From Player to Coach: Luca Gianinazzi’s Journey and Vision

ABSHockey Interview Series: Getting to Know Luca Gianinazzi

For our first interview on the ABShockey blog, we sat down with Luca Gianinazzi—a player who grew up in the youth ranks of Hockey Club Lugano, later played in the Swiss League, coached U20 teams in Lugano, and eventually took on coaching duties in the National League. Our aim? To offer you an insightful yet easygoing glimpse into Luca’s hockey journey.

Hi Luca, thanks for joining us. We have a lot to cover, so let’s grab a coffee and dive in. To start, can you tell us about your beginnings and your playing experience?

“I started skating when I was just three years old. Actually, it all began because of my two older brothers, Teo and Marco, who are seven and five years older than me. I used to follow my mom to their training sessions since I couldn’t stay home alone. Eventually, I kept pestering her to let me join, and she finally gave in. Her plan was to put skates on me, thinking I’d be too scared and give up quickly. But that didn’t happen—I immediately fell in love with hockey. Funny enough, I was the only one of the three brothers who stuck with it. My entire hockey path—from Hockey School through to the Juniors—was in Lugano.”

Back then, the youth categories weren’t called U13, U15, or U20, right?

“That’s right. The progression went something like Bambino, Piccolo, Moskito, Mini, Novizi, and then Juniors—which for me was Junior Elite, basically what’s now called U20 Elite. I played at the U20 level in Lugano and during my last year, I also trained with the LNA squad—today’s National League. Around January, Visp, a Swiss League team at the time, had a couple of injured defensemen, so I was loaned there for a few weeks and got some game action. That same season, I made my National League debut with Lugano—four games in total, although I probably played only about one and a half games on the ice. It was the 2012–2013 season. Larry Huras was head coach, and Patrick Fischer was his assistant—Fischer would take over as head coach the next year.”

What happened after your time with the U20 Elite?

“The following season, I signed with Thurgau and spent one year there. I started with limited ice time but gradually earned a bigger role. At season’s end, my contract renewal was uncertain—I had a spot but it wasn’t guaranteed. That Thurgau team featured some players still active in the league today, like Rajan Sataric and Leandro Profico at Kloten. I also played alongside Massimo Ronchetti and Benjamin Winkler, who is now an assistant coach at Kloten. So when I transitioned into coaching, it was interesting to reconnect with players I’d shared the ice with in Thurgau.”

After Thurgau, how did your career progress?

“My goal was to stay in the Swiss League (LNB), but it wasn’t easy. I remember training for two days in Bülach under coach Thierry Paterlini, now head coach in Langnau’s National League team. While exploring options, I traveled to Finland in August to try out for SaPko in the Mestis league—the country’s second-tier competition. SaPko is based in Savonlinna, a city famous in Finland for its many islands, vacation cottages, and excellent fish—just a fun cultural side note. I arrived without a contract, hoping to earn a spot through tryouts, and stayed for about three weeks.”

That sounds like quite an experience.

“It was nothing short of mystical. Imagine walking into a locker room where everyone spoke only Finnish. The coach’s first meeting was a 40-minute speech entirely in Finnish. Even if someone doesn’t speak English, after 40 minutes you might pick up some words—but Finnish? That’s a different story. One moment stuck with me: during a friendly game against SaPko’s other team, I retrieved the puck in our zone and heard my goalie shouting ‘Tulle’ repeatedly. I thought it meant ‘time’—like ‘take it easy.’ Turns out, ‘Tulle’ means ‘on fire,’ or under heavy pressure. Not long after, I took a brutal old-school check—like getting hit by a 300 km/h train. Definitely a memorable, if painful, way to learn the language.”

Did you end up staying in Finland?

“I wanted to. The Mestis league had no limit on foreign players, but unfortunately, we couldn’t reach a contract agreement. Timing and the club’s financial situation played a part. I think I would have been the only non-native player on the roster.”

A Bold Move Abroad: Chasing Dreams Beyond Switzerland

Andrea: Wow, heading abroad without a contract must have been a bold move. Did you feel a strong need to gain experience outside Switzerland?

Luca Gianinazzi: It was definitely about chasing my dream—which for me meant the same thing as my goal. Back then, my dream was to play in the Swiss National League. When you’re young, your perspective is different. I was playing U20, training regularly with the Serie A team, and then I got four chances to play. In your head, you start seeing yourself as a Serie A player. I think many young players today feel the same way, and that’s completely normal.

