Schlegel/Van Pottelberghe: The Bianconeri Net Turns Swiss

Hockey Club Lugano announces that it has signed a contract for the next three seasons (2024/2027) with 26-year-old goaltender Joren Van Pottelberghe (85 kg x 187 cm), born on 05.07.1997 in Zug, who holds dual Swiss and Belgian citizenship.

Raised in Zug's youth system until the age of sixteen, Van Pottelberghe continued his development in southern Sweden, playing from 2013 to 2016 in the U18 and U20 youth teams of Linköping.

Returning to Switzerland, from 2016 to 2020 he guarded the net for Davos in the National League (66 games) and Kloten in the Swiss League (26 games).

He was then signed by Biel, with whom he agreed to a three-year contract that expires at the end of the current season. With the Seeländer, Van Pottelberghe has appeared in 102 games, contributing to the team's excellent results in recent years, despite a serious injury that kept him off the ice from March 2022 to January 2023. In the current season, he is rotating with Finnish goaltender Harri Säteri.

Van Pottelberghe has been regularly selected for the Swiss national team at the youth level, participating in one U18 World Championship and two U20 World Championships, performances that earned him a fourth-round draft by the Detroit Red Wings in 2015.

With Patrick Fischer's senior team, he has played about ten friendly matches and one game at the 2023 World Championships in Riga.

These are the words of General Manager Hnat Domenichelli:

"We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Joren for his and our future. With him and Niklas Schlegel, whose contract is valid until 2026, we will have a solid pair of goaltenders with Swiss passports. We have informed Koskinen of our strategy for the upcoming seasons, and consequently, we did not make him any offer to extend his expiring contract. Mikko understands the market mechanisms in Switzerland and has understood our need to plan well in advance. He will continue to play an important role in this season's team."