The big Blick ranking: Which team has the best foreign package?

Sports director and coach Dubé has put together a strong foreign combo. With Sörensen, the leader has the best scorer (16 points) and goalscorer (10) in the league and with Borgman he also has the best points collector among defensive players. The Swedish all-defender also has the best plus/minus record (+14). In the meantime, Wallmark, who fled from coach Crawford’s ZSC, is increasingly finding his way at Sörensen’s side. The defensively reliable De la Rose harmonizes perfectly with the returning DiDomenico (6 goals) and Bertschy. Veteran Gunderson is still on the ice most of the time at Gottéron.

Last year’s top scorer Lammikko, goalkeeper Hrubec and defender Lehtonen continue to play at a high level. And the new striker trio was quickly in place, had a lot of influence on the game and scored countless goals: Fröden 9, Balcers 7 and Grant 5. Harrington has now signed a seventh foreigner who also has NHL experience.

With goalkeeper Juvonen, defenders Virtanen and Heed and Specek, Ambri builds on proven strengths. And with playmaker Dauphin and wing Lilja, they have brought in two new foreigners who are making a strong impression. The latter turned out to be more dangerous than expected and quickly made his predecessor Chlapik forget. With Formenton returning, we now have seven foreigners again.

Coach Tapola is spoiled for choice. There must always be two foreigners watching. Kahun’s class is unquestionable. The new goalkeeper Reideborn has already secured several points for the SCB, almost no one can get past NHL veteran Nemeth, Honka provides a spectacle, test striker Luoto has immediately made an impression and the SCB should have a lot of fun with Knight. Sharpshooter Frk, who was again redundant in the derby against the Tigers, is having a difficult time with Tapola.

Last season, Servette had the best foreign package and became champion. Omark and Tömmernes are now back home in Sweden. We cannot yet judge the new defender Lennström because he was injured. Manninen and Haapala, whose future is still open, have already indicated their qualities. The Finnish top strikers Hartikainen and Filppula are not yet up to speed like last year. Winnik only came to attention through referee controversy.

Captain Kovar has lost none of his grit and class. The new Bengtsson and Michaelis are already having an impact on the game. They want to give Wingerli time because they see a lot of development potential in him.

Dahlbeck has made the profile of the foreign defensive back socially acceptable and has already scored two goals. The new Finnish defender Näkyvä is not an eye-catcher, but do not underestimate him. Every team would love to have a striker like Stransky.

Carr in particular, but also the deposed captain Arcobello, who apparently wanted to get rid of him, have proven convincing so far. And since the new Canadian Joly, who was initially injured, started working, Lugano has been doing better. Goalkeeper Koskinen and striker Granlund have not yet reached their usual level. Ruotsalainen has not yet been able to put himself in the spotlight. LaLeggia is an asset to the power play with his hard shot.

The Finn Suomela, the outstanding top scorer in Sweden last season, has already shown his class. The new defender Pilut also has a lot of influence on Vaudois’ game. However, Sekac (only 1 goal) is not yet up to speed.

There is nothing to dispute about Saarela’s performance. The Finn already has 9 goals to his name. However, the other foreigners – including Captain Pesonen (only 5 points) – do not perform much offensively. Unfortunately for the Emmentaler team, their designated goalkeeper Louis was soon injured. Defender Saarijärvi is one of the most elegant players in the league, but he is not always up to scratch defensively.

Last season, Cervenka was the sole leader. This season, the NL top scorer of the last two years is not yet as dominant after an initial injury, but he still overshadows the other foreign Rappi attackers. Rask was showing good signs before his injury. Schroeder and Connolly are still goalless. The gap is big.

Last year’s finalist was unlucky with injuries to Lööv and Heponiemi, who were injured before the first competition match. Lööv representative Pokka has not yet met expectations. Biel’s foreigners only scored thirteen goals. You can still rely on goalkeeper Säteri.

Last season, the foreigners played a major role in the surprising qualification for the pre-play-offs. Aaltonen still owes nothing. But Ang is only a shadow of himself, goalkeeper Metsola was not always convincing, more was expected from marksman Ojamäki (2 goals) and Morley also did not show much. And Ekestahl-Jonsson? The Swede is certainly not as bad as sporting director Mitchell made him out to be when he said he was not one of the team’s eight best defenders. The statement borders on bullying when you consider which players were chosen above him.

The Wohlwend team loses game after game. One reason for this is the lack of target production by the foreigners. The only one to score is Hazen, who has scored the same number of goals (5) as the rest of the import players combined.