Coach Thierry Paterlini as master builder - like Jean Cusson, John Fust and Heinz Ehlers before him
Image: Keystone
Sports director Pascal Müller extended Paterlini's contract two years ago, at a time when nobody expected it
Image: Keystone
Goalie Stéphane Charlin was injured in Lugano on February 2 - will he play for Langnau again?
Image: Keystone
After the great jubilation of playoff qualification, the SCL Tigers want even more
Image: Keystone
13 years ago, the SCL Tigers were relegated from the National League against Lausanne, their quarter-final opponent as of Thursday
Image: Keystone
Coach Thierry Paterlini as master builder - like Jean Cusson, John Fust and Heinz Ehlers before him
Image: Keystone
Sports director Pascal Müller extended Paterlini's contract two years ago, at a time when nobody expected it
Image: Keystone
Goalie Stéphane Charlin was injured in Lugano on February 2 - will he play for Langnau again?
Image: Keystone
After the great jubilation of playoff qualification, the SCL Tigers want even more
Image: Keystone
13 years ago, the SCL Tigers were relegated from the National League against Lausanne, their quarter-final opponent as of Thursday
Image: Keystone
It's against Lausanne! The Emmental is looking forward to the SCL Tigers' first playoff series in six years. In 2019, Langnau forced the clearly favored Lausanne into a Game 7.
12.03.2025, 03:01
12.03.2025, 06:49
SDA
Twelve years ago, they were also relegated from the National League against Lausanne. However, nobody in Emmental wants to dwell on the past at the moment. "I heard that they used to be satisfied quickly in Langnau," says coach Thierry Paterlini. "Reaching the play-offs was perhaps enough in 2011 and 2019, but we want more now."
Nevertheless, it's worth taking a look at the past in order to properly assess what a success reaching the quarter-final series against qualifying winners Lausanne is for the SCL Tigers. "Four years ago, we were at the bottom, we were dead last," said defenseman Samuel Erni. After the Covid pandemic, the Langnau team acted more cautiously than the competition. Every franc was turned over twice before the crew around president Peter Jakob spent it. The SCL Tigers did what the competition was talking about. In their first post-Covid season, the Langnau team played with just two foreigners. They would have been relegated if the league had not suspended relegation for two seasons.
Perseverance also characterized the Langnau team in other areas. In the midst of a losing streak and after a 0:7 in the derby against SC Bern, they extended the contract with coach Thierry Paterlini in September 2023. One media outlet commented that this "coaching love" could plunge the SCL into a deep crisis. Less than two years later, Thierry Paterlini, the coach, is one of the greatest coaches in the SCL's history - and is mentioned in the same breath as Jean Cusson (coach of the only championship title in 1976), John Fust (made the playoffs with Langnau for the first time in 2011) and Heinz Ehlers (repeated the feat in 2019).
Forward strategy since 2022
"It's fantastic," says Paterlini. "We were already close (to the play-in) a year ago. Back then, we said to ourselves: it could have been enough - with exactly the same performances. Things went much better for us this season. We've always won the right games at the right time. I'm proud of the team, who kept finding ways - even in moments when things weren't going so well for us."
The 49-year-old Paterlini from Zurich is credited by his players with the lion's share of the Tigers' rise. Paterlini and sporting director Pascal Müller have been working in Langnau for three years. "With Thierry (Paterlini) and Päscu (Müller), it became clear that the club wanted to pursue a forward strategy," says Pascal Berger. "We continuously focused on the future. And the infrastructure (thanks to President Jakob's passion project "second ice rink") also got better and better."
Of course, they are already highly satisfied with the season in Langnau. But the Langnau players now also want more. Samuel Erni: "With the top teams, the players say to themselves: Now it's really starting! We say that too. We're not satisfied yet and haven't reached our goal. We still have more plans."
Julian Schmutz makes a challenge: "We never won against Kloten in the qualifiers, losing all four games. But we beat them in the play-in. We also lost all our games against Lausanne in the qualifiers. That's a good omen..."
Will Charlin play again?
The biggest unanswered question currently revolves around goalie Stéphane Charlin, the most valuable player (MVP) of the regular season. On February 2, Charlin injured his knee in Lugano. The SCL Tigers announced that Charlin would be out for two months. Only a (short) month and a week have passed since then. Nevertheless, a comeback of the goalie seems possible. Anyone who saw Charlin running up the steep stairs to the media stand in the last home game in Langnau can't imagine that Charlin will just watch for much longer. For the 24-year-old, who will return to Servette (or North America) in the summer, one thing is clear: he wants to play for the Tigers again. Charlin spent two weeks in Ticino in February, where he was treated by Emanuele Sarcinella. Two years ago, Sarcinella ensured that Damien Brunner was able to play in the playoff final against Servette with Biel thanks to a "miracle cure".
And if it's not enough for Charlin after all, nobody in the Emmental considers that to be a problem. Luca Boltshauser managed a catch rate of a good 96 percent in the play-in against Kloten. If the goalie delivers performances like this, Langnau can beat any opponent - even the qualifying winners.
