The SCL Tigers now have to worry about staying in the league

On the penultimate day of the National League, further decisions were made on Thursday evening: After a 1:8 smack in Biel, Lausanne no longer had a chance of a direct playoff place. In addition, the SCL Tigers definitely have to go into the playout against Ajoie after the 1:3 home defeat against SC Bern.

In addition, the Ambris season ended after the 4-2 derby defeat against Lugano with the last game on Saturday. Champion EV Zug and Friborg-Gottéron make up the last place in the playoff in a long-distance duel – the loser has to go to the pre-playoff. Lausanne, Bern, Lugano and Kloten are fighting for the other three places. (product)

Last games on Saturday:

The third swallow this season hits Christopher DiDomenico hard. As the league writes in a statement, in addition to a fine of 6,000 francs, he will also be automatically banned for a game. The league writes: “Faking injuries, fouls or dangerous actions are unfair acts that distort the game. Such actions will not be tolerated by the National League and will be sanctioned accordingly.”

The suspension is particularly bitter for the SCB. The Bernese are still fighting for a place in the pre-playoffs. Now the top scorer will be missing in the derby against the Tigers on Thursday of all days. If the Bernese lose the game, Ambri or Lugano could still pass them and SCB would need support in the last game. (fss)

EVZ – Friborg 4:2

It was a great game in Zug: If champions EVZ lost against Fribourg, the direct playoff place would have been almost impossible. If they had won, Zug would have overtaken Gottéron and had all the trumps in their own hands in the last two games of the regular season. The home side got off to a better start, Sven Senteler scored on the power play (10′). Friborg hit the post a few seconds later.

EVZ only needed 40 seconds for the 2:0 and 3:0, at the last goal Carl Klingberg’s shot was deflected by Tobias Geisser and the puck found its way through Friborg keeper Reto Berra into the goal – there was a lot of bad luck. But Gottéron didn’t give up and came back with two power play goals. It wasn’t enough for the dragons, the EVZ also won the fourth duel this season (4:2) and overtakes today’s opponent.

Lausanne – Rappi 3:2

Here, too, there was a lot at stake, especially for the people of Vaud. The Lausanne team had won the last four games and fought their way up to a pre-playoff spot. Even the direct playoff place was mathematically possible before the duel against Rappi, but probably very difficult. Dominic Lammer scored the guests in the 8th minute with a majority in front. Yannick Brüschweiler (14th) made it 2-0. The LHC equalized within 27 seconds in the middle period and even took the lead in the 49th minute. That was enough for the important victory for Lausanne – anything is still possible.

Davos – Amber 2:3

The Grisons were already qualified for the playoffs, Ambri still wants to go into the pre-playoffs – that was the starting position before the game. Ticino’s hopes seemed dashed early on, after 82 seconds HCD led through a powerplay goal from Joakim Nordström. Valentin Nussbaumer made it 2-0 (13th). In the middle of the game, Ambri came back, but that didn’t seem to help. But the Leventine managed the impossible, turning the game around thanks to two goals in the 57th and 58th minute – an extremely important victory.(product)

The table:

The Swiss NHL star Nino Niederreiter is leaving the Nashville Predators with Captain Roman Josi (32) after just one season. The 30-year-old from Graubünden was traded to the Winnipeg Jets in Canada, where his contract, which runs until the end of next season, will be taken over. Niederreiter scored 28 points (18 goals, 10 assists) in 52 games this season. In exchange for the forward, Nashville gets a second-round draft pick. Niederreiter joined the Predators this season from the Carolina Hurricanes. (sih)

SC Bern and striker Chris DiDomenico have mutually agreed to prematurely terminate the contract, which runs until the end of the 2023/24 season, as of spring 2023.

«Chris DiDomenico has approached us in the past few weeks and asked for his contract to be terminated early. We comply with this request and are convinced that Chris DiDomenico will give his full commitment to SCB until the last game, »says sports director Andrew Ebbett. (product)

EHC Biel and Beat Forster have decided that the current season will not be the 40-year-old’s last. The six-time Swiss champion with currently 1092 National League appearances has been playing at EHC Biel since the 2017/18 season.

