A new chapter in the NHL begins for Janis Moser. He has big plans with the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, the Florida team's first game of the season falls victim to Hurricane Milton.
Janis Moser enjoys it on the water. He has held a boating license since the summer of 2022 and spends as much time as possible on Lake Biel while preparing at home. This gives him a lot of energy. He will need it during the long NHL season with 82 qualifying games and up to 28 games in the playoffs.
He would like to reach the latter for the first time in the best ice hockey league in the world. In the three seasons with Arizona, these were always out of reach; the Coyotes only won 89 of 246 games during this time. Nevertheless, Moser says in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency: "Arizona was one of the best possible destinations to gain a foothold in the NHL. Nobody expected anything from the team and I was given the chance to develop. That was the most important thing." He also got to know a lot of cool people. "I had a great time."
Switch to a more competitive club
The tense gives it away: a new chapter begins for Moser. There would have been a change for him either way, as the franchise has moved from Tempe to Salt Lake City and is now called the Utah Hockey Club. However, the Swiss defenseman was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the end of June. At first Moser didn't know what to make of it, as he had built up friendships with the Coyotes.
But now the positives outweigh the negatives for him. Tampa Bay should be much more competitive than the Utah Hockey Club. It is true that the Lightning failed in the playoff round of 16 in April with a 1:4 win against the eventual champion Florida Panthers. However, they reached the final in each of the previous three seasons and lifted the Stanley Cup in both 2021 and 2022. The stars of the team are Russia's Nikita Kucherov, the top scorer in the last qualifiers, Sweden's Victor Hedman and Canada's Brayden Point.
"Many players know how to win. Getting into a culture like that, learning from them, is very exciting. The playoffs are a must," says Moser. The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Lightning that will earn him 6.75 million dollars. "We came to an agreement quickly, as we had hoped," he says, looking back on the negotiations. Because he was previously without a contract, it was with a heavy heart that he had to miss out on the World Championships in Prague, where Switzerland won silver.
Early arrival in Florida
He knows Tampa not only from his games there with the Coyotes, but also from previous camps he attended in the Florida city with the Ochsner Academy. The warm climate he knows from Arizona more than appeals to him. He initially moved into a furnished apartment before soon moving into a permanent home.
Although preparation with the Lightning began on September 18, Moser traveled to Tampa on August 30. This gave him the opportunity to get to know some of the players "in a different setting to the camp, where there is a certain amount of tension". His personal goal is clear: he wants to be one of the top 4 defensemen.
To achieve this, the focus in the summer was on gaining more muscle mass. Moser classifies his ideal weight as "88, 89 kilograms"; he currently weighs around 84 kg. This is because he still sees a lot of potential in his physical play, specifically in tackling, defending the slot (box-out) and controlling rebounds in front of goal. Shooting also has a lot to do with physicality, says Moser.
Physical training with the Hischier brothers
He once again completed training in this area together with brothers Nico and Luca Hischier, Yannick Rathgeb and skier Joana Hählen under the guidance of athletics coaches Sam Böhringer and Alex Brooker. In the afternoon, the program included supplementary sessions such as Pilates. "That's important for me. I notice it in my flexibility and deep muscles and it helps me to eliminate imbalances," says Moser.
The latter is crucial after a long season; it's a matter of getting the body back to its basic setting, so to speak. Now he is ready to make a splash with the Lightning. He would love to be cruising around Lake Biel with the Stanley Cup next summer.
