Retirement will have to wait: Biel-old Forster defends himself against his approaching due date

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After the 4:5 penalty shootout defeat against Davos on Thursday, Beat Forster stood in Biel’s dressing room and said: “If we lose on Saturday and Langnau wins, it’s over.” In this case, a glorious career that felt like an eternity would have effectively been over. The 41-year-old Forster, who retired at the end of the season after 23 years as a professional and six championship titles, would only have had a pointless and desolate farewell match against Servette on Monday.

But things turned out differently. Everything is still possible for the defender legend and his EHC Biel. A variant is that the match in Geneva will actually be his farewell match. But is it still possible that Forster will eventually lift the championship trophy for the seventh time? Or there will be a strike somewhere between these two extremes. He himself says: “In ice hockey, the exit cannot be planned, but usually ends in defeat.”

Ending the career with an all-or-nothing game

For the time being, however, it is guaranteed that “Fösche”, as Forster is called by everyone, will have another exciting battle with the long-distance match against the SCL Tigers. And his career will definitely end in an all-or-nothing game. In the way that suits him. As he deserves. To stay in the match and make it to the play-ins, Biel must score as many points against Servette on Monday as the team from Emmental did against the ZSC Lions at the same time. The Zeelanders therefore remain ahead of Langnau in the rankings.

The fact that Biel presents himself in this starting position is largely due to Forster. In the 6-1 win against Lugano on Saturday, the team from Ticino were the better team for a long time. They managed to overcome the 2-0 deficit, but the 41-year-old veteran’s goal to make it 3-1 was no longer possible. Lugano was broken. With his third goal in his farewell season, Forster took matters into his own hands not to quit hockey prematurely.

Hammer in a nail or tie on skates?

“On Monday at 10 p.m. we will know whether I have to prepare the nail for skating or whether the journey continues,” says Forster about his personal starting point. Whatever awaits him, he wants to enjoy it again.

Anyway, the Appenzeller is the big figure in this line confrontation. The EHC Biel and many of its players owe a lot to the former HCD and ZSC defender. Forster has made the organization and several of his teammates better over the past seven years as a personality, leader and source of calm. That is why the people of Biel will not only fight for their club colors on Monday, but above all to ensure that the great character in their team remains intact. Beat Forster’s retirement will have to wait.

Source : Blick