Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on ice: The Lakers have a screw loose

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There’s a screw loose in Rapperswil-Jona. The Lakers play big in the Champions League during the week, overwhelming Mannheim with fast hockey and advancing to the quarterfinals. At the weekend they show their other face. In league play they string together the following bankruptcies against Biel and Friborg. In the last ten NL games, Hedlund’s team scored only one three-pointer. The gap with the SCL Tigers and play-in spot 10 is already eight points. Kloten is breathing down St. Gallen’s neck, only two points behind.

You feel like the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde remembered. Unlike the novella, the Lakers may not have consumed a potion like the one that turns Jekyll into the cruel and evil Hyde. But even with the SCRJ, everything is probably a matter of the head. In the CHL you are still the underdog who doesn’t have to do anything but can do everything. But there is pressure in the competition. Despite the small budget, demands have increased after the recent miraculous 4th and 3rd place finishes.

For Rappi, relegation currently seems no less likely than winning the Champions League.

Just when it was thought that for the first time since 2000, no coach would lose his job before the New Year, there was a bang in Kloten at midnight on Sunday. Gerry Fleming (was he really there?) was fired. Now athletic director Larry Mitchell leads the team. And: The team from Zurich scored four more valuable points against Fribourg (5:3) and Davos (3:4 nV) in the battle for 12th place, which guarantees a stress-free spring.

Success could prove problematic for Mitchell in the medium term. An athletic director and ex-coach who is attracted to the gang weakens the authority of future coaches. This could happen to the German-Canadian, as Heiko Vogel recently did at FC Basel, who is now neither coach nor sports director.

In Northern Europe, sneakers with large palmarès scratch with their hooves. She is drawn to Switzerland, where wealth creation is not neglected. Roger Rönnberg (52), four-time CHL winner and two-time Swedish champion, will leave Frölunda after eleven seasons. Jukka Jalonen (61), who led Finland to World Cup gold three times and to Olympic gold in 2022, would probably be available in a double role before leaving the “Lejonat” after the World Cup. Kari Jalonen (63), who gave SCB the last two titles, has been looking for a job since her departure from the Czech national team. Tommi Niemelä (40, Lahti) and Olli Jokinen (44, Mikkeli) are also interested in Switzerland. Only Kloten is official – would a Jalonen fit on the planes? – looking for a trainer. In volatile Swiss hockey, that can change quickly. Petri Matikainen may have the shakiest job in Biel.

The failures of Hofmann and Wingerli at EVZ forced Attilio Biasca (20) to the front line with the foreigners O’Neill and Michaelis. The former U20 national team captain, who returned to his home club after three years in North America, thanked coach Tangnes against Davos and Ajoie with the decisive goal. That’s how you do that.

Source : Blick