Hunt against Champion HC Davos open

HC Davos

"Nothing else matters" is a Metallica song that, for the most part, expresses the philosophy of Swiss champions HC Davos. No other club had as few changes in the off season as the club from the Landquart Valley. Only Jaroslav Bednář left Davos to go to HC Lugano. The rest of the team stayed together. So Arno del Curto, who has just signed a contract extension to remain in Davos for another five years, has a complete team ready when the season starts.  And his goal is to take this team to an even higher level. "My goal is to have a team that can play with the speed and the dedication as in the NHL.” It may take a lot of work to come close to achieving this goal. But with the main core of players still together an in their prime, there is no reason to think they can't be even better. So HC Davos will be one of the main contenders for a second straight title. But since the ZSC Lions won back-to-back championships in 2000 and 2001, no other team has been able to repeat as champions.

Kloten Flyers

The Kloten Flyers are ready to take off and challenge HC Davos again. But will they be able to get ahead of them this time? Why not? If you look down the roster you will see that Kloten has made some slight changes. The most important may be will be that Roman Wick has returned from his experience in the AHL with the Binghamton Senators. Except for a short cup of coffee of seven games with the Ottawa Senators in the NHL, he played the vast majority of the season in Binghamton. There he had some adjustment problems but then got better and better. At the end of the season he became the first Swiss-born player to hoist the Calder Cup. So his return to Kloten is key for the team's fortunes in the upcoming season, and may determine whether or not they can capture the championship.

SC Bern

The club from the Swiss capital has lost 120 scoring points in the off season. Gone are Christian Dubé, Simon Gamache and Brett McLean. They have been replaced by Byron Ritchie, John Fritsche Jr and Kevin Loetscher. The latter will probably never play for Bern, however. He was injured in an accident just a couple of days after his return from the World Championship in Slovakia. Loetscher is still not playing and it is looking doubtful that he will play at all in the coming season. If he does return before the end of the season, it would be a surprise to many. The two other players will have a hard time to replace the points of Gamache and Dubé (both are gone to Fribourg-Gottéron). So Sven Leuenberger, general manager in Bern, hopes and believes that Pascal Berger, Étienne Froidevaux, Tristan Scherwey and Joel Vermin will make the transition to produce some more points. But this won't be easy. Bern looks a lot tougher than in the last few years, but gone are the creative elements. The question is, who can replace the offensive production?

EV Zug

Tough, tougher Zug. No question. The EV Zug is the toughest team to play against. Their style can be best described as the "Broad Street Bullies” from the 1970s in the NHL. No team has more grinders and hard-working players then Zug has. But, and this is one of the biggest problems for their opponents, they do have some very talented players, such as Glen Metropolit. On the other hand, they lost Raphael Diaz to the NHL (Montréal). Who can replace him? They don't seem to have anybody on their current roster who can make this transition. One of the biggest question marks is the goaltending. Finnish goalie Jussi Martikainnen looks in some games shaky and not ready. He sometimes has problems in close games and often loses his temper. And there is no backup who is good enough to step in. The key question is, can Doug Shedden work with his keeper and calm him down? If yes, they may be a contender for the championship. If not, there will be a lot of speculation going on about his job.

HC Fribourg-Gottéron

Just think about a Concord starting. You know about the offensive power that the dragons have. But then, on the other side, think about a Trabant. And you know the weakness of their defence. So what can coach Hans Kossmann (from Bern), do, to close this gap? He could rely on the goalie. But will Cristobal Huet play with Fribourg? There is still a slight possibility that he may not show up and instead play with an NHL team. So what will they do if he is not playing with them? There is no resolution yet. If he plays, he will be, along with Simon Gamache, Christian Dubé, Pavel Rosa and Michal Barinka, one of the key players. And then there may be a possibility that Fribourg will be the darkhorse in the league.

SCL Tigers

Last year, the SCL Tigers made the playoffs for the first time in history. After 12 years, they deserved it. After they clinched the playoff berth, the whole valley of Emmental went crazy. They dressed up in green and renamed Langnau "Playoff Town”. But those days are gone. A new season is underway. So how far could they go? There won't be any teams that take the Tigers lightly any longer. But on the other hand, John Fust made some great adjustments to the team. Gone are three imports and the young goalie Benjamin Conz.  Robert Esche will replace him. He may be one of the key players. The SCL Tigers will probably once again be a hard team to play against, and will be a contender for one of the top eight spots.

