The most important of all remaining decisions in the ice hockey championship qualifiers will probably be made in Biel on Saturday. EHC Biel welcomes the SCL Tigers for a showdown.
07.03.2026, 05:00
07.03.2026, 08:19
SDA
Much is clear after 50 of 52 qualifying rounds. HC Davos has known for a week and a half that it will finish the qualifiers in first place. Fribourg-Gottéron, the ZSC Lions, Lugano and Servette secured the next four playoff tickets. Lausanne in 6th place needs just one more point (or a loss of points by the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers) to secure the last direct playoff ticket. And at the bottom, HC Ambri-Piotta need a miracle to overtake Kloten and avoid the relegation play-off against Ajoie.
Play-in for the play-in
However, the last place in the play-in is still completely open. And that's where the showdown in Seeland will take place on Saturday: the game between EHC Biel and the SCL Tigers is almost all to play for. Whoever wins this game after 60 minutes will be a play-in participant. Whoever wins this Bern derby will also have the edge in the head-to-head meetings, which are decided after 52 rounds.
The form curve ahead of this play-in for the play-in speaks for Biel: Biel has been on the up since the appointment of coach Christian Dubé. Most recently, Biel picked up twelve points from eight games. Langnau, on the other hand, have only managed one win in the last eight rounds.
Kloten could still finish tenth
Kloten still need one point in theory and two points mathematically to stay safely ahead of Ambri-Piotta. The direct encounters between Kloten and Ambri stand at 6:6 points, but the goal difference (Kloten -20; Ambri -48) clearly speaks against the Leventines.
For Kloten, however, something is theoretically still possible at the top - if Biel-Langnau goes into overtime. Only if neither of the two Bernese clubs wins three points in the last two rounds can Kloten still move up to 10th place - because the Zurich Unterlanders are less well placed in the head-to-head meetings against both Biel (5:7 points) and Langnau (5:7 points).
