Lions pounce for Samuelsson

Samuelsson (left) put himself in the spotlight during last month's Spengler Cup Keystone

Swiss ice hockey champions the Zurich Lions have strengthened their squad ahead of the league playoffs, signing Thurgau's Swedish forward Morgan Samuelsson until the end of the season.

Samuelsson’s contract with the second division club runs until 2003, but the 32-year-old has been at the centre of transfer speculation since putting in some spectacular performances for Davos in the Spengler Cup.

Zurich will now be hoping that Samuelsson can do as well for them as he did during his week with Davos. In the Spengler Cup final the Swede was particularly influential, steering Davos to victory over the Canada Selects with one goal and three assists.

The Lions, who are currently second behind Lugano in the league standings, said on Monday that Samuelsson had agreed to join them because of sporting and family reasons. The player will be able to stay with his family in Thurgau during his time with the Lions.

Samuelsson’s arrival at the Hallenstadion will exhaust the Zurich club’s quota for five foreign players. Along with their Finnish goalie Ari Sulander, the team will be taking the Canadians Adrien Plavsic, Andrew McKim and Pat Lebeau into the closing stages of the season.

Samuelsson is expected to play his last match of the season for Thurgau on Tuesday before taking part in his first training session with the Lions on Thursday.

swissinfo with agencies