Forster has now signed a new contract until the end of April 2024. The defender said about the contract extension: “My fascination and passion for ice hockey are still huge. To be able to play in rouge et jaune for another year fills me with great pride. » (product)

The Zurich gang trainer Marc Crawford is known as a hothead. However, the 62-year-old is said to have a certain mildness in old age. Not so on Wednesday last week: in the 3-2 defeat against Biel, the Canadians blew their fuses again.

When his Lions reduced seconds before the end of the game from 0:3 to 2:3, he relentlessly asked the Finnish referee Mikko Kaukokari (42) to check the match clock. The word “cocksucker” was also mentioned.

As a precaution, the league banned him for one game and opened due process against him. For this reason, he missed the gang against the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (3:4) on Saturday. Crawford will not miss any more games. As the league announces, there is no further ban for the verbal derailment. However, the ZSC coach has to pay a fine of CHF 3,260. (nih)

The two Zug defenders Dominik Schlumpf and Livio Stadler are injured. Schlumpf suffered a lower extremity injury in the away game against the SCL Tigers. He will not be available to the people of Zug for around four to six weeks.

Stadler suffered a hand injury in the home game against EHC Kloten and will be absent from EVZ for the time being. How long he will be out is still unclear.

Due to these absences, EVZ brought back defender Rémi Vogel, who had been loaned to HC La Chaux-de-Fonds. (product)

The Zurich gang trainer Marc Crawford is known as a hothead. However, the 62-year-old is said to have a certain mildness in old age. Not so on Wednesday: in the 3-2 defeat against Biel, the Canadian blew his fuse again. When his Lions reduced seconds before the end of the game from 0:3 to 2:3, he relentlessly asked the Finnish referee Mikko Kaukokari (42) to check the match clock. The word “cocksucker” was also mentioned.

As a precaution, the league has now suspended him for one game and opened proper proceedings against him. That means Crawford won’t be on the boards in Saturday’s home game against the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers. (sih)

This is certainly not how the national ice hockey team imagined it. Switzerland lost 2-1 to the Czech Republic after extra time on Sunday. Coach Patrick Gischer’s team took last place for the second time in the third tournament of the Euro Hockey Tour. This week, Switzerland has already lost to world champions Finland and Sweden. (nih)

Things are not going well for Switzerland on the Euro Hockey Tour. On Thursday, the national team lost against world champions Finland 5:6 after a penalty shoot-out. Now Sweden won 2-0. Wallmark and Lindberg scored the goals. Switzerland continues on the Euro Hockey Tour on Sunday with the game of the third mini-tournament against the Czech team. (nih)

So far, the national team has not been able to convince through the band on the Euro Hockey Tour. At the Karjala Cup in Turku there were at least two victories after overtime or penalty shoot-outs, at the home tournament in Friborg only three defeats. Now Sweden is coming up, the so-called breakout game between Switzerland and Finland took place in Zurich in the Swiss Life Arena, the rest of the tournament will be held in Malmö. In Turku, the Nati had won against world champions Finland 3:2 in a penalty shoot-out, but lost 1:4 in Fribourg.

In the ZSC stadium, the Nati showed a strong game yesterday, but lost to world champion Finland 5:6 after a penalty shoot-out. The Finns took the lead in the sixth minute, Switzerland was able to equalize a minute later on a power play through Luca Hischier. Switzerland started the second third better – and how! A Finnish defender was shot after 14 seconds, Calvin Thürkauf reacted immediately and pushed to make it 2:2. In the 24th, Dario Meyer made it 3-1 thanks to a deflected shot. After that, the Swiss played themselves into a frenzy, Simon Knak marked the 4:1 (25th).

But the Finns reacted and reduced the gap again a minute later. In the 34th minute, Michael Fora restored the three-goal lead with a shorthander. But the Finns came on again (36th), it was 5:3 ahead of the middle third. And the Finns came even closer (42nd), it got exciting again. The Finns were superior and equalized in the 58th minute. There was overtime and then a penalty shootout. There, Finland prevailed in front of 6623 spectators. Now it’s off to Malmö for the games against Sweden (February 11) and the Czech Republic (February 12). (product)

For a long time it looked as if the ZSC Lions would not renew the contract with striker Simon Bodenmann. And that despite the fact that the 34-year-old has recently delivered strong performances. Now the people of Zurich have apparently changed their mind and extended the contract until 2024.

