Stephan Roth (text) and Toto Marti (photos)
As soon as the second title in a row is dry, a note hangs at the entrance of the building where Zug’s master maker Dan Tangnes lives with his family. On it you can see pictures of the EVZ coach from this year and last year with the trophy – and underneath it says: “2023?” “But I didn’t do that,” counters Tangnes.
The euphoria of his neighbors in Cham ZG is unbroken. EVZ flags can still be seen on the terraces of the surrounding houses. One had pasted the inscription “Master Trainer” in the garage by the Norwegian’s parking lot. The 43-year-old has since removed it.
When Tangnes and his daughter Wilma (11) open the apartment door, Tango the dog is there too, wanting to greet the visitor. Later, the nine-month-old cuddly Labradoodle growls a little, which earns him his first harsh rebuke from Tangnes.
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In the apartment, which is simply furnished in a Nordic style, there is nothing to indicate wild master parties. There is order. Anja, Tangnes’ Swedish wife, is playing paddle tennis. “She left things here to me,” says the master maker as he walks barefoot through the spacious room. “We’ll see how that goes. I’m outside of my comfort zone.” If he hadn’t said it, you wouldn’t have noticed it, though. He charmingly serves coffee, mineral water and delicious, home-baked Swedish cinnamon rolls.
Pasta with veal, truffle and cognac
How is his cooking otherwise? “I used to cook more,” says Tangnes. “I don’t have the time because I work a lot more here than in Sweden.” His specialty? «Pasta with veal, truffle and cognac. Do you like that?” he asks his daughter and gets a nod. ‘And omelettes. They are easy to prepare and healthy.”
After four years in Zug, Tangnes understands German well, but prefers to speak English. “When I meet older people who don’t speak English, I speak German and they understand me too,” says the Norwegian. “But in my job, everything you say matters. Rhetoric is one of the most important tools.» And Tangnes showed that he is absolutely up to par in this area when Zug was down 0:3 against the ZSC Lions in the final and he masterfully moderated the difficult situation. The EVZ coach emphasizes that his confidence and relaxed attitude were not feigned.
Unlike her father, Wilma is fluent in Swiss German. It paid off that, on the recommendation of EVZ boss HP Strebel, she did not go to an English-speaking school, which makes integration easier. It was hard for her at first, though, because she missed her friends. “I cried every night,” she says. Wilma is still in regular contact with Sweden today. However, not unobserved. “Your cell phone is connected to our computer, so we can see every message that goes out or comes in,” says Tangnes. A tough dad? “My mother is tougher,” says Wilma.
“I would do it again”
Master, master again. The final got off to a bad start for Dan Tangnes and EVZ. In the first game, the Norwegian tried to avert the ZSC Lions’ 2-2 equalizer with a coaches challenge. However, the referees assessed the contact between goalscorer Chris Baltisberger and Leonardo Genoni as too minor and Tangnes received a penalty. The Zurich team used this two seconds before the end to score the winning goal.
“I would do it again,” says Tangnes, who was presented with the bull costume with the big eggs by the players after the title. And also explains why: “We made the following calculation: If we don’t take the challenge, it’s 2:2 and we have a 50 percent chance of winning the game. If we win the challenge, the goal is disallowed and we have a 92 percent chance of winning the game. And if we brushed off the challenge, which we did, our odds would drop from 50 percent to 42 percent. In a casino, I would get involved with this quota immediately.”
He was never afraid that the failed Coaches Challenge could be a problem in his team. “I always tell my players that 80 percent of what happens in his season depends on their attitude, discipline or character. Everyone has that in their own hands. It has nothing to do with talent, experience, salary or where you come from. And I hold the players responsible for those things, but not if the puck is lost or if someone misses the goal. And the same goes for me. I am not perfect. I’m human like the players. And this challenge wasn’t about putting me in the spotlight. I was just doing what I thought was best for the team.” (sr)
At the end, coach Dan Tangnes received the costume that was otherwise given to the best EVZ player after each match.
