7 Peter Schlagenhauf, winger 1969-1994
  • 13 Rene Burger, center 1973-1975
  • 20 Reto Pavoni, goaltender 1989-2002
  • 21 Roman Wäger, winger 1971-1998
  • 24 Felix Hollenstein, winger 1985-2002, assistant coach since 2006
  • 26 Mikael Johansson, center 1992-1997
  • 32 Anders Eldebrink, defenceman 1990-1995, head coach since 2006

NHL alumni

Notable coaches

References

  1. ↑ "Aus den Flyers wird wieder der EHC Kloten". Retrieved 2016-06-26.
  2. ↑ http://www.hockeyfans.ch/stats/teamstats.php?stattyp=zuschauer&anlasstyp=QA1617
  3. ↑ "Back to the roots - Kloten Flyers to become EHC Kloten once again". swisshockeynews.ch. April 4, 2016. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Der EHC Kloten ist gerettet: Hans-Ulrich Lehmann ist der neue Investor". www.toponline.ch. Retrieved 2016-06-26.
  5. ↑ Kloten, EHC. "Confirmed - Pekka Tirkkonen to take over EHC Kloten". Retrieved 2016-06-26.
  6. ↑ "Kloten Flyers > Spieler" (in German). www.kloten-flyers.ch. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
  7. ↑ "Kloten Flyers team" (in German). www.nationalleague.ch. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  8. ↑ "Kloten Flyers équipe" (in French). www.nationalleague.ch. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
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