Outsiders are underestimated and use this to score a coup

One day, two Swiss champions celebrating the title for the first time in the club's history. HC Rychenberg Winterthur won the men's and Wizards Bern-Burgdorf the women's Super Final on Saturday. Both thus ended the series of their predecessors.

On the right track

The Kloten-Dietlikon Jets have dominated the women's competition in recent years. No other team has been champion since 2019. But this year, there was much to suggest that the streak was coming to an end. Bern-Burgdorf won the qualifiers, was only beaten three times in the regular season and never lost to the Zurich team. Not even in the super final.

As a result, the Bern-Burgdorf players never got out of their funk. Especially because the club is taking a more difficult path compared to other teams and is specifically promoting young Swiss players. "So many thoughts have been running through my head this week. We didn't have a single player who was able to go to the World Cup, none who became world champions. But we have a few who could have gone," said captain Nadia Cattaneo after the victory. This success is now also confirmation that the team is on the right track.

Underestimated until the end

Cattaneo believes, she explains, that her team was underestimated until the very end. "Now we've been able to show all the skeptics. That's amazing." And: Dana Misteli, of all people, shot her team to victory. The 19-year-old Swiss player, her team's top scorer. "If someone had told me before the season that we'd be qualifiers, champions and I'd be top scorer, I wouldn't have believed it."

Coach Mirco Torri praised Misteli after the game, saying she was playing a bomb of a season. And it's cool to work with the young players anyway. According to Torri, the most important thing is the trust between the staff and the team; age doesn't necessarily play a role. And this trust was there.

Winterthur Rychenberg dethrones Zug

Less dominant than the women's team, but still the best men's team in recent years, was Zug United. The last two championship titles went to Zug, and the team finished the qualifiers in 2nd place. Winterthur Rychenberg, on the other hand, finished the regular season in 7th place.

"When I think about how many have tried to become champions with HCR before us. I would never have believed at the start of the season that our team would have achieved this," said captain Michel Wöcke with the gold medal around his neck.

In fact, the signs for HCR's first championship title were not ideal a few months ago. At the end of October 2025, coach Samuel Eberle left the club due to "stagnating development within the team". Coaching legend Philippe Soutter found, as he himself put it, an insecure team when he took over.

'Eating dirt' has paid off

"The most important reason for this success is that we had such a tough regular season and that so many players had to go through it," says Soutter. The team had to pull itself together like this, which is unique.

Noah Püntener, who scored two of the four goals in the final, agreed with his coach. "Such lows certainly make you stronger. Personally, I've had to 'eat a lot of dirt' this season and I'm incredibly grateful that Philippe has taken over." The coach had already placed his trust in him when he was not yet able to deliver the desired performance. "I've now been able to repay that all the more beautifully."