Dan Tangnes is leaving – great opportunity for more rock music from EV Zug

Now, after seven years working with Dan Tangnes, the sports architect will leave early at the end of the season and return to Sweden for family reasons. He has no new club and it is entirely conceivable that he will take a year off. Of course: loss hurts. But especially for Zug: coaches come and go, but the club remains. For the rest of the season, the whole story remains intact: Dan Tannis is one of the most charismatic coaches in Europe.

He is approachable and cares about the welfare of his players while also earning the respect of those around him. There’s no one in the locker room who won’t pay for their coach. The premature announcement of the breakup at the end of the season will almost certainly have a positive emotional impact: according to the motto: Now we will give everything for Dan Donnes again. Zug is a candidate for this title.

With or without Dan Tannes, sporting director Leto Clay is in a tough spot with newer: Titans and supporting Titans like Leonardo Genoni (37), Dominik Schrempf (33 ), Gregory Hofmann (32), Lino Matschini (31), Sven Senteler (32) and Jan Kovar (34) are approaching the twilight of their careers. The question that sports director Reto Kläy is concerned about is: What will the EV Zug look like in the future?

• 7

  A leader who can decide games and make his team better on and off the ice.

• 6-7

  A talented player who can decide a game on a good night and is a leader.

• 5-6

  A good NL player: usually a rainbow butterfly of talent, sometimes a serious worker who brings out a lot of talent.

• 4-5

  Players on the third or fourth block, veterans or newcomers.

• 3-4

  The future is still ahead of you, or the future is already behind you.

• The rating is based on the North American Hockey Grading Scale, ranging from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest). There are no levels below level 3, because those who play in the top leagues are at least barely adequate.

EV Zug (founded in 1967) returned to the top league in 1987 with a North American hockey philosophy and became champions for the first time in 1998. It wasn't until the arrival of Dan Tangnes in the summer of 2018 that Zug's ice hockey culture was fully integrated into Europe. Hiring a “copy” of this extraordinary coach could prove to be a fatal mistake. Because there is no next or second Dan Tangnes.

So why not change the style as the coach changes? Why not have the courage to embrace more North American-style rock and roll, so to speak, and return to the roots of Zug hockey culture? Billy McDougall and Misko Antisin on the management team (but just a handful, not too much) and Fredy Egli A small part of the management team can have a refreshing effect, and Zug will actually do well. And maybe a little humility and modesty.

More Billy McDougall (right) might be good for EVZ.Image: KEYSTONE

Such a well-managed sports company has the ability to orchestrate a style change. In any case, dominating the league in the mid-term will not be easy. If not championship celebrations, then at least more commotion, controversy and entertainment between September and the end of February. Everything doesn't always have to be perfect. It could swing a little bit in the middle. In fact, some good young talents have now left Zug or will leave at the end of the season (Ludwig Johansson, Attilio Biasca, Dario Arlenspach, Nico Gross and Yannick Zenner) were more for than against the change in style.