Claude Julien is the new head coach of the ZSC Lions

Claude Julien takes over as head coach for the ZSC Lions. René Matte will serve as his assistant coach. Matte, who worked for HC Ambrì-Piotta for the past nine years, is already familiar with Julien. They met each other when Matte used to work in North America. Andreas Lilja, who worked as an assistant coach for the Lions last season, will remain with the organization, albeit in a different capacity.

Claude Julien last worked as an assistant coach for the St. Louis Blues in the NHL. Julien, who has been coaching since 1993, will take on his first coaching job outside of North America. It is, however, not the first time, he is involved with a Swiss team. He used to be a senior advisor for HC Ambrì-Piotta in the 2022-23 season.

Julien brings a lot of NHL experience to Zürich. From 2003 to 2021, he coached the Montréal Canadiens, the New Jersey Devils, and the Boston Bruins. With the latter, he was able to celebrate his biggest success as a coach, winning the Stanley Cup in 2011.

From 2022 to 2026, he worked for the Blues, first as a scout, then as an assistant coach. He also worked for the Canadian national team. He won the Olympics and the World Cup of Hockey with Canada as an assistant coach, and won silver with the Canadians at Worlds as a head coach.