Zurich Lions win Continental Cup
The Zurich Lions have won one of Europe's most prestigious ice hockey trophies, the Continental Cup. The Swiss champions clinched the title unexpectedly early on Saturday when the London Knights pulled off a shock 5-2 win over Slovan Bratislava.
The result ensured that the Lions were out of reach at the top of the standings even before their last match against Bratislava. That proved fortunate for the Zurich club who were eventually beaten 5-1 by the Slovakians.
While the London Knights certainly helped Larry Huras’s side, the Lions had already done the hard work, following up their own 1-0 win over the English team with a 4-1 win against the Munich Barons.
Zurich’s first Continental Cup triumph was the third in a row for Huras, who lifted the trophy in the last two seasons while coaching Ambri-Piotta.
The Lions’ win was also the second time in the space of two weeks that a Swiss club has won an international trophy on home ice, following Davos’s victory in the Spengler Cup.
As well as earning the defending Swiss champions a winners’ cheque for SFr 60,000, the Continental Cup win will have helped to restore the Lions’ confidence after their recent disappointments in the domestic league.
The Zurich side came into the Continental Cup off the back of two league defeats which saw them lose the leadership to arch-rivals Lugano.
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