BERN, Switzerland — The horn sounded, and the fans rose to their feet and applauded. Well, at least the fans who weren’t already on their feet cheering and chanting and singing the whole game.
The Nashville Predators and SC Bern lined up on the blue lines for the three stars, and there was no doubt who would be No. 1.
“Roman!” the public address announcer said.
“Josie!” the fans roared.
The hometown hero had two goals and an assist for Nashville in a 4-3 exhibition win before a sellout crowd of 17,031 at PostFinance Arena on Monday as part of the 2022 NHL Global Series Challenge.
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Josi looked up at “The Wall,” a massive standing room-only section of about 9,000 fans. As the fans serenaded him, he raised his stick, waved and thumped his chest.
“It was very emotional,” Josi said.
Josi has played in the Stanley Cup Final, has won the Norris Trophy voted as the NHL’s best defenseman, and has been named captain of the Predators. He also has the most assists (402) and points (542) among Switzerland-born players in NHL history.
And yet this supposedly meaningless game, the Predators’ final tune-up before they open the regular season with back-to-back games against the San Jose Sharks in Prague on Friday and Saturday as part of the 2022 NHL Global Series, will rank right. up there.
“I’m really grateful I had the chance to do this,” Josi said. “It’s something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life and definitely one of my career highlights.”
The 32-year-old grew up less than three kilometers from PostFinance Arena in a three-bedroom, ground-floor apartment on Forelstrasse in Ostermundigen, a town on the northeast edge of Bern.
Starting at the age of 4, Josi came here to skate, to play youth and junior hockey, and to watch SC Bern play in Switzerland’s top professional league.
At first, he was on the outdoor rink next door. By 9 or 10, he was on the main rink, the same one on which he played Monday.
At 16, Josi debuted with the top club, playing three games in 2006-07. He played full time for SC Bern from 2007-10, winning the National League championship in his final season before leaving for North America. He also spent part of the 2012-13 season with SC Bern during an NHL lockout.
“It’s my living room,” said his father, Peter, smiling outside the dressing room. “It was three, four times a week when he started, but ours [trip] was only five minutes, so it wasn’t hard to travel.”
Video: Roman Jose‘s family talk about the Global Series
When Josi plays in North America, his family, friends, and fans at home must follow him from afar. His father said he gets to see him play in person two or three times per season. His brother, Yannick, said he gets to see him once or twice per season. Others never get the chance.
Peter said when he went on a father’s trip with the Predators in 2015, he told general manager David Poile the dream was for Roman to play for his NHL team at home.
The Predators were originally scheduled to play SC Bern here in 2020, but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And now it comes true, so it’s great emotion,” Peter said. “Great emotion.”
The Predators arrived Saturday, and the Josi family went to dinner at a local restaurant. When the Predators practiced and held a team dinner at another local restaurant Sunday, the Josi family came along.
About 20 family members and 300 friends attended the game Monday, including Roman’s paternal grandmother, Lydia, who is 93 and has never been able to travel to North America. This was the first time she had seen Roman play in an NHL uniform in person.
“She’s very, very happy,” Peter Josi said. “For her, it’s an emotional thing.”
It was almost too good to be true.
When the starting lineups were introduced, the PA announcer saved the best for last: Predators forward Nino Niederreiterwho has scored the most goals (181) among Switzerland-born players in NHL history, and finally, Josi.
The fans shouted their last names the way they do for the home players. Each time Josi scored, the fans did the same.
“It’s like a Hollywood story,” said Mark Streit, who grew up in Bern and played 786 NHL games as a defenseman from 2005-17.
Josi wanted the perfect ending, and he was all over the ice to make sure he got it. He scored to tie the game 1-1 in the first period, made it 4-2 in the third, and kept pressing for the hat trick.
“I was definitely motivated,” Josi said. “I thought our guys played really hard. Everybody was playing hard. It was an important game for us, the last game before our season starts.
“And, yeah, I was looking forward to this for a long time.”
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