Lausanne Hockey Club is an ice hockey team based in the city of Lausanne , Switzerland , which competes in the National League (NL). During the 2004–05 NHL lockout , the HC Lausanne signed National Hockey League players Martin St. Louis and Andy Roach .
25-635: The team plays its home games in the 10,000-seat Vaudoise Aréna . Founded in 1922, the Lausanne Hockey Club is one of the oldest clubs in Switzerland . They played for sixteen years at Chalet-à-Gobet , in the city heights. In 1938, LHC moved their headquarters to Montchoisi where, in 1941, they merged with Star HC to become the Montchoisi Hockey Club. On November 6, 1949, the team of Lausanne chose their original name: Lausanne Hockey Club. It
50-735: A five-year stint with Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) in 1984. In 1989, he transferred to another SHL team, AIK IF , and in 1991-92 helped Rögle BK earn promotion to the SHL. Ehlers played in the Swiss elite league NLA for EHC Biel in 93-94, followed by two years with Klagenfurter AC of Austria. He left his mark in the German top-flight Deutsche Eishockey Liga , turning out for DEL teams Augsburger Panther and Berlin Capitals . He served as
75-599: A score of 5–3. On 30 September 2019, Lausanne HC hosted the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL for a gala match as part of the "2019 Global Series NHL Challenge". Leading 4–0 early in the second period, the Swiss team defeated the Pennsylvania franchise (4–3). The venue will host matches for the 2028 European Men's Handball Championship . It will also host matches for the 2025 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup . In July 2020,
100-448: A team captain for the Capitals and returned to his native Denmark after five years in the German capital city. Ehlers played another two years with AaB Ishockey and concluded his playing career following the 2003-04 campaign. Ehlers earned a total of 104 caps for the Danish national team, tallying 60 goals and 103 assists. He played in nine World Championships. He was named head coach for
125-413: A temporary 6,700-seat ice rink (Malley 2.0), following the closure of Patinoire de Malley in 2017 and while construction work on the 9,600-seat Vaudoise Aréna took place. It was established as the largest temporary ice hockey arena in the world. 24 September 2019 saw its inaugural match of the 2019–20 NL season , which was between Lausanne and Genève-Servette HC . The Genevans won this Lemanic derby with
150-548: A training field and an outdoor ice rink). The plans also include a fencing center, a table tennis hall and a swimming pool with three pools and 1,000 spectator seats that is scheduled for completion in 2021. Vaudoise Aréna is the center of the new Malley Sports Centre. Provisionally named Espace Malley, the facility adopted its final name in September 2018, after a sponsorship agreement with the insurance company Vaudoise assurances [ fr ] . Local hockey clubs played in
175-538: Is with this name that they started off in the Swiss national league. Relegated to Nationalliga B in 1954, they powered back to the Nationalliga A on March 2, 1957 and remained there until 1961. For the next seventeen years, LHC remained at the Nationalliga B level where they had occasional success. On February 18, 1978, in front of over 7,000 fans, Lausanne Hockey Club obtained promotion to Nationalliga A , defeating HC Davos 8 goals to 4. After three seasons spent in
200-404: The 2017–18 season, Ratushny was let go of his coaching duties on 11 October 2017. He was replaced on an interim basis by former Lausanne youth coach and fellow Canadian, Yves Sarault , and later announced to remain for the remainder of the season. However, with the club still struggling into the new year placing third from the bottom of the league, a second coaching change was announced as Sarault
225-687: The Pétanque World Championships was supposed to be held at Vaudoise Aréna, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Heinz Ehlers Heinz Ehlers (born January 25, 1966) is a Danish professional ice hockey coach and former ice hockey player. He was most recently the head coach of the SCL Tigers in the National League A (NLA) and the Denmark national hockey team. Ehlers
250-553: The 2015-16 season. About a month before parting ways, Lausanne's president had questioned Ehlers' defensive style of play. In early October 2016, he took over head coaching duties for the SCL Tigers of the Swiss NLA and additionally became assistant coach of Denmark's men's national team in October 2017. Heinz and his wife Tina have three children together, two of which play professional ice hockey. His oldest son Sebastian plays for
275-572: The NLA for the 2013–14 season. In 2013, following the series of promotion / relegation blocks against the SCL Tigers, the club moved up in the National League A with four wins and two defeats. During the 2014–15 season, their second in the NLA, the team averaged 6,711 spectators per game, ranking them third in the league in term of attendance. In February 2016, American businessman Ken Stickney acquired
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#1732887873666300-470: The NLA once again through promotion, but failed twice in the promotion games 2008–09 and the 2009–10 seasons, losing both times against EHC Biel in seven games. In the 2012–13 season, after a slow start into the regular season, Lausanne won the NLB championship for the 7th time, defeating EHC Olten in the play-off final. In the following promotion games, Lausanne defeated the SCL Tigers in six games to reach again
