McCarthy’s Moment In Die Schweiz

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Joined in the crease by all five SC BERN skaters on the ice, former New York Rangers farmhand ANDRES AMBUEHL (44) of SC ZURICH eyes the puck in the net behind veteran Switzerland international goaltender MARCO BUEHRER (39) as the match referee at the side of the net observes the action intently. It is the decisive GAME SEVEN of the NATIONAL LEAGUE A PLAYOFF FINAL series featuring visiting SC Zurich and host SC Bern, then. The two sides are deadlocked at one goal apiece and there are exactly 2.5 seconds to play in the third period at the sold-out PostFinance Arena …
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Black-sweatered SC BERN, the second-most successful Swiss ice hockey club since the National League A was first formed in the winter of 1937/38 having won a dozen domestic championships, had stormed to a commanding 3-1 lead after the first four contests in the best of seven series with SC ZURICH. What’s more, the hosts would outshoot their guests by the margin of 28-18 in the dramatic Game Seven showdown on home ice. But all of that amounted to nothing now as the referee acknowledged the puck in the back of the net with 17,131 mostly-disappointed spectators also looking on at the ice rink with the world-renowned standing-room-only section.
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SC Zurich journeyman rearguard STEVE MCCARTHY (3), the first round draft pick (# 23 overall) of the Chicago Black Hawks at the 1999 National Hockey League Draft, had never been much of a goal-scorer over the course of his dozen campaigns in the ranks of professional hockey on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. Indeed, the 31-year-old native of Trail, British Columbia has totaled just 30 goals while skating in a little over 500 regular season contests for clubs in the NHL, American Hockey League, Kontinental Hockey League (Russia), Finland in addition to Switzerland. Nevertheless, McCarthy could not have picked a better moment to score his first-ever ever playoff goal in any country while sensationally catapulting SC Zurich to the 2012 national championship all with one dramatic shot.
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After sufficently impressing following an official three-day tryout period, defenseman STEVE MCCARTHY (3) was only formally signed by Swiss club SC Zurich this past October after a quarter of the National League A season had already been played. Even then, the veteran of 302 National Hockey League games was only offered a three-week contract with absolutely no guarantees from SC Zurich’s imported Canadian trainer BOB HARTLEY, the former Stanley Cup champion coach of the Colorado Avalanche who had also had McCarthy on his bench a few years earlier while with the Atlanta Thrashers. Having made ten appearances for the ZSC Lions and significantly helped to shore up a defense that had been leaking goals for a team that had lost its first six matches at home previously, McCarthy was soon tendered another contract by the Swiss club thru the end of the 2011/12 campaign.

With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to see appreciate the brilliance of that decision by SC Zurich.