Not many have polarized Swiss ice hockey as much as Todd Elik. The Canadian was a superstar, a king of punishments and a drunk. Then things went quiet for him; in the last few years he kept himself afloat with odd jobs. Now he wants to get back into the gang.
In 2008, towards the end of his professional career, Todd Elik played in Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana.
“Well,” says Todd Elik, it’s just like that: he’s made a lot of people angry in his life and he also doesn’t like kissing butts, which makes it a little complicated. It’s Saturday evening, Elik is sitting in front of a cup of coffee in Zurich Altstetten. He tries to explain why he has found it so difficult to get a job in his industry since retiring as a professional ice hockey player.
When he ended his playing career in the second Austrian league in 2010, he was 44 years old. Since then he has worked as a coach at three positions: from 2014 with manageable success at HC St. Imier in the Bernese Jura, in the anonymity of the first league, later with a Canadian junior team and in Beijing, where he gave private lessons to young players. Elik grimaces and says: “It was an adventure. Outside Beijing, I saw the misery in China. The people have nothing and live in dirt.” The corona pandemic ended that odyssey.
His nighttime escapades seem like a Hollywood plot from the “Hangover” film series
China, the Jura and the Canadian province: They are obscure destinations that do not do justice to the character of Elik. Him, the flamboyant former superstar who played alongside Wayne Gretzky in the NHL in Los Angeles. And later in Switzerland the biggest attraction of the league was: crowd favorite and irritating figure, a rebel with a short fuse, devilishly fast hands and little sense of diplomacy.
He escorted at will, but his genius came at a price: Elik could be very destructive, a man of controversy. He completed no less than seven entire winters in the National League A, and was the penalty king five times. He repeatedly insulted referees, coaches and sponsors, and the roughneck could even show the audience the middle finger. His nighttime escapades sometimes seem like a Hollywood plot from the “Hangover” film series.
In North America he was nicknamed “Suitcase”. It was said that he constantly had to pack his bags because no one could put up with him in the long run. When Elik moved on – and he had to do that sooner or later everywhere – he often burned all bridges behind him. “I regret nothing. I just say what I think and am not politically correct. Not everyone can handle that,” says Elik today.
He has retained a certain stubbornness. Visually, he is reminiscent of an aging rock star: wiry, but also worn out, with furrows on his face that tell of rise and fall, of wild times and a rough past.
Even as a vagabond, Elik earned very well in ice hockey, but he saved nothing. Why? You only live once, and life offers so many temptations. He was considered generous, and his tips for the bar staff and the equipment attendants on his teams were generous. It could happen that Elik gave up 200 francs on a whim.
Todd Elik played around 500 games in the NHL; he played for Los Angeles, Minnesota, Edmonton, San Jose, St. Louis and Boston.
Today he lives in Saskatchewan, in a village with fourteen residents
But in recent years, due to a lack of coaching work, he has had to take on jobs that he only partially enjoyed. He was a shift worker in a steelworks for less than 15 francs an hour. Eventually he worked as a chauffeur in Toronto, driving clients to the airport and back.
Elik says: “It was hell in the steelworks, man. The air was bad. At the end of the day you are broken. But I also have bills to pay.” However, he also emphasizes that he needs little to be happy. He now lives with his wife in Ferland, Saskatchewan, a town with exactly fourteen residents. The next large supermarket is an hour and a half away by car. Elik says he feels comfortable there, there is peace and quiet.
But he is currently in Switzerland. He has decided to return to coaching. Elik says that the Bernese first division club Wiki-Münsingen would have liked to sign him, but unfortunately a coach of an amateur club does not receive a work permit. Elik has been here for almost a month now, he visits the clubs and stadiums in the hope that someone will remember him. A lot of people do this in the stadiums, and Elik will also be recognized in 2024. You don’t forget someone like him so quickly.
But it is difficult to imagine that one of the 24 Swiss professional clubs was waiting for a Canadian who was close to retirement age, especially since his performance record is modest. «All I need is a chance. If someone gets laid off, I’m already there, that’s a big advantage,” says Elik. But a sports director from the National League puts it this way: He likes Elik, but his ambition is unrealistic. There are even highly qualified people who can’t find a coaching job. A prominent name alone is not enough.
If, miraculously, you do manage to get a job, it will most likely be in Langnau, where Elik is revered like a saint by large sections of the fans. The league qualification against EHC Chur in the 1998/99 season made a decisive contribution to the creation of the legend: in the fifth game in Chur, Elik hit a child with his stick from the penalty box and was therefore banned for two games. However, the Langnau appeal has a suspensive effect, and so Elik is allowed to return to the ice for the all-important match. He contributed a goal and six assists to the 7-2 away win. It’s the condensed version of Elik madness: sporting brilliance soaked in scandal.
You can confidently call Elik the most popular player in the Langnau club’s history. But how come he never worked for the club in any capacity after his professional career?
Return to old love: Todd Elik will be celebrated by the audience before a National League game in Langnau in September 2023.
Even with his old love, the SCL Tigers, there doesn’t seem to be any prospect of employment
Elik is a little uncomfortable with the topic. He says he’d rather not talk about it. Just this much: He offered his services many times, but nothing was ever returned. Peter Jakob, president of the SCL Tigers for fifteen years, says they have never considered this option. A Langnau scene expert says Elik left too much scorched earth behind.
It wouldn’t be fair to rehash the old stories, they go way back, people change. Elik says: «If I had been a mediocre player, no one would have been interested in what I did in the nightlife. I wasn’t the only one who liked to drink and have fun. I am not an angel. But not a bad guy either.”
What is his life like today? «I have become much calmer. There was no other way, otherwise my wife would probably have left me.” Elik adds that he is currently doing a fast. This means that he now orders water instead of beer. Or just coffee.
