‘NHL contract helped me look ahead’

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Lian Bichsel, the great hope for the future of Swiss ice hockey, turns 19 on May 18. He was ready to celebrate with the national team at the World Cup in Riga. But an unfortunate collision thwarted these plans and ended Solothurn’s season. He was injured last Thursday in Göteborg (Sd) – in the 3-0 defeat against Sweden, opponent Linus Johansson fell with his entire weight on Bichsel’s leg after a duel.

“We immediately knew it was something serious,” he said on the terrace of the Montchoisi Clinic in Lausanne when Blick visited him. The devastating diagnosis was a broken ankle on his left leg. “It was a big shock at first,” Bichsel admits. 48 hours after his accident in Sweden, he underwent surgery at Lake Geneva.

The problem with the crutches

When he talks about his bad luck now, Bichsel seems calm. He seems to have left the great disappointment behind him. He says, “You know this is part of being a top sport.” The hardest thing for him right now is getting around with crutches, he says, laughing, “I’m not used to that yet.”

He had every reason to be really angry. Lian Bichsel looked set to play his first Under-20 World Cup. A feat that only players of the caliber of Nino Niederreiter, Kevin Fiala or Janis Moser have achieved. All players who have had a great career in the NHL.

Valuable paper in the hospital bed

Bichsel is also aiming for this. And coincidentally, he signed his first NHL contract post-surgery from his bed in Lausanne. A paper that earned him a total of $4.3 million over the next three seasons. “I don’t know if signing a hospital is a first,” he smiles, “but it’s definitely a huge vote of confidence from the Dallas Stars and means a lot to me. It also helps me look ahead and the disappointment of overcome the injury.”

The Texan franchise had drafted him in the first round in 2022 and then loaned him to Sweden’s Leksand for another developmental season. Throughout the season, he was watched by the stars currently competing for the NHL playoffs. Can he already imagine playing there in the fall? “No, not yet,” says Bichsel, “at the moment I’m mainly working on healing my injury.”

“I was lucky in my misfortune”

The doctors have given him the prospect that he could soon be back on his feet. “That will also depend on me,” specifies the young star. “But in the next eight weeks I should be able to walk normally again. So you could say I was lucky, because I can prepare normally for next season.”

So he celebrates his birthday in Switzerland and not in Riga. But he will still watch the World Cup. With good reason: “When you have been so close to a team you are definitely emotionally involved. I really enjoyed the weeks with the national team, learned a lot and know that this will bring me a lot for the future.”

Source : Blick