Will Napkin become the eternal second?

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It’s only a small step for Geneva, but potentially a big step for French-speaking Switzerland. If Servette is crowned Swiss champion for the first time against Biel on Thursday, the runners-up of the past are only a statistical side note. More on that later. At the same time, the dry spell would also be over for all of western Switzerland – the last exclamation mark in French ice hockey dates back to 1973, the last title of the La Chaux-de-Fonds dynasty.

Fribourg for the first time…

Back to Servette’s vice titles: since promotion in 2002, Progression has been a faithful companion in Geneva. In the first year in the higher league they made it to the playoffs and in 2008 the first step to the top followed: After successes at the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers and Friborg, Servette reached the playoff final for the first time, but failed to do so in six games of the ZSC Lions. The decision in the Hallenstadion fell after penalties.

Fribourg for the second…

Only two years later it was that time again: After victories over Friborg (7 games) and EV Zug (6), Servette was in the final against SC Bern, which was still massive and powerful at the time. In a brilliant run of great entertainment value, the giant triumphed in seven games, Servette’s sole ruler Chris McSorley was only angry at the missed opportunity. And the Canadian liked to respond to that at Berner gang doors.

Fribourg for the third

Geneva missed the third and last chance so far in the pandemic spring of 2021. Servette triumphed against Fribourg in the quarter-finals, then left the ZSC Lions undefeated and took on EV Zug in the final. The final series, run on a best-of-five basis, was over in three games and it was no longer the explosive Chris McSorley behind the Geneva bench, but the relaxed Patrick Emond. However, the result was the same: second again.

Even before the introduction of the play-offs (1986), Servette had to settle for the vice-title five times: in 1966 they were overshadowed by GC, in 1967 Kloten was the champion, in 1968, 1969 and 1971 La Chaux-de- Fund was a number too large.

A solution for lateral thinkers

For sports fans of the tinfoil hat faction and other conspiracy theorists, the statistics offer a possible answer to the Geneva final problem: in 2008, 2010 and 2021, Servette always won somewhere on the way to the Friborg final.

Source : Blick