The finals matchup is set for Switzerland’s National League after Lausanne HC defeated Fribourg-Gottéron 4-2 on Wednesday night to win their best-of-seven semifinal series in five games. It was a slight upset for Lausanne, who finished third in the regular-season standings, 11 points behind second-place Fribourg, and marks the first-ever trip to the national finals for Lausanne.

An “elevator team” through much of its history, Lausanne has been consistently in Switzerland’s top flight since 2013. They made the semifinals in 2018-19, losing to Zug.

Lausanne’s opponent in the finals will be the ZSC Lions from Zurich, who swept EV Zug in the other semi. ZSC finished first in the National League standings and, in contrast with Lausanne, is a regular contender for the national championship, having six titles and 10 previous finals appearances in the 21st Century alone. ZSC’s most recent title was in 2018, when they beat Lugano in seven games, and their most recent trip to the finals was in 2022, when they blew a 3-0 series lead and lost in seven to Zug.

The two finalists are headed by a pair of notorious Canadian coaches: Marc Crawford for ZSC and Geoff Ward for Lausanne, both of whom took over their current teams during the 2022-23 season.

Ward had a couple of previous tours in Germany but most of his career has been in North America, notably in the Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames organizations. Crawford, the 1994-95 Jack Adams Award winner and 1995-96 Stanley Cup champion, replaced Swede Rikard Grönborg in December 2022. This is Crawford’s second tour of duty with the Lions after previously guiding them between 2012 and 2016, winning the title in 2016.

The Lions are backstopped by Czech goalie Šimon Hrubec, led up front by Denis Malgin, Latvian Rudolfs Balcers and Finn Juho Lammikko, and have a fairly strong defence that includes Mikko Lehtonen, Dean Kukan and Yannick Weber.

Lausanne is led offensively by Finn Antti Suomela, Damian Riat, Théo Rochette, Tim Bozon and defensemen Christian Djoos and Laurence Pilut. Lausanne also has veteran Austrian winger Michael Raffl, who rejoined the team in January.

The series starts next Tuesday in Zurich, with a potential seventh game going as late as April 30.