Curtis Lazar’s Move to Switzerland Might Be a Good Hockey Decision

Some hockey stories make you stop and think about what a professional hockey career actually looks like. Curtis Lazar heading to Switzerland is one of them. Lazar, 31, has played 617 regular-season NHL games, including 45 with Edmonton last season. He wasn't exactly tearing up the league — four goals and six points — but that's not really the point.

After spending years playing the North American game, Lazar has signed with Lausanne HC in Switzerland. And from where the Old Prof sits, that might be a pretty interesting next chapter.

Switzerland Offers a Different Kind of Hockey Life.

People tend to view a player leaving the NHL as if he’s taking a step backward. That isn't necessarily how it works. Switzerland has become a legitimate hockey destination, and for a player with Lazar's experience, it can offer something very different from the NHL’s daily grind.

The hockey is different. The schedule is different. The pressure is different. There are fewer games, and the day-to-day environment can be considerably less intense than what players experience in the NHL. The money may not match an NHL salary, but by this point in a player's career, other things matter.

And then there is the obvious one: Switzerland is a pretty nice place to live. That's not exactly a minor consideration when you're 31 years old and have spent most of your adult life travelling around North America, living out of hotels and moving from rink to rink. At some point, quality of life starts becoming part of the equation.

Maybe This Is What a Long Hockey Career Looks Like.

Lazar's career also reminds us that not every NHL player has to finish his career by squeezing every last game out of North America. He’s already made his mark by playing more than 600 NHL games. That's a pretty substantial career, even if it doesn't always get much attention.

Now he gets to try something different. He'll still be playing professional hockey, but in a different country, with a different style and probably a different rhythm to his life. There is something appealing about that. The NHL can become a remarkably demanding existence. Eighty-two games, travel, practices, injuries, roster decisions and the constant pressure to prove you still belong. Switzerland doesn't eliminate the competitive part of hockey, but it can put some of the rest of it into a different perspective.

For Lazar, this may be less about leaving the NHL and more about choosing what he wants the next part of his hockey life to look like. And maybe that's the part worth remembering. A hockey career doesn't have to end when the NHL chapter does. Sometimes it just gets a little more interesting.