Crisis brings back bad memories: Balls weaker than before the relegation

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By increasing the number of teams to 14, the National League has essentially reduced concerns about relegation to a virtual issue. But try telling that to a club whose points total in the second season after promotion is lower (0.895) than in the relegation season (0.940) and is currently in danger of being overtaken by the exciting boys from Ajoie.

Kloten’s solo entertainer Larry Mitchell claims (somewhat rightly) that you are where you belong, based on the assessment of most experts. After the defeats against the Tigers (2:5) and Ambri (1:4), Mitchell only has 14 games left to somehow reach the safe coast. However, given what can be seen on the ice, this seems unrealistic as the foreign group – perhaps with the exception of Jonathan Ang – disappears into the broad mass of uncertain people, which also includes goalkeepers Metsola and Zurkirchen. Riding out the crisis and forgoing activism would be an unusual but much cheaper option in the sector. This would then mean relying on the remaining safety nets: the play-out and possibly league qualification if Olten or Visp win the Swiss league title.

As a reminder, in the 2018 relegation season, after the play-out defeat against Ambri, they pulled the cord, fired coach Kevin Schläpfer and hoped for a speedy recovery and the principle that with Denis Hollenstein and Vincent Praplan you cannot lose to a representative of the Swiss League. A principle that the Lakers subsequently exposed as fundamentally wrong.

The HCD is for the ZSC Lions what Ajoie is for the HCD: unbeatable. The team from Graubünden was also ahead in the third comparison of the season on Friday, but this time only in extra time, after the first two victories had yielded three points each. The Lions have one more chance (on March 2) to buck that trend before a potential playoff bye. Or you can simply argue that everything will be different and that the results bulletin from the regular season in the play-offs is at most a statistical side note. That’s probably true.

It is certainly true that the HCD has probably found the recipe to crack the ZSC Lions, but does not know how to beat Ajoie. This is somewhat surprising. Ajoie won both comparisons 2-1 after 60 minutes, which cost HCD six points in the rankings and is largely responsible for the well-being of Ajoie coach Christian Wohlwend. A reunion in the play-offs is still mathematically possible, but could be ruled out based on a majority vote.

EHC Biel continues to write his beautiful comeback story. On Friday in Lugano, one point was not enough for a convincing performance, but in the 4-0 final reprise against champion Geneva the result matched the performance. Petri Matikainen, the cop from Savonlinna, the anti-Antti, has mastered it.

Source : Blick