In my mind, I imagined going to Thurgau in the NLB, dominating the league, and then returning to Lugano with experience to break into the top team. The problem is—how many players actually dominate there? Not many. The level is very high. So as the season progressed, I found myself slipping to sixth, seventh, even eighth on the defensive depth chart. That’s when I realized the real battle to establish myself as a professional had just begun. The dream was alive but still far from realized.

My decision to play in Finland’s Mestis league came from this mindset. I was struggling to find my place in Switzerland’s Serie B at a time when the number of B teams was shrinking.

After Finland, I asked myself what to do next and ended up playing in Morges in the First Division for the 2014–2015 season. Morges had announced a partnership with Lausanne, aiming to move up to Serie B, so I saw a pathway to reach my goal. But it quickly became clear that the partnership with Lausanne wasn’t going to materialize. Still, I played one season in Romandy and got to know Fabrice Eisenring, who later became Head Coach of the Swiss Inline Skater Hockey National Team from 2018 to 2023. We made it to the promotion final but lost to Sion.

Andrea: Then you returned to Ticino?

Luca Gianinazzi: Exactly. I came back and joined Biasca, a team freshly formed after merging with Chiasso and laying the groundwork for what would become the Ticino Rockets. In my first year there, we played in the First Division with Luca Cereda as coach. Fun fact: Cereda was coaching both us in Biasca and the U20 team in Ambrì, with two locker rooms right next to each other.

That season, we won the championship final against Dübendorf. Then, the three regional champions faced off in a round-robin tournament. We won the final against Thun on their home ice, earning promotion to the Swiss League (LNB) outright.

The following season, I played in the Swiss League’s inaugural year with the Ticino Rockets, again under Cereda. It was a special season—we started poorly but improved steadily, scoring some big wins. Personally, it was a strange year; I had limited ice time and occasionally played in Bellinzona on a B-license.

That second year in Biasca marked the slow fading of my dream as a player. I began to accept I wouldn’t make it to the National League and started questioning what I wanted for my future.

Andrea: You played defense throughout your career?

Luca Gianinazzi: Yes, always defense. I come from a generation where if you were big and tall, you naturally played defense. As a kid, I was bigger than most of my teammates but wasn’t a great skater. So it made sense.

Since I was never the best skater, I had to make up for it with other skills. I think I had a good hockey IQ, which helped me fit into team systems easily. And I played tough—actually, I was a bit of a “blacksmith” in front of the net. It wasn’t fun to play against me. In fact, in my last U20 year, I was the most penalized player in the league. Looking back as a coach, I’m not sure I’d want a player like that, causing all those penalty kills. But at the time, playing tough was a sign of strength. It fired up the team, rallied the locker room, and earned respect. That attitude is still valued, though perhaps not as much as it was back then.

From Player to Coach: The Unexpected Path

Andrea: Let’s talk about your transition from player to coach. How did that evolve?

Luca Gianinazzi: After my time in Biasca, I told myself it was time to prioritize something else. I immediately thought about studying. I had finished high school and later earned a diploma as a Personal Trainer. While playing in Biasca, I also worked at a gym—it was a way to cover my expenses and keep my dream alive. I loved the work and was passionate about it, but I didn’t see it as a long-term career.

So I considered moving to Zurich to study health sciences, maybe continuing to play First Division hockey somewhere, keeping my passion alive but shifting focus toward a new path.

Then Lugano called me—specifically Krister Cantoni (everyone calls him “the uncle”) and Marco Werder—offering me the Assistant Coach position for the U17 team. I was working in a gym in Lugano at the time, and I thought, having chased my dream as a player for so long, postponing my studies in Zurich by one year wouldn’t make much difference. So I accepted—and that’s how I started coaching. It all felt a bit random, honestly.

But now, looking back, I realize coaching had always been inside me. Even as a kid, I often found myself as team Captain, or taking on responsibilities that naturally fell to me.

So, I spent that U17 season working with Cantoni and Tuomo Kärki, who was the Skill Coach.

Thanks to Tuomo, I began considering applying to the Coaching & Management school in Vierumäki, Finland—a prestigious program that accepts only about 20 to 21 students per year. It’s truly an elite class.

I went through the whole process—phone calls, letters, presentation videos, interviews—and got accepted! I even found an apartment nearby and lined up a U18 B2 team to coach through contacts. Everything was set.

Andrea: But?

Luca Gianinazzi: Andy, I already know where you’re going with this! (laughs) Here’s the thing: during my first year coaching U17s in Lugano, I had already shifted my mind about my next steps. I was moving from studying in Zurich toward coaching full-time.