Nicole Vandenbrouck
Master, master again. The final got off to a bad start for Dan Tangnes and EVZ. In the first game, the Norwegian tried to avert the ZSC Lions’ 2-2 equalizer with a coaches challenge. However, the referees assessed the contact between goalscorer Chris Baltisberger and Leonardo Genoni as too minor and Tangnes received a penalty. The Zurich team used this two seconds before the end to score the winning goal.
“I would do it again,” says Tangnes, who was presented with the bull costume with the big eggs by the players after the title. And also explains why: “We made the following calculation: If we don’t take the challenge, it’s 2:2 and we have a 50 percent chance of winning the game. If we win the challenge, the goal is disallowed and we have a 92 percent chance of winning the game. And if we brushed off the challenge, which we did, our odds would drop from 50 percent to 42 percent. In a casino, I would get involved with this quota immediately.”
He was never afraid that the failed Coaches Challenge could be a problem in his team. “I always tell my players that 80 percent of what happens in his season depends on their attitude, discipline or character. Everyone has that in their own hands. It has nothing to do with talent, experience, salary or where you come from. And I hold the players responsible for those things, but not if the puck is lost or if someone misses the goal. And the same goes for me. I am not perfect. I’m human like the players. And this challenge wasn’t about putting me in the spotlight. I was just doing what I thought was best for the team.” (sr)
And how did the 11-year-old experience the final? “I thought they could still do it. And when it was 1: 3, 2: 3, 3: 3, I was almost 100% convinced that EVZ or my dad would win.” She “helped her father a lot,” she says boldly. Tangnes: “I had good coaching from home.” Did Wilma tell her dad that he needs to switch lines and bring Carl Klingberg on the team? “That’s exactly what I told him,” says the passionate floorball player. Her father also helped out as a floorball coach, which Wilma found a little embarrassing because her colleagues sometimes didn’t understand him.
In Sweden, the wife and daughter lived far away
Wilma is also a reason why Tangnes ended up in Switzerland. When he was coach in Linköping, his wife and daughter lived in Ängelholm in southern Sweden, a three-and-a-half-hour drive away. “I can remember my last year. We got through the pre-playoffs and I drove seven hours to Ängelholm and back on my day off to surprise them at school. And she asked if I’m going back? When I said yes, she ran away. It was clear to me that things couldn’t go on like this any longer.”
He had originally planned a year’s break after that, as Harold Kreis’s contract in Zug had another year to run. But then everything went faster after the EVZ 2018, having finished second in qualifying, had already failed in the quarter-finals at the later champions ZSC Lions. Even before the Norwegian signed with EVZ, he already had a two-hour phone call, which was not to be insignificant for his success. The now seven-time master sorcerer Leonardo Genoni, whose contract in Bern expired a year later, wanted to know who he would be dealing with in the future at EVZ before he accepted the Zug team.
What if an NHL club comes knocking?
Tangnes and his family like it in Cham, where Strebel built the state-of-the-art OYM training center from scratch. When walking with tango, the master maker greets passers-by with a “Grüezi” and a smile. And at the lake down by the picturesque Villette Park, he says: “We Chamers are proud of that.”
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But that doesn’t mean that Tangnes will stay forever. “You should never close the doors in this business,” he replies when asked if he would listen to an NHL request. “The players are told that they have the potential to play overseas if they really want to. If I didn’t have the same drive, I would fool the players.” He once spent two weeks with the San Jose Sharks and a year ago he had a loose conversation with an NHL club.
“And you want to give up your career for that?”
Tangnes emphasizes, however, that he would “not freeze in awe” if asked and would accept immediately. Does he then have an exit clause in his contract, which runs until 2024, like Rikard Grönborg, who lost in the final? “We have such a good relationship that it doesn’t need to. I think it’s an important part of club culture. If it comes to that, we would sit down and see what is possible. And of course we would also have to hold a family council,” says the wine lover, who has a book about champagne on his bedside table in addition to Nordic thrillers.
Tangnes, who tried his luck in Sweden as a 17-year-old junior, has come a long way as a coach. Cup winner 2019 and twice champion in Zug. When he gave up his job as a project manager at a construction company in 2005 to work as a junior coach at Rögle, his boss asked him uncomprehendingly: “And you want to give up your career for that?”
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