Hey everyone,

Anyone know where I can find some pick up games of ice or roller hockey in or around Geneva?

Im dying. I really need to play.

I posted the same question on glocals. I got the below reply. The other thing I thought of was simply calling the indoor ice rinks and asking them if they have leagues that play in the spring/summer. The research if for my husband who won't get here until next month so I haven't called the rinks yet. But you can google ice rinks in geneva and they'll pop up and you can call. There are about 4 of them.

Hi,

I play for CERN ice-hockey : http://club-ice-hockey.web.cern.ch/club-ice-hockey/

Anyone can subscribe and join, most of the players are foreigners, so we speak in English. It's real fun, but we don't play in a league, just do some trainings.

The season will start again in October as the rinks are closing at the end of March.

Thanks, this looks great.. Maybe your husband and I will be on the same team

Unfortunately, things aren't looking too good for any spring / Summer hockey. Apparently all the rinks in Lausanne and Geneva (there aren't too many in the first place) are now closed, or will close shortly. There is some hockey up in Villars during the Spring/Summer and they have pick-up on Friday nights.

During the season I played in a league in Lausanne that was very fun, but only 18 games, so I wouldn't mind finding another team.
If I get any more details, I'll post some information.

Hey...anyone know of a rink in/around Lausanne that you can do like, open stick and puck time? I only started learning how to skate/play last year, so my skills are slim to none! But I want to keep up with it when I move to Lausanne next month.
bk

Hi,
There are a couple of rinks around Lausanne. There are three sheets of ice at Malley, where the Lausanne Hockey Club play. There is the main rink that holds about 8k, which isn't open that often to the public, another rink that is covered and an outdoor rink. There are daily stick and puck, although I don't know the schedule yet this year. You can drop by and they'll give you a schedule. I've been a few times during the day mid-week, and it was good to get on the ice, although nobody else on the ice seemed too interested in passing the puck around with me.

There is another outdoor rink at Montchoisi in Lausanne, but I don't know what they do for stick & puck, but our league plays there sometimes.

I hope that helps!

Cheers

Hey does anyone know of a league near Neuchatel I could get into? Maybe Bern or something? I just moved from Canada and would like to keep playing this winter. Any info about the adult leagues and how it works in Switzerland would be great. I'm a 26 year old male and I play goalie. Thanks in advance for any help!

I don't know too many specifics about Neuchatel, but that's 'hockey country' for Switzerland. Anywhere near Chaux de fonds should have plenty of teams.

Normally there are "corpo" leagues with a very wide variety teams in terms of quality and that play every week or so between October and March. There are not a lot of indoor rinks, so everything is a bit weather dependent. Here in Lausanne, that means a lot of games are postponed.

There are also official leagues that run from 2nd division to 4th. All players are officially registered, and they have practices. I'm sure as a Canuck that if you were keen to get into one of these leagues, you could find a spot. Here's a link to a team in Neuchatel, that has both a 3rd division and corpo team: http://www.hcsp.ch/index.html

I'm playing in a corpo league, which is ok because I haven't practiced for about 15 years but the quality is a bit all over the place. My goal each game is to be the best Canadian on the team. Being the only Canadian, it normally works out.

Cheers

Thanks for the info man, where do you play? I understand the lack of indoor rinks but I am finding a hard time believing I would play outside.... no wonder games are postponed, that seems very inefficient. But hopefully I can find something, thanks!

I play in the corpo league in Lausanne. The league is pretty fun, and even though we don't stand much chance of winning the championship, the team is a good bunch of guys. BTW, the corpo leagues generally don't have any playoffs, it's just a championship.

I was pretty surprised to find that almost all of our games are outside, especially in Lausanne where it is never that cold.

Where u from in Canada?

Age-Thanks for your info! If anyone ever wants to get together and skate (um, teach?) or whatever, let me know! I arrive in 3 weeks, can't wait!
(PS-are there any girls on your team? Not that I'm anywhere near up to that level...but just wondering.)

I'm from Saskatchewan. Used to play in the ASHL in the B1 division. Wasn't really expecting to be able to play here but it looks like it might be possible.

Where are you from?

I usually head out to Malley during the day mid-week every now and then (advantages of working from home). Once the rinks get going in September I'll head down and get the schedule.
We don't have any girls on the team, although I have seen a few that play in the league. I had heard from somebody else that there was even a girls league around, but I don't know anything about it.

I'm somewhat from all over, but the last 10 years from Vancouver.

I was surprised to see how popular hockey is here. Lausanne only has a League B team, but get 6-10k out for every game, and the fans are nuts. Lausanne ended up losing in the 7th game of the series that determines whether they go to league A. I'm still bummed.

Someone was telling me they pay pretty good money for players. Any truth to this or do you have to pay to play in a league like Canada? Us Canadian goalies are usually sought after aren't we?!?!? Ha

Paid to play? Hmm.. Maybe when you get up to the 2nd division they might, but I can't imagine that they'd be paying anybody for 3rd or 4th division. I know the top league and league B get paid decent but they only allow 3 import players per team.

I know the last team I played for in Vancouver let the goalie play for a discount or free, so you never know!

Ha yeah I figured that was a little crazy. I don't have time/interest in practicing either

A few other questions if I may!
Do they speak English there, I'm trying to learn "rocket French" but it is slow going!

And do they rent skates and stuff there? I am mostly packed to go, and my skates aren't making it this trip No room, I am quite sad to say!

After Sept. 10 if you are going just to pass the puck around and get on ice, let me know! I'd love to join!

I don't think they speak too much English at the rink, but I'm sure that they'll be able to sort you out.
They do rent skates, and maybe helmets, but I am not sure about sticks. At the open ice times, people normally have only skates, stick and puck. There is a store just near the rink call Chip Sport, and a small store at the rink itself that sells gear as well.
When I get their schedule, I'll post it here. September might be tough for me, but I'll let you know when I'm planning getting out there.

Cheers

Cool, thanks!