The Hockey Club Lugano family mourns the premature passing of Fabio Gaggini, who died at the age of 70 following an illness. Gaggini played a leading role across six decades of HCL history.
Those with grey hair will remember him as the young, successful captain of the team that secured promotion to the top division at the end of the 1981/82 season. For the speedy winger wearing number 22, it was an exhilarating campaign, capped by 25 goals and 24 assists alongside Canadian Bernard Gagnon and Valais native Martin Lötscher.
After eight seasons, 192 games and 157 points, Gaggini ended his playing career at just 28 years of age, at the dawn of the arrival of the «Mago» John Slettvoll, when his growing professional commitments as a lawyer could no longer be reconciled with the advent of professional hockey.
He joined the Club’s Committee almost immediately in 1985 and became President of Hockey Club Lugano in September 1991, taking over from the legendary «Presidentissimo» Geo Mantegazza. In the wake of the Great Lugano team that had captivated fans and won four national championships, the 1990s proved far from easy for those who inherited its legacy.
Fabio’s crowning moment deservedly came on 5 April 1999, on the ice of Ambrì of all places. Lugano, shaped by him behind the scenes together with Beat Kaufmann and led from the bench by the late Jim Koleff, sent the Bianconeri faithful into raptures, lifting the trophy beneath the arches of the Valascia. A unique and unforgettable triumph.
After two further championships won in two Finals against Davos, Gaggini stepped down from his operational leadership roles in November 2006. From that moment onwards, he remained a guiding light for the Bianconeri family.
Charismatic and empathetic, an outstanding strategist endowed with remarkable foresight and a rare ability to understand the present while envisioning the future, he always had the gift of anticipating developments in sport and in the world around it.
A founder and honorary member of the Golden Wings Club (GWC), the Hockey Club Lugano’s main supporters’ group, he was also among the promoters and remained a serving member of the Board of Trustees of the Fondazione HC Lugano Academy, which has supported the Club’s youth development programm since 2015. Together with others, he thus helped create and shape two organizations that are essential to the identity of Hockey Club Lugano today.
His deep and visceral love for the Bianconeri colours, his sharp intellect, his extensive and profound network of contacts in Ticino, across Switzerland and internationally, and his ability to mediate at every level inspired and drove HCL forward until the very last day of his intense life. From today onwards, his absence will be deeply felt.
To his wife Francesca and his children Simona and Sandro, together with their families, go the heartfelt condolences, affection and gratitude of all Bianconeri fans.
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