By Jonathan Ram, Year 12
Hockey is a very popular sport when it comes to Switzerland as a whole, and for this season, in Geneva, where the team is doing unbelievably well despite their shortcomings in the last few years. Genève-Servette HC (Hockey Club), not to be confused with Genève-Servette FC (Football Club) was established in 1905 and has had its fair share of good players throughout the years, with their current best player being Teemu Hartikainen, the Finnish attacker who has 28 goals and 15 assists in the 48 games he has played this season.
Genève-Servette HC has an interesting history because they have been promoted to the National League (first division) and relegated to the Swiss League (second division) many times in the past. They have come very close to winning the National League in the past, finishing as runner-ups in 2008, 2010, and recently in 2021. This year they have the chance to become first-time champions.
This is the year to win it all. Throughout the regular season, Genève-Servette HC dominated and finished tied at the top of the league with Biel. They won some pretty spectacular games and really showed their opponents what they’re truly made of. In the playoffs, the Servette Eagles had to beat tough opponents such as Lugano who they beat 4 games to 2, and then the defending champions, Zug who they beat 4-1 to advance to the finals. Zug was a fierce opponent as they only lost to the Genevois by 1 goal in 3 of the 5 games. Geneva has made it all the way to the finals which is a best of 7 game format. They have a tough opponent, Biel but at the time of writing this, Genève-Servette are up 1-0 with all the momentum going their way.
I have had the pleasure of watching a few of their games myself, with each one being more intense and outstanding than the last. The first one I ever watched was back in 2019, when my Canadian teacher took the class to watch one of the last games of the season. With all of the supporting cast there, they of course won. Since that game in 2019, I’ve gone to watch a few others with friends and every time it’s been exciting to watch such a high-speed, intense, physical sport, and I’ve left the arena every time thinking “there’s no way I could ever do that.”