Then, about two weeks before I was supposed to leave for Finland, early one morning, I got a call from Lugano’s Sporting Director and CEO. They knew I was planning to head north, especially since I’d promised that after finishing my three years of schooling, Lugano would be the first club I’d talk to, out of gratitude for their support.

They told me the Canadian U20 coach who was supposed to join had visa problems. Then they said they understood if I declined, but it wouldn’t be fair not to tell me they had considered me for the Head Coach role of the Lugano U20 team.

I said I’d think about it, but honestly, it only took me four seconds to decide. I was going to study for three years to open a door into professional coaching—but that door swung wide open in that very meeting.

So I canceled everything in Finland and started my coaching journey on the bench with the Lugano U20s, with Paolo Morini as my assistant.

Andrea: Your story is truly inspiring. How did things go with the U20 Élite team?

Luca Gianinazzi: We started off really rough. If I remember correctly, we lost 12 of the first 13 games. It was tough. We just barely missed the playoffs that season.

The next year, we turned things around and finished second in the regular season. Unfortunately, the championship was interrupted—Covid hit—right when we were leading the quarter-finals against Geneva.

The third year was similar: second place in the regular season again, but no playoffs because of the pandemic.

In the fourth year, we once again finished second and made it to the playoff finals but lost a tight best-of-five series against Zug.

In my last year coaching the U20s, I started the season but was called up by the first team in October. The U20s still made it to the finals again that year, but lost once more.

Andrea: Losing 12 of your first 13 games must have been brutal. What’s that like from the bench?

Luca Gianinazzi: Honestly, I don’t have a very strong memory of that period—probably because it didn’t scare me enough! (laughs) But seriously, the sense of responsibility is entirely yours as a coach, and that’s crucial.

I think there are two sides to that responsibility. First, the coach’s role is sometimes overrated. Sure, you can give speeches and rally the team, but at the end of the day, it’s the players on the ice who make the difference. The credit belongs to them. Whether a coach is good or not is really about how well they can transfer experience and insights to the players.

On the other hand, a coach has an enormous impact as a role model. Your leadership, your attitude, the example you set—it all matters a lot, especially with young players. So the responsibility isn’t just technical but deeply human as well.

Andrea: Some say a coach is like a conductor. Would you say the coach’s primary role is to support the players?

Luca Gianinazzi: Coaching has definitely evolved over time. When I played, coaches were more authoritarian. They weren’t really there to help so much as to make decisions. We followed them because they were in charge—and because they were the boss.

Today, I feel it’s different—at least in my experience. Coaching is more of a partnership. We’re working together toward the same goal. The coach makes the decisions, sure, but it’s a collaborative effort. Conflict would be pointless because we all want the same outcome.

Andrea: Good communication is undoubtedly crucial. I imagine that during training, before games, or between periods, a coach has to address the team. It’s basically public speaking. Do you think you need to train for this, or does it come naturally?

Luca Gianinazzi: I think it’s a bit of both. On one hand, it’s spontaneous. The key is really to be yourself. If you try to mimic another coach—someone you admire or saw giving motivational speeches on YouTube—and you practice in front of a mirror trying to copy them, it just isn’t sustainable long-term. It won’t work because it’s not authentic.

That said, it’s definitely important to keep learning and be open to inspiration and new ideas. For me, that’s a crucial part of the job. Beyond the practical side, I find it genuinely fascinating to see how other coaches communicate, and I love reading books on leadership, as well as biographies of athletes and coaches from all kinds of sports. This curiosity and desire to learn are essential driving forces in everyday life.

In the hockey world, I’d say I’m a passionate student—there’s so much to discover.

Andrea: We’ve talked a bit about hockey already, but seeing some of your blogs get attention in America, it’s clear you’re quite the scholar of the technical side of the game. Would you like to elaborate on that?

Luca Gianinazzi: Absolutely. I find it fascinating to analyze how teams position themselves on the ice, the styles of play they choose, and the impact those choices have. Take the Swiss National League in 2025, for example—14 teams, 14 different systems. There’s no one “right” system, just different approaches.

What intrigues me is understanding why certain tactical decisions are made, or figuring out why some things succeed and others don’t. I won’t hide it—the tactical side really captivates me. I work on it a lot and feel I’ve built a solid foundation, though it’s a continuous process.

Hockey is such a fast and fluid game that many moments aren’t strictly tactical—they’re repetitions and instincts. You’ll see two teams with very different systems, but many common elements too. The speed means you can’t call a detailed set play from the bench like in American football. That’s fascinating in itself because you’re trying to impose structure on a game that’s inherently unstructured.