325-426: The NLA until then. His was succeeded by Daniel Ratushny on April 26, 2016. Under Ratushny, the team used an overly defensive style capitalizing on opportunistic offense. Enjoying initial success they finished the 2016–17 regular season in fourth place. In the playoffs, however, LHC did not find victory in the quarter-final's against HC Davos , suffering a series sweep. Following 12 points in their first 10 games in
350-515: The club's first ever. Ehlers left SCL after the 2012-13 campaign to take on a new challenge in Switzerland's top-flight National League A (NLA), signing with Lausanne HC in March 2013. He turned the newly promoted team into a solid NLA squad, guiding Lausanne to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2013-14 and 2014-15. Despite having a year of his contract left to run, he was relieved of his duties after
375-418: The finals in 1989 and obtain their promotion to NLB. In 1992, the club's survival was threatened by a bankruptcy . The team saved itself from relegation to the 1. Liga (season 1992-1993). The season 1993-1994 saw participation in the finals to access the national League A, finals played in five games against Rapperswil, the latter winning it over. At the beginning of the 1994-1995 season, Lausanne Hockey Club
400-484: The highest league, LHC, following the loss of a player in a car accident, was relegated to NLB. They remained there from 1981 to 1984 before falling to the 1. Liga while also moving to the International Ice Center at Malley (CIGM) where they still play today. They then played one season in first League (84-85) and made a round trip to NLB (85-86), to be back in the first League. Three years later they reached
425-456: The majority of shares of Lausanne from Quennec. Stickney was previously president of EHC Kloten and a member of Avenir Sport Entertainment LLC (ASE), the owner of the club. In April 2016, the Lausanne released Danish head coach Heinz Ehlers after failing to make the playoffs for the 2015–16 season. Ehlers had achieved with the playoff appearances in 2014 and 2015, the largest club successes in
450-446: The middle of the NLB ranking until 2000-2001 when they were at the head of the championship during almost the whole season. Lausanne won the title of champion of NLB and defeated HC La Chaux-de-Fonds for the promotion games. Winning against the HCC in six matches, LHC was back in NLA for the 2001-2002 season. After a relegation in the 2004–05 season, Lausanne played the role of “favorite” for
475-547: The national team on June 29, 2018. His first head coaching stint came at Aalborg in 2005-06. In May 2007, he took over EHC Biel and steered the team to the NLB championship and promotion to the Swiss top-tier National League A (NLA). He was sacked in April 2009 following a run of six straight losses. Ehlers accepted the head coaching job at NLB side SC Langenthal in November 2009. He hauled in his second NLB title in 2011-12 and
500-464: The other teams of the NLB. In April 2007, Canadians Barry Alter and Ken Lockett were introduced to the public as new majority owners of the club to help the club through financial difficulties. With the introduction of former coach Jim Koleff to the ownership group, later represented by his wife following his death, Lausanne was also backed by Hugh Quennec with interest already in fellow professional club, Genève-Servette HC . The club tried to reach
525-454: The world. The new arena opened in September 2019. The new ice rink received the sponsorship name Vaudoise Aréna , after the insurance company Vaudoise. Updated 5 July 2024 Vaudoise Ar%C3%A9na The Vaudoise Aréna (provisionally known as Espace Malley ) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Prilly , a western suburb of Lausanne in Switzerland. Opened in September 2019, it
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#1732887873666550-462: Was built on the site of the former, now demolished, CIG de Malley which it replaced to host the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics . The arena serves as the home for Lausanne HC of the National League (NL). The facility was built for hosting the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics and is one of two venues that was intended to host the 2020 IIHF World Championship , though at a reduced capacity of 8,500. The complex includes three ice rinks (the main ice rink,
575-506: Was designated as the Nationalliga B favorite to access the NLA. Against GCK Lions during the finals and after five games, the decisive match was won by Lausanne 8 to 0. In the 1995-1996 season, after a series of losses the club decided to fire their head coach. The change didn't prevent Lausanne from being relegated to NLB at the end of the season. During the following four seasons, the LHC occupied
600-526: Was replaced by John Fust on 8 February 2018. The home games of the Lausanne HC were played in the CIG de Malley from 1984 to 2017 and had an official capacity of 8,000 spectators. While waiting for completion of a new arena in the 2017–18 season, Lausanne moved to a temporarily built ice hockey arena known as the 2.0 Malley, which sat 6,700 spectators. It was established as the largest temporary ice hockey arena in
625-537: Was selected by the New York Rangers in the 9th round (188th overall) of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft , but never played in the league. Ehlers played professionally in Europe for over 20 years, most notably in the Swedish Hockey League and Deutsche Eishockey Liga . He was inducted into the Danish ice hockey Hall of Fame in 2014. After spending the early stages of his career in his native Aalborg, Ehlers embarked on
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