The cabin door remained closed for half an hour: thick air at EHC Biel

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After the overtime win against the SCRJ Lakers, captain Gaëtan Haas talked about putting a small band-aid on a big wound. The Zeelanders then eliminated defending champion Tappara Tampere in the Champions League. So everything is fine again? Not so fast! This weekend the band-aid was taken off. Ouch. 2:5 against Lugano on Friday, 2:5 in Zug on Saturday. The cabin door then remained closed for over half an hour. This is rarely a sign of a party atmosphere. We needed to talk sooner. The players mainly talked to each other. “Logically you can speak of a crisis,” says lawyer Robin Grossmann.

10 defeats in 14 games and injury problems are causing frustration. The euphoria of almost winning the championship last spring has disappeared. And the displeasure of many fans is directed at Petri Matikainen. The coach who, after the popular Antti Törmänen, has the difficult task of leading the team. The former police officer is also Finnish, but of a different type – and has no emotional bond with the team like his predecessor, who suffered from cancer again.

Biel is not Bern. The management is not prone to knee-jerk reactions, radiates calm and shows patience. But Matikainen doesn’t have to fool himself: if his bosses notice that you’re on the wrong track, they don’t hesitate to pull the emergency brake.

Coach Thierry Paterlini has created a new mentality at the Tigers in a year and a half. When the Emmentalers get a slap in the face, they wipe their mouths. Continue. Even the 8-0 defeat against Lugano did not throw Langnau off course. In the next three games against opponents Bern (4:5 nV), Servette (3:4 nV) and Lausanne (4:3), who operate in completely different financial dimensions, the Emmentalers scored points and have now scored at least one point has been countered in eight of the last ten games.

The team did not take the fact that goalkeeper Boltshauser was injured or the schedule was difficult (3 games in 4 days) as an excuse, but as a challenge. So on Saturday the players poured themselves into the shot with self-sacrifice as Lausanne piled on the pressure, and although goalkeeper Charlin made no mistakes, he fought like a tiger and made a fantastic key save against Sekac. This way the SCL is fun for its fans.

The remaining Ajoie only scored two threes this season. Both against coach Christian Wohlwend’s former club, HC Davos. Is it because the HCD players take a little longer to understand that the Jurassians “don’t play Wolwo hockey”, as an experienced player from another club recently discovered with surprise when he waited in vain for a forecheck.

In contrast to the first victory over the club that fired him last season, Wohlwend refrained from making sharp statements about Davos’ ambitions this time. Let someone else say that the Engadin is unlearnable.

Davos, meanwhile, has lost four times in a row and scored just five goals. But the defensive basis is there and despite the negative series, the record champions are still in the race for the top 6.

Source : Blick