Two big names landed on the shores of Lake Lugano in 1980. Fresh from the extraordinary gold medal won with the US national team at the Lake Placid Olympics, Mark Pavelich and John Harrington arrived. But the two disappointed fans and society and stayed in Lugano only one championship. Pavelich would then move on to the New York Rangers, making a name for himself in the NHL.
However, the Resega lived in those years one of its hottest championships, registering an average of almost 8'000 spectators per game! So, during the season 1981/1982 Lugano decided to invest a lot in the purchase campaign, giving itself eight new players. Among them the name of the Swiss national team captain Aldo Zenhäusern stands out. The foreigners are Réal Vincent and Bernard Gagnon.
Two other important arrivals were those of Claude Domeniconi, a gritty defender who would give much to the club in the following years, and Bruno Rogger, one of the first Swiss in America. Until December, however, the team didn't perform as expected, the coach-player Vincent then decided to dedicate himself exclusively to the role of coach, abandoning that of defenseman: in his place he inserted Rogger, until then forward, while in attack a new foreigner was hired: Bob Sirois. The move turns out to be winning and Lugano returns to the LNA together with its Leventine cousins after an exciting promotion poule, triumphant even on prestigious rinks such as Bern's Allmend and Zurich's Hallenstadion.
For their big league adventure, Lugano signs an American defenseman, Bob Hess, over 300 games in the NHL and the ability to ignite the fans with spectacular if not always profitable runs. Another experienced player strengthens the colors. bianconeri: Giovanni Conte. But the real acquisition is the great promise of Swiss field hockey : Appenzell's Jörg Eberle. The championship of the bianconeri however, is not memorable with a sixth place finish.
To shake up the whole environment, President Mantegazza then started a real technical revolution, calling a new trainer from Sweden: it was John Slettvoll. With him, inflexible on and off the ice, comes a player destined to become the Resega's darling: the mythical Kent Johansson!
The snappy no. 25 has some problems acclimatising, but after Christmas he starts to sparkle! The enthusiasm for hockey at Lugano grows and other important players complete an increasingly competitive roster: the national players Beat Kaufmann and Arnold Lörtscher.
The 1983/84 season is very smooth: the team finishes in 4th place. To face the 1984/85 season, Slettvoll's Lugano is further reinforced with two key pawns: Mats Waltin and Fredy Lüthi.
The former is a true pillar of the Swedish national team: with Ingemar Stenmark and Björn Borg he is part of the legends of Swedish sports. With them comes another valuable player who will spend several seasons in bianconero: Beat Eggimann.
Notable departures included those of Aldo Zenhäusern and Martin Lötscher while Fabio Gaggini ends his competitive career. The squadron bianconero chases champions Davos all season but fails to snatch yet another title from the Grisons. He nevertheless ends what up to that point is the best season in his history with the conquest of second place. The great star performer among the bianconeri is the pixie Johansson.
