Sports director Steinegger: ‘I had doubts last year’

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You are from Biel. What does this final qualification mean for the club?
Martin Steinegger: Every hockey player dreams of reaching finals and winning titles. Still, you have to be realistic, in terms of budget we are not in the top 4 or the top 6. In our situation you have to be ready when a window opens. That’s exactly what happened now. We have a good team, we have gained a lot of confidence all season and everyone has noticed that this window has opened up for us. This is of course a good story for EHC Biel.

Did you personally always believe in it or did you doubt it?
I’ve always believed in it. But that faith was also always mingled with hope and desire. However, I have to admit that last year’s quarterfinal loss to the ZSC Lions gave me a lot to think about. I felt like we played great and I didn’t know what we could have done better. There were also doubts. But as an athlete you get up again.

It must be unbelievable what your team did against ZSC in this semi-final series, just after coach Antti Törmänen got cancer again.
The response from the guys was excellent. I don’t want to say that they moved closer together. But I think it did something mentally when everyone was confronted with the fact that there are more important things than winning or losing a hockey game. But as difficult as it sounds, we had to keep going. It could have been that we were all just sad and gave the semis away. But the team made different choices, we made different choices and especially Antti made different choices. That was the most important signal for the team.

EHC Biel experienced good times, became champion in 1978, 1981 and 1983. What memories do you have of it?
I’m slowly getting old, but not old enough for this to really be present. I remember when I saw the last title in 1983 I was 11 years old and normally I should have been in bed by then. But my father, who was the ice master at the time, was allowed to come along and when the title was a fact, I was on the ice.

Is that really the only memory?
The other memories were probably lost over the years due to one or two concussions I had as a player (laughs).

You had to replace head coach Antti Törmänen in the semi-finals when he was out after surgery – and coach the strikers. And finally replacing assistant coach Oliver David because he was ill – and coaching the defenders. Will you also take over the keepers in the final?
No. I have no idea about goalkeepers – I’m glad we have our goalkeeper coach Marco Streit.

But what was it like for you to be back in the gang in a different role?
Something surprising. In the afternoon suddenly came the call that Oliver had called in sick. After that we had a short discussion and decided that I would take over his role with the defenders. Coaching the defenders is usually easier too.

Three goals were soon scored for the ZSC Lions. Have you wondered if that was such a good idea?
Oliver is also responsible for the boxplay, which worked out so well. And when we conceded two goals after that, they already told me that I was no longer wanted (laughs). I will be happy when the coaches are all back and they go into the final together.

Otherwise everything just fits together. With Damien Brunner, the last injured player reported in the last semi-final. It couldn’t have been better for the final.
There are definitely worse scenarios, that’s the way it is.

Does this mean that the difference in width with the actual existing top teams is no longer large?
We have also had one, two or three outages in the meantime. We have always been able to compensate for this. But of course, if there are more of them, then one or the other will be missing in width and then it will be more difficult. That is why I am very happy that from today we can fully prepare for the final.

Source : Blick