At the end of the day, it’s about balance—between technique and motivation. How far can you win purely on tactics? How far can you go just on grit? It’s also about how you, as a coach, interpret that balance and bring your own essence to the team.

Andrea: Do you think one of the two spheres—tactics or motivation—tends to prevail?

Luca Gianinazzi: I’ve worked with coaches who were stronger tacticians and others who excelled more at motivation. The truth is, no single coach can appeal equally to all players.

On the tactical side, the ideal moment for a coach is when the players don’t have to consciously think about what they’re doing anymore. That’s when the game really flows. Speaking from experience, nowadays we use a lot of video analysis to show players what we want to achieve in specific situations. I have to admit, that part really fascinates me.

The challenge, though, is that the clip I’ve watched 20 times and know inside out—I show it to the players, expecting them to absorb it after watching it once or twice, or even to have the same level of interest. That’s pure madness. As a coach, I have to remind myself of this constantly.

So honestly, it’s difficult to say where the balance lies between tactics and motivation. Both are essential, but it depends a lot on the context.

Andrea: Do you think it’s important to have been a player in order to be a coach?

Luca Gianinazzi: I don’t think it’s a must. Hockey is complex and somewhat niche, but take football (soccer) as an example—you find high-level coaches who never played professionally. Although, I do find it hard to believe that Mourinho never kicked a ball in his life! (Laughs)

I don’t think playing at a high level is essential. Of course, you need some basic skills—like skating—to have a solid understanding of the game. Playing helps you grasp what it’s like on the ice or on the field as a player, which is valuable. For example, I never played at a very high level myself. I played in Serie B, but compared to other coaches I’ve had, my playing career was pretty modest.

Andrea: Do you find yourself focusing more on the position you played as a player now that you’re coaching? You were a defender, so do you pay special attention to that?

Luca Gianinazzi: Less and less, actually. In my first year coaching U17, I was responsible for defense, so naturally, I focused on that. But when I moved up to U20 and later to the top league, that focus started to fade. Coaching is very much a team effort—you don’t do it alone.

Today, I feel comfortable working with all positions and departments on the ice.

Andrea: You mentioned earlier that you have a diploma as a personal trainer. I remember back when I played—starting around 14 or 15—we discovered the weight room, which was basically the fundamental preparation before stepping onto the ice. But now the approach to preparation has really changed. There’s talk about nutrition, stretching, yoga, meditation, even mental coaching. How do you relate to this broader world of athlete preparation?

Luca Gianinazzi: It’s definitely changed a lot. The whole organizational approach has evolved tremendously. Today’s youth hockey compared to what we experienced is like night and day. And I don’t say that to criticize what we went through—it’s just that nowadays there’s so much more knowledge, more resources, and specially trained coaches. We’ve made great progress, but honestly, I feel like we’re just at the beginning of this era.

If I think about skills training or physical preparation, what players get now is totally incomparable to even 15 years ago—let alone 40 years back. There’s also a better understanding of what kind of work is appropriate at each age, respecting the players’ development.

Personally, I haven’t been deeply involved in that area since joining the Serie A team. Even with the U20s, my role there was more marginal, although I still followed the players’ sessions and monitored the planning to help balance their workload.

Players today are much more aware of the importance of being ready physically and mentally. When I was playing, a free evening could easily turn into beers with teammates—there was far less awareness about recovery and preparation.

Just recently, I was at a sponsors’ dinner where everyone only drank water—and it wasn’t because anyone enforced it! That kind of discipline didn’t exist back then.

Nowadays, a coach can hand out a recovery day off and trust the players to take it seriously. That’s something that was much less obvious a few years ago. Again, it’s about finding a sensible balance.

Andrea: One last question. You’re part of an interview blog for a hockey equipment site—particularly sticks. When I watch a game, even just for fun, my eye always drifts to what kind of stick a player is using. I guess it’s an unavoidable professional bias. Can you still watch a game purely as a fan?

Luca Gianinazzi: Honestly, I’m not sure I know what it means to watch a game purely as a fan anymore (laughs). That’s just not how I watch hockey. I probably use the rewind button more than anything—even when I’m on the couch at home with the kids. But it’s not something I force myself to do; it’s just become part of who I am over time.

Of course, if I’m watching a playoff game in Finland for work because someone tipped me off about a team’s specific strategy, I tend to focus on what I need rather than just enjoying the match.

Andrea: Well, Luca, thank you so much for your time. We really enjoyed this lighthearted chat to hear your story and experiences. Beyond club loyalty, it’s clear you have a deep understanding and passion for hockey. We wish you all the best in your professional future!