The SCB bouncer: Foreigners like Patrik Nemeth almost never exist in the National League

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Patrik Nemeth (31) is exceptional. Foreigners like him are rare in the National League. He is big and strong: 1.92 meters tall and weighs 103 kilos. And he is a ruthless defensive defender or, as it is called in English, a ‘stay-at-home defenseman’, a defender who stays at home for his own goal.

The new Swede from the SCB agrees with this definition, but says humorously: “I don’t just stay at home, I also come to the games.” He hasn’t gone far. He lives in the city near the rose garden.

“I think that’s what they were looking for in Bern,” says the veteran, who was immediately accepted into the captain’s team. No one is sent onto the ice by coach Jussi Tapola (49) as often as the NHL veteran. He plays more than 23 minutes per game. Nemeth appears to be saying to his opponents who venture in front of the goal, bouncer style, “You can’t come in here.” When he’s on the ice, nothing burns.

How did he become a stay-at-home defenseman? “To play in the NHL you have to find a niche and offer something special. And defensive play was my strength. I enjoyed taking opponents out of the game,” he explains. “I was ready to grow into this role and that’s how I stayed in the league for a while.”

10 goals in 10 NHL years

When he signed in Bern, Nemeth was unaware that the National League had not yet deployed pure defensive specialists in the foreign positions. “It takes different types of players to build a successful team. Maybe I’ll start a new trend.”

Nemeth speculates: “Maybe there have been too many good home defenders in Switzerland so far that there was no need to import them.” In response to the objection that there aren’t that many defensive backs in our league, Nemeth concedes, “Yes, that’s true.”

Sports director Andrew Ebbett (40) believes that increasing the number of foreigners to six has paved the way for players like Nemeth. If foreign defense specialists were to follow our example, HC Davos, who signed Klas Dahlbeck (32) last season, would be the real trendsetter.

In his NHL career, Nemeth scored just ten goals in ten years. At SCB he has only two assists. Nemeth thinks Tapola won’t worry if he doesn’t score as many goals. That doesn’t mean he can’t get involved in the attacking game. And if he couldn’t handle the puck, he certainly wouldn’t have made it to 537 games in the NHL, where there is less space.

Video went viral

If you search for Nemeth highlights on YouTube, you’ll find a funny scene that went viral (video above). You see a puck get stuck under the then-Dallas defenseman’s crosshairs. “It didn’t hurt at all,” Nemeth remembers.

Why did Nemeth set up camp in North America? “My wife and I have two little boys. I don’t want to keep moving. I thought it would be better to come here to a good team in a good league.”

In June, the Arizona Coyotes bought him out of his contract that runs until 2024. That’s why he will receive just over a million francs gross from the NHL team this year and next year. Actually, he might as well stay home.

Source : Blick