Geneva – Servette

One constant in Geneva is the coach. Chris McSorley will go into his 11th season behind the bench, which is the longest tenure in Swiss hockey after Arno del Curto. But McSorley is not only the coach, he is also the owner and manager of the team, so all the power lies with him. If a player does not please him, he will be replaced. In the middle of last season, Thomas Déruns was shipped away to Bern. After the playoff loss to EV Zug in the quarter- finals, McSorley got rid of more players. Robin Breitbach, John Gobbi and Jan Cadieux are now playing with other clubs. Replacing those players are Marc Gautschi, Gian-Andrea Randegger and Adrian Brunner. All are more or less warriors on the ice. These are the kinds of players that McSorley seeks. Also new in the team are Rico Fata and Kévin Hecquefeuille. But how far can the eagles go? The playoffs seem to be a longshot. Why? Too many players left who were important. Only with quality goaltending to they have a chance.

ZSC Lions

It is not easy to play in the spotlight of the media in Switzerland. So there needs to be a good coach who can reach the team and work with them under the intense pressure. The only logical thing for Zurich to do was hire such a coach. They believe that they found one in Bob Hartley. He knows that it will be no easy task to have the success with this team. There were only a few changes (Severin Blindanbacher, Jeff Tambelini) and the main core is still together. If the new coach can get them to work together better, there may be a possibility that the Lions will be in the playoffs. If not, then it will be a spectacle for media.

HC Lugano

Let's be honest. If HC Lugano wants to make the playoffs, the core of the team will have big problems. Even though some of the players have long-term contracts, they may be released. But there is at least a slight chance that this will not happen. Why? It is easy. After the ZSC Lions, this is the second top club that got a new coach. And as in Zurich, he is from the NHL. With Barry Smith, there is one of a hell of a coach behind the bench. And you can bet a couple of dollars that before Lugano fires him, there will be some players released. David Aebischer is already was a victim to that. He was replaced by Benjamin Conz. The 20-year-old keeper will be the one who will get the most time in the crease. And it will take a remarkable job to backstop this team to a playoff berth.

Rapperswil – Jona Lakers

The Lakers start in a new future you would most likely see on their jerseys. Gone is the eyesore of a jersey they wore last year. Only a small strip of one of the ugliest colours in the league remains. The rest will be white, blue and red. That's an important change. Most of the fans did not like the change in colours, so this was an attempt to appease them by returning to their previous colour scheme. Another comeback will be behind the bench, with Harry Roggenmoser taking over. He does not have any coaching experience, but he has a lot of leadership qualites which he gained during a 12-year stint building up the pizza chain Dieci. The former player has to put together the team and make them a playoff contender. It's doubtful this can be accomplished in his first season, but signs are encouraging for the future.

EHC Biel

We know from the Holly Bible that God was able to build the world in seven days. But why use this metaphor? Because off Kevin Schläpfer. He is the hockey god in Biel. And he is in his second full stint. So if we give him credit for seven days, or more likely seven seasons, he may be the one coach who is able to get Biel into the playoffs. But not before the seven seasons are over. They have the potential to play above their heads on some nights, but to expect more than that would be too much. Biel is not so deep and they may have some difficulty scoring goals. Their biggest departure, Kevin Loetscher, has not been replaced. With Tom Preising and Mario Scalzo the defence looks stronger, but there are some question marks on offence.

HC Ambrì-Piotta

The good news about Ambrì is that they have been, once again, saved financially. The bad news is nobody knows for how long. After almost every season, the Leventina hockey club struggles for money. But by the end of the day, they usually find someone who puts up the needed cash and the club once again is ready for the new season. So it does not come as a surprise that they do not have the best team in the NLA. But the club decided to go back to their roots and work more closely with their juniors. And that's what the team look like. Together with some players that no other club would give contracts to, the young core of the team is ready to take on the season. With second-year coach Kevin Constantine, who likes to work with youth, there should be no problem to stay alive and on some nights maybe steal victories from some better opponents. But they will most likely play again in the play-outs, but may avoid the qualification round to remain on the top league. At this point, the team looks better and harder to play against than last year, but time will tell.

We have an interesting season to look forward to. Can HC Davos become back-to-back champions? Which coach will be the first one to get fired? How will HC Lugano perform? And can the SCL Tigers make it back to the playoffs? All those questions will be answered by the end of the regular season on February 25. But before that, we only can guess. And maybe ours are totally wrong. But this is the fun part of previews. So enjoy the season and look forward to another year of exciting Swiss hockey.
 

 

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