Relegated to the farmer’s team: star striker Bachofner at ZSC on the sidelines

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They can currently be seen in many places in the city and the Zurich conurbation. The large format posters with which the ZSC Lions make people hungry for the season start on September 15. Jérôme Bachofner (27), Sven Andrighetto (30) and Willy Riedi (25) then approach the viewer with a determined look. The small downside: Bachofner is currently not a player for the ZSC Lions!

On August 8, the ZSC Lions played the traditional kick-off of the preparatory game against Farmteam GCK Lions (5:1). Bachofner played for the last time for the “Zett” at the time. He was then sent to the GCK Lions, with whom he has been training and playing pre-season games ever since. The three-time champion (two titles with Zug, one with Zurich) has not been seen with the ZSC Lions since – which is very special given the poster campaign launched at the same time. “An unfortunate coincidence,” says ZSC sports director Sven Leuenberger (54).

Henry and Rohrer instead of Bachofner

Instead, numerous young forwards such as Nicholas Baechler (20), Joel Henry (20) and Vinzenz Rohrer (18) were used by the ZSC Lions. Coach Marc Crawford (62), on the other hand, did without Bachofner – and this despite the fact that two prominent attacking players were still missing in this preparatory phase, namely the recovering Andrighetto (return still unclear) and Denis Hollenstein (33, made his comeback last weekend). Bachofner is of course on the sidelines at the ZSC Lions.

This development does not come as a total surprise. Bachofner was unable to live up to expectations after his return from Zug a year ago and only scored 3 goals and 6 assists last season. At the same time, after years of losing under former coach Rikard Grönborg (55) with Crawford, there is now an increased urgency at ZSC to give the young talents from their own offspring a chance.

‘We don’t want a rush job’

“Neither Jérôme nor I are happy with it. But we don’t want a rush job, we want to see how it develops first,” says Bachofner’s agent Sven Helfenstein (41) about the relegation. But it seems clear: playing for the ZSC farm team is not a long-term solution for the two Bachofner has a contract with the ZSC Lions until 2025.

And what do the ZSC Lions say about the “Bachofner case”? “He had a wrist injury before and we felt that he needed some time in all areas. But of course Jérôme has the chance to return to us,” says Leuenberger. And Crawford adds: “Our selection is lower this season than last year. We have a lot of young players who want to accelerate and want a place on the team.” Professional ice hockey is a competitive league with competition for each individual.

As can be heard with the GCK Lions, Bachofner is not sticking his head in the sand despite the unfavorable prospects, but is going for it. In the games he was the best of the team. Bachofner is apparently doing everything he can to get his stalled career going again. Whether with the ZSC Lions – or via a transfer elsewhere.

Source : Blick