At just 1.68 m tall, Zug striker Lino Martschini is a phenomenon. He is the best Swiss scorer in the past National League qualifiers. Zero is aiming for the title with the EVZ.
14.03.2025, 04:30
14.03.2025, 07:00
SDA
At a game in Sweden a few years ago, an NHL scout asks a Swiss journalist about draft candidates in this country. He gave him two names, to which he replied after a brief search: "No chance, too small". That says a lot. Size isn't everything in ice hockey, of course, but it does help to a certain extent.
The 33-year-old Martschini does feel the size disadvantage at international level - it's not for nothing that he has "only" been considered twice for a world championship. In the National League, however, he has been a reliable point scorer for years, recording 256 goals and 333 assists in 720 games. The Monday before last, he represented the EVZ for the fourth time at the PostFinance top scorer awards. With 18 goals and 26 assists, he finished the qualification as the best Swiss scorer behind ten foreigners. It was the seventh time in his 13th season in Switzerland's top league that he finished the regular season with more than 40 points. That is impressive consistency.
Only this way
When you watch Martschini, his skating ability and shooting power stand out. He has made a virtue of his lack of size, never seeing it as a hurdle, but rather as a blessing. "I knew early on that I had to be faster and more agile in order to assert myself, that I had to go into duels differently, read the game better and also be able to shoot well. I always wanted to produce in offense, because that was the only way," he says in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. To this day, he still tries to score goals in every training session. "There's no magic formula, it's daily work," he emphasizes.
Martschini has been told from time to time that he won't make it at the next level. "But I never let this get too close to me. The good thing was that I had people around me who believed in me. Then you believe in it yourself too."
Martschini canceled national coach Patrick Fischer's participation in the third Euro Hockey Tour tournament of the season in February and instead focused on recovery. He makes no secret of the fact that he wants to become Swiss champion with the EVZ for the third time after 2021 and 2022. The team from central Switzerland finished the qualifiers in 4th place and will face Davos in the quarter-finals.
Great anticipation
"We've had ups and downs all season," said Martschini. "The fact that we gained home-ice advantage in the last round is extremely important." He is looking forward to the clash with Davos starting on Friday with great anticipation, not least because the Davos coach is Josh Holden - the Canadian has a long history with Zug as a player and assistant to Dan Tangnes. The latter is returning to Sweden at the end of this season after seven years as head coach of Central Switzerland. Will that give him an extra kick? "It's certainly in the back of everyone's mind that we want to say goodbye to Dan as nicely as possible. He has done so much for the whole club."
