The position of full-time head coach at Genève-Servette HC has been vacant for weeks and Klaus Zaugg of Swiss media outlet Watson is reporting that long-time NHL head coach Gerard Gallant could be in line for the job.
Genève-Servette currently languishes in 12th place in the 14-team National League. Jan Cadieux, who coached the team to its first-ever national championship in 2022-23 and to a Champions Hockey League title last season, was fired on Dec. 28. Since then, the team has been led by interim head coach Rikard Franzén, who was an assistant under Cadieux.
Gallant has not coached full-time since he was let go by the New York Rangers following the 2022-23 season but he was recently in Switzerland to coach Canada’s Spengler Cup entry in Davos in late December.
More than half of the National League’s teams have head coaches who aren’t Swiss and it’s not unusual for former NHL coaches to find work in Switzerland. Former Calgary Flames coach Geoff Ward currently coaches Lausanne HC and Marc Crawford had two tours of duty with the Zurich-based ZSC Lions, resigning recently due to mental health issues. Former NHL player Josh Holden currently coaches HC Davos and, just days ago, German Uwe Krupp was hired to coach in Lugano.
Gallant, 61, hails from Summerside, PEI and played 11 NHL seasons for the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning. He has coached over 700 NHL games for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights and Rangers, winning the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year for guiding Vegas to the Stanley Cup final in its first season, 2017-18.
Genève-Servette is a talented team loaded with Finns, particularly defenseman Sami Vatanen, forwards Markus Granlund and Teemu Hartikainen and goaltender Antti Raanta. The team also has ex-NHLers Josh Jooris, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Tim Berni and Dmytro Timashov.
However, the team has sputtered in the National League this season. Genève-Servette did reach the semifinals of the Champions Hockey League but lost the first leg at home 6-1 to Swiss rival Zurich, with the return leg next Tuesday.