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1/8
Mark Streit as a boy in the SCB jersey.
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SOL
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2/8
Bill Gilligan, once a coach and head of sports at SCB in the mid-1990s, judged other young defenders better than Mark Streit and didn’t want him to be an NLA prospect.
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METTLER ANDY
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3/8
At the HCD, Mark Streit benefited enormously from the trust and passion of trainer Arno Del Curto (left), but had painful experiences both on and off the ice.
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Getty Images
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7/8
A bad shoulder injury forced Mark Streit to take a break from the Islanders, the defender was completely out of the 2010/11 season.
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Getty Images
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8/8
The Montreal Canadiens surprisingly drafted the then 26-year-old Mark Streit in the summer of 2004, but in Canada he not only had good experiences.
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Contract copies, photos from his private album, a birthday fax to his mother, worried emails to his father. Mark Streit touches in his biography with insights into his world of thoughts. Below are some excerpts from 3 of 13 chapters.
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The decision
Streit went through all junior levels at the SCB, but made his debut in 1995/96 with Friborg in the NLA.
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«(…) Our trainer handled me correctly, but did not support me specifically. As a traditional club in the top Swiss league, SC Bern has always been one of the best (…). The promotion of young talent, however, was not exactly rosy. We had about eight Elite B defenders my age, and Bill Gilligan, sporting director, told me that he judged seven of them better than me. That’s why he doesn’t see me as a prospect for the NLA. That made me think. With my parents, I thought hard about the options I had. »
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Streit moved to Friborg at the age of 16 for an annual allowance of CHF 12,000. Because he made tremendous progress, the then U20 coach Arno Del Curto brought him into the team in 1995 as an “underager” (born in the younger generation). And a year later to HC Davos.
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«(…) However, I had to get my driver’s license before I could be mobile. I took ten hours of driving during the summer holidays because I had little time and wanted to save. I passed the exam and I leased a VW Golf. After two weeks in Davos, I built a total loss! In the hectic morning before training, I drove against the one-way street in front of my house and collided with a concrete mixer. The damage was CHF 12,000. Maybe I would have better invested in more driving hours after all. »
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Streit also had a painful experience in Graubünden – his first broken nose.
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«(…) In a game against Ambri-Piotta, the Russian Oleg Petrov and I crashed so hard that my nasal septum was pushed in. After the match, I cycled to Davos Hospital, where a doctor straightened my nose. After the outpatient procedure I went home on my bike and arrived covered in blood. »
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The argument factor
A serious shoulder injury ruined the 2010/11 season at the NY Islanders. He had to undergo an operation, flew from Cleveland to New York with a wounded teammate the day before and went to a specialist and should have been picked up by the Islanders Physio after the procedure.
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«(…) At 2:00 p.m. I woke up from general anesthesia. I was in incredible pain. A giant in a black tracksuit that looked like a football player entered the hospital room. We left the hospital without further instructions, let alone pain relievers, got into his van and drove to the hotel. I was still wearing the surgical shirt with the blood stains. At the reception, the staff informed us that no room was reserved for us. I immediately booked a room on site. I handed the guardian $ 100 and the prescription for the pain reliever to request that I get it. I almost died of pain and was lying in a hotel bed like delirium. (…) I counted the hours until we finally flew back to New York. Still in my bloody surgical shirt (!) I got into the taxi to the airport. As a top player – I was statistically the best defender and the best scorer of the Islanders and last year I was the first Swiss to be nominated for the NHL All-Star game – I would have expected somewhat more caring and respectful treatment. It showed once again that there are worlds between the machinery of the NHL and the family NLA in Switzerland! »
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The draft
In the midst of its heyday, Mark Streit was drafted as a 26-year-old in summer 2004 – in the 9th round by the Montreal Canadiens. The ZSC captain had another season in Zurich before embarking on the NHL adventure. For the minimal salary of around CHF 440,000, half of which went to taxes.
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«(…) An experience on a cold winter day in Montreal made me very unsettled. After losing a game against the Florida Panthers, I got frustrated by one of our fans. “Go back to fucking Switzerland!” He called to me. I’ve never been able to deal with poor performance. They gave me sleepless nights when my thoughts were circling and I was looking for the reasons for the failure. »
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Streit writes that it took him almost a whole season to get used to the level. In the second year at the Canadiens, the new coach Guy Carbonneau pushed him the joker role. Often the defender was surplus, a so-called “healthy scratch”.
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«(…) On the way from the ice to the cabin, the material manager – not the trainer or the sports director – usually informed me that I would not be part of the game. That is hard. You take off the equipment in front of the whole team, wish all of your teammates good luck, go to the gym and do a workout with the fitness trainer during the first third. »
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In spite of this, Streit made his breakthrough at Montreal in 2006/07 and was also used as a striker. This earned him the nickname “Swiss Army Knife” on the part of his teammates because it is as versatile as a Swiss Army Knife.
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