American-born French left winger Tim Bozon was rumored as far back as November to have already signed a four-year contract with Swiss National League club Genève-Servette. The problem was, the 30-year-old former Montreal Canadiens prospect currently plays for Lausanne HC – Geneva’s fiercest rival.
“If it had been a club other than Geneva, I wouldn’t have had a problem – I would have openly announced my departure,” Bozon told the Tribune de Genève, according to Swiss Hockey News. “But given the rivalry between Genève-Servette and Lausanne, it became a bit complicated for me.”
For hockey fans outside of Switzerland, it might seem strange that a player is free to negotiate with rival clubs and even sign with them while still under contract. Among players moving this off-season that were announced before the end of the season include SCL Tigers MVP goaltender Stéphane Charlin, who is also going to Genève-Servette, and Dominik Kahun, who is moving from SC Bern to Lausanne.
Dominik Kahun Changes Teams In Switzerland
German forward Dominik Kahun, 29, is moving from SC Bern to National League rival Lausanne HC, both clubs announced on Tuesday.
“I feel I've given my all to the Lausanne Hockey Club over the last five years,” Bozon continued. “To protect myself from the reaction of the fans, I had expressed the wish to keep the transfer secret for as long as possible.”
Genève-Servette and Lausanne are the National League’s two westernmost teams in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, which makes them attractive options for francophone players. Both are situated on the shore of Lake Geneva, about 60 km from each other. As such, they form a fierce regional rivalry, making Bozon’s nervousness understandable. This season, Lausanne was by far the more successful of the two teams, finishing first in the regular season while Geneva finished 12th in the 14-team league, out of the playoffs.
However, Geneva did get the better of Lausanne in the Champions Hockey League. The two teams met in the quarterfinals of the pan-European championship, with Geneva decisively winning the two-game set 12-4 on aggregate score.
Bozon, the son of ex-NHLer and French hockey legend Philippe Bozon, was born in St. Louis while his dad played for the Blues and spent parts of his childhood in the United States, France, Germany and Switzerland.
Bozon went to Canada at age 17 and played junior hockey for the Kamloops Blazers and the Kootenay Ice of the WHL and was drafted in the third round, 64th overall, by Montreal in 2012. In March 2014, his life was threatened by a bout of meningitis, from which he recovered to play the following season.
Bozon played pre-season games for the Canadiens in 2014 and 2015 but never made it into an NHL regular-season games. He split three seasons between the AHL and ECHL in the Montreal and Florida Panthers organizations before returning to Switzerland in 2017, where he’s played ever since.
Over eight National League seasons with EHC Kloten, Genève-Servette and Lausanne, Bozon has 158 points in 419 regular-season and playoff games, with the 2025 playoffs still to come.
Internationally, Bozon has represented France at two U-18 World Championships at the Division 1 level and at five senior-level IIHF World Championships.