Thurgau

The idea behind HC Thurgau was cantonal rather than local: in 1989 EHC Frauenfeld and EHC Weinfelden merged to build one team strong enough to carry the whole of Thurgau into the Nationalliga, with EHC Kreuzlingen folding into the project in December 1993. Amateur promise was the point from the start, and it showed twice: the club won the 1. Liga title in 1992, beating SC Langnau 8–7 to go up to the NLB, and did it again in 2006 against SC Lyss and HC Düdingen to reclaim Amateur-Schweizermeister status.

The colours tell their own story of compromise. Thurgau originally played in white, green and yellow, but switched to blue and white once home games moved to the Bodensee-Arena in Kreuzlingen, a shift aimed at pulling in sponsors and supporters from Konstanz across the border in Germany. It split the fanbase, and the club went back to Weinfelden in November 2009, where it has stayed since, at the Güttingersreuti.

Sporadic NHL company has passed through: Marc Savard turned out for the Löwen in 2004, and Damien Brunner in 2008. The results have come in bursts instead. Thurgau went out in the NLB semifinals seven times between 1995 and 2023, and the 2019 run stood out for how it arrived — a Game 7 win over HC Ajoie, 2–1, that put them back in the last four for the first time in 21 years.