More power, less talent: will the SCB be happy with its demolition company?

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Simon Kindschi (27), Claude-Curdin Paschoud (29) and Marco Maurer (35). They are the three most recently signed Swiss defenders for SCB. Paschoud was signed in June, Kindschi and Maurer joined the Mutzen in December. The three have in common that they displace a lot of water. Kindschi has a height at the withers of 192 cm and 104 kg competition weight, Paschoud is 193 cm and 96 kg, Maurer is 190 cm and 97 kg. But they also have in common that the delicate elements of ice hockey are not part of their core competency.

If you consider that the Bernese also have a foreigner with such dimensions, the Swede Patrik Nemeth (31, 192 cm, 103 kg), then they now have an impressive demolition company. But this is currently reaching its limits. The last four games were lost and the bouncer group often looked overwhelmed against nimble, fast sports fans like Lugano’s Michael Joly. The question arises: Does the SCB defense still have sufficient playing quality to cope with the competition from Davos (direct game on Friday), Biel (direct game next Tuesday) and Geneva in the battle for direct play-off qualification? “I am convinced of that,” says SCB sports director Andrew Ebbett (41).

Tapola wants water displacement for defense

The fact is: SCB only has two defenders with an attacking approach: Romain Loeffel (32) and Ramon Untersander (33). With some reservations, Samuel Kreis (29) and Ville Pokka (29), who is about to return after a knee injury, can also participate. That’s a bit thin. Coach Jussi Tapola (49), who has a lot of defensive power, is responsible for this. More talented, but also smaller and lighter free spirits such as Julius Honka (28, 181 cm, 84 kg) and Mika Henauer (23, 178 cm, 81 kg) were selected this season.

“Every coach has different ideas about how his team should be composed. Jussi wants to operate with two attacking defenders and the others have to provide stability,” Ebbett explains. He has great hopes for more balance in the defense with the comeback of Finn Pokka, who was on loan from Biel until the end of January and will most likely stay in Bern until the end of the season. This will happen about three weeks earlier than initially expected: “This will give us more breathing room on defense.”

Kindschi’s remarkable rise

The most amazing personality at SCB-Abbruch-GmbH is undoubtedly Kindschi. At Kloten, who was second to last in the table, the player from Graubünden was often redundant – not least because Mika Henauer, who had retired in Bern, came along. Kindschi, on the other hand, receives a lot of confidence from Tapola and has already worked out a contract until 2025 with an option for another season in a short time. Was the big SCB ever interested in Kloten’s replacement bench before? Perhaps the last time was in the 1990s, when Kloten dominated the competition as series champion.

Blick will broadcast the cracker Bern – Davos live on Friday – the broadcast with studio starts at 7.25 pm.

Source : Blick