Red Wings players Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider and William Lagesson took part in a charity hockey game today in Zurich, Switzerland called (Kevin) “Fiala’s Friends,” raising money for several local charities via an exhibition game between a team of mostly Swiss All-Stars and the ZSC Lions of the Swiss league.
According to Blick.ch’s Stephan Roth, all went well:
Fiala’s Friends with heart and a summer gala
Kevin Fiala has done something that has never been seen before. He called, and NHL stars came to Zurich to play against the ZSC Lions.
It’s one of the beautiful sides of North American sports, where the professionals are socially committed, and committed to those who are doing less well. Charity projects are part of the good tone.
So national team star Kevin Fiala proved his heart and that he’s committed. Fiala (29) was nominated by his team, the Los Angeles Kings, for the King Clancy Award this spring, which goes to an NHL player who displays both on-ice and off-rink leadership and social engagement. This year, Florida’s Aleksander Barkov won the award.
Now Fiala has done something that’s never been seen before in Switzerland: A charity game with NHL stars against the ZSC LIons, whose proceeds went to the Children’s Hospital St. Gallen, and junior cash checks for his ex-team Uzwil and the ZSC/GCK Lions charities. Children are important to Fiala, whose wife gave birth to daughter Masyah in 2024, and lost an unborn baby this spring.
Fans are happy about Ambuhl and Cech
So the Eastern Swiss called, and all the Swiss NHL players came, from Roman Josi, who’s still recovering from health problems, to foreign greats such as Lucas Raymond (Sweden), Moritz Seider (Germany, both from Detroit), Tim Stuetzle (Germany, Ottawa), and the 10,119 fans especially enjoyed two other players at Fiala’s friends: Andreas Ambuhl, 41, retired man of records, and soccer goaltender Petr Czech, 43.
The former goalie of London’s football giants Chelsea and Arsenal showed that he cuts a fine figure even in the smaller goal and on ice. He was defeated once before he made way to Akira Schmid at the middle of the game.
Of course, after Bastian Baker gave the national anthem to the stage, the game went on the stage in an All-Star manner. Physical contact was not used.
But the NHL stars won vs. the Swiss League Champions and Champions Hockey League winners comfortably, winning 10-3.
Timo Meier, Raymond, Stützle (2), Marco Rossi, William Lagesson, Ambühl, Fiala, J.J. Moser and Philipp Kurashev provide the All-Stars’ goals, while Yannick Weber, Joel Henry and Jesper Frödén met the Zurich residents.
Sport.ch, SRF.ch and the ZSC Lions’ website also posted recaps, with the ZSC Lions’ recap including some great photos from the game. The Lions’ Facebook page has some good behind-the-scenes pictures as well.
