Wednesday is a bad day to be a hockey fan in Switzerland.
Not only was the Swiss national junior club eliminated from the world junior hockey championships in a heartbreaking 4-3 shootout loss to the Russians, but more locked-out NHL stars playing in the Swiss A league are booking flights back to North America.
Ottawa Senator Jason Spezza follows high-profile players such as Logan Couture, Tyler Seguin and Michael Del Zotto in leaving the country’s top league.
Jason Spezza leaves Switzerland, confident he will play in the NHL this winter. #Sens
— Sylvain St-Laurent (@Syl_St_Laurent) January 2, 2013
With the hope of an imminent resolution to the NHL-NHLPA labour war, the all-star forward has departed his adopted club, Rapperswil-Jona, for whom he scored nine goals and added 21 assists in 28 games this season.
Spezza enjoyed a strong season with the Sens in 2011-12, in which he scored 34 goals and 84 points in 80 games.
Ottawa centre Jason Spezza has left Switzerland but has indicated he will return to Raperswill if there isn’t an NHL season.
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) January 2, 2013
During his time with Rapperswil, Spezza played with New York Rangers defenceman Del Zotto, who left the club prior to Christmas due to a minor lower-back injury.
Del Zotto, who faced Spezza in a memorable seven-game series during the 2012 playoffs, says he developed chemistry with his NHL rival during their stint overseas.
“We kinda rolled four lines over there, so we didn’t play a ton together, but when we did we clicked,” Del Zotto said. “Anytime you play with a world-class player like him, it’s a pretty easy give.”