“Under the new head coach Marc Crawford, Simon Bodenmann has achieved a noticeable and visible improvement in performance,” the Lions justify the decision in a communiqué.

Sports director Sven Leuenberger says: “In view of the improvement in performance under Crawford, I sat down with Simon again and we were able to agree on a contract extension by one year. At the end of the day I want to have the strongest team possible.” (product)

The Swiss League receives financial support after the recent uncertain future. Swiss Ice Hockey communicated this in a communiqué. The second-highest league in Swiss ice hockey receives an additional CHF 500,000 each from the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation and the National League AG, making a total of CHF 1.5 million.

The contribution that has now been made will be paid in addition to the previous services that have already been provided and is one-off and limited to the coming 2023/24 season. So far, the second-highest league has received CHF 0.5 million.

“I am glad that there is now a solution for the Swiss League. The solution shows that the Swiss League is an important part of Swiss ice hockey,” says Patrick Bloch, CEO of Swiss Ice Hockey. “We are doing everything we can to be able to play a Swiss League championship under the best possible conditions next season. » (nih)

SC Bern will continue to rely on its goalie duo Philip Wüthrich/Daniel Manzato in the coming season. Manzato, 39, has extended his contract by a year until spring 2024. “Daniel Manzato brings leadership, attitude and passion to the wardrobe and up every day s ice. He harmonises very well with Philip Wüthrich and is a role model for the whole team,” says Andrew Ebbett.

The SCB sports director has also signed Tomi Karhunen for the goalkeeper position until the end of the season. It’s a return for the 33-year-old Finn. He already played in Bern from November 2019 to spring 2021 (64 games). “We signed Tomi as a safeguard against possible injuries. He knows the club, some of the players and will make our goalie team even stronger,” said Ebbett. (product)

Champion EV Zug has signed the American Carter Camper until the end of the season. The 34-year-old joins EVZ from the Swedish club Leksands IF.

“Carter is a nimble striker who can read the game well and also knows how to score goals,” says General Manager Reto Kläy. “He brings a lot of experience and will complement our team perfectly until the end of the season.” (product)

SC Bern has signed Canadian defender Josh Teves with immediate effect until the end of the season. The 27-year-old played one NHL game for the Vancouver Canucks and was most recently with JYP Jyväskylä in Finland.

“We’ve been monitoring Josh Teves for a few weeks. He fits the profile and we’re glad we were able to find a solution with the player and Jyväskylä,” says sporting director Andrew Ebbett. “Josh gives us more width in defense and gives our coach Toni Söderholm additional options.” (product)

Defender Andreas Borgman (27) is drawn to Fribourg-Gottéron in the National League. The Sweden international has signed a two-year contract. Trained at Timra IK, Borgman quickly moved to North America, where he played in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning (55 NHL games and 164 AHL games).

“Andreas is a very complete defender who shines both on defense and offense and is not afraid of the opponent. He will undoubtedly be a support and a leader for our defensive department,” says Gottéron’s sporting director Christian Dubé. (product)

Swiss champions EV Zug have signed 27-year-old Marc Michaelis for next season. The German signed until 2025.

The contract with Peter Cehlárik, on the other hand, was terminated with immediate effect. “Unfortunately, he couldn’t fulfill our expectations and he too had hoped for something different,” says general manager Reto Kläy about the 27-year-old. (product)

Magnus Nygren sustained a severe fracture of his lower leg, Sven Jung has been out since the Spengler Cup with an arm injury. Both HCD players will no longer be able to stand on the ice this season. HC Davos has now reacted to this.

Defender Aaron Irving, 26, is coming to Davos until the end of the season and will feature once his work visa is in place. The Canadian played for SaiPa in Finland this season – recorded 23 scorer points in 42 games. Since SaiPa missed the playoffs in Finland, the club agreed to a release, as HCD writes in a statement. (wed)