Rappi's fan curve celebrates its heroes
Image: Keystone
Fribourg's double goal scorer Christoph Bertschy (2nd from right) celebrates with his teammates about the direct playoff qualification
Image: Keystone
Despite the defeat, the Ambri-Piotta players get another chance to qualify for the playoffs in the play-in
Image: Keystone
Kloten ends qualification with a derby defeat at ZSC and has to take the detour via the play-in
Image: Keystone
Langnau is rightly celebrating: Only twice - in 2011 and 2019 in sixth place - have the SCL Tigers finished a regular season further ahead
Image: Keystone
Hanging heads among the Servette players who have to go on vacation
Image: Keystone
EHC Biel's players also see their season come to an end after qualifying following their defeat in Lugano
Image: Keystone
Rappi's fan curve celebrates its heroes
Image: Keystone
Fribourg's double goal scorer Christoph Bertschy (2nd from right) celebrates with his teammates about the direct playoff qualification
Image: Keystone
Despite the defeat, the Ambri-Piotta players get another chance to qualify for the playoffs in the play-in
Image: Keystone
Kloten ends qualification with a derby defeat at ZSC and has to take the detour via the play-in
Image: Keystone
Langnau is rightly celebrating: Only twice - in 2011 and 2019 in sixth place - have the SCL Tigers finished a regular season further ahead
Image: Keystone
Hanging heads among the Servette players who have to go on vacation
Image: Keystone
EHC Biel's players also see their season come to an end after qualifying following their defeat in Lugano
Image: Keystone
Great joy in Freiburg, at the Lakers and in Langnau, a sigh of relief in Ambri and a cry of despair at Servette and Biel. These are the facts of the final qualifying round of the National League.
01.03.2025, 23:14
01.03.2025, 23:19
SDA
Two winners in one stadium
There were two winners in the duel between Fribourg-Gottéron and Ambri-Piotta. Thanks to their 4:1 home win, Fribourg made it straight into the play-offs, while the Ticino side made it into the play-in despite their defeat. This should particularly please Chris DiDomenico, who moved from Freiburg to Ambri in a player swap in October. Despite an assist to equalize the score at 1:1, scored by Philippe Maillet in the 39th minute on the power play, the hotshot was unable to prevent the home team from coming away victorious in the fourth head-to-head of the season. Sandro Schmid, Lucas Wallmark and Christoph Bertschy scored twice in the final period to give the Freiburg fans something to cheer about and they can now look forward to a play-off series against their great rivals SC Bern.
No gifts from the Lions
The ZSC Lions did not enter the game against Kloten in their gift pants. The Zurich SC wanted to secure 2nd place themselves and thus secure home advantage in the eventual semi-finals. The Lions led 3:0 after just 22 minutes, with defenseman Dean Kukan scoring two goals. Kloten closed the gap to 2:3 within 146 seconds in the second period thanks to goals from Dario Meyer and Keijo Weibel. Denis Malgin secured the 4:2 victory with a shot into the empty net.
SCL Tigers thanks to Darios
Langnau secured a 5-1 win over Ajoie and a place in the play-in thanks to two Darios. Dario Rohrbach (1-0) and Dario Allenspach twice (2-0/3-0) led the SCL Tigers to victory against Ajoie within 289 seconds at the start of the second period. The Emmentalers even scored four goals within six minutes in the second period to make it 4-0. The Tigers had already scored four goals in one period a month ago - on January 31 in the 6-2 (1-1, 0-0, 5-1) derby against SCB.
The 6,000 fans in the sold-out Ilfis Arena were up in arms at the end, celebrating qualification for the play-in like a title win. Although the Tigers have always finished in the top 10 since December 1, the play-in was recently in danger. Langnau has only finished a regular season further ahead twice - in sixth place in 2011 and 2019. The Emmental team has never won a playoff series. They now have at least two chances to reach the playoffs for a third time, the first starting on Tuesday against Kloten.
End of luck for Servette
Genève-Servette Hockey Club misses out on the playoffs for the second time in a row. The final spurt of the season by the glorious champions from the spring of 2023 came too late. And the great luck that accompanied Geneva this week came to an abrupt end: on Thursday, all seemed lost when Servette fell 2-1 behind against Lugano in the 58th minute and only won 3-2 in regulation time because Lugano absolutely had to win and put everything on one card. Nevertheless, not much was missing and Servette would have moved up from 11th to 10th place in the final round despite the 1:5 debacle in Bern. Only the Lakers' 2:1 winning goal 50 seconds before the end against Davos prevented this.
Servette had no chance in Bern. The SCB took the lead shortly before the first break. After 36 minutes, the Bernese were already leading 4:0. Six minutes before the end, Servette took goalie Robert Mayer off the ice for a forward when the score was 1:4. Austin Czarnik cemented the victory in the top scorer standings with a goal and an assist. Waltteri Merelä finished the regular season with a three-point game (2 goals, 1 assist). Bern qualified for the Champions Hockey League and will face Kloten in the quarterfinals.
Biel disappoints in Ticino
EHC Biel had their fate in their own hands, but were unable to get the win they needed in a 2:4 loss in Lugano. After a weak opening period, the Seelanders were already 2-0 down in Ticino. The second goal conceded one second before the first break in the power play was particularly bitter. After a misplay by Luca Cunti in the offensive zone, Jiri Sekac pulled away and scored ice-cold. It was Biel's first shorthander of the season. After Yanick Sablatnig made it 1:2 (23'), Sekac restored the two-goal lead in the final period. However, Biel were unable to do more than score another goal through Johnny Kneubühler to avoid going on vacation.
Jensen shoots Lakers into luck
Only a win would help the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers to avert an early end to the season. Although the games in the other stadiums went in the St. Gallen team's favor, their supporters had to tremble until the very end in the home game against HCD Davos. Igor Jelovac promptly corrected Yannick Frehner's lead in the opening period to make it 1:1. But after that, the home team was unable to score a second goal for a long time despite having the upper hand. It wasn't until 50 seconds before the end that Nicklas Jensen turned the arena into a party hut with his 16th goal of the season. Shortly beforehand, the Dane had shot over the goal from the most promising position in the powerplay.
Lausanne's lack of form helps Zug
EV Zug ultimately also benefited from the Davos defeat, as they improved to 4th place at the expense of the Grisons with a 4:1 win at home against qualification winners Lausanne. Zug thus enjoy home ice in the quarter-final series against HCD. Lausanne slipped into a minor results crisis at the end of the qualifiers. The Vaud team has lost four of its last five games. However, that may not matter to them at the start of the playoffs. Like the defending champions ZSC Lions, the qualification winners will be looking forward to the play-in, where their quarter-final opponents will be determined.
Telegrams:
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers - Davos 2:1 (1:1, 0:0, 1:0)
6100 spectators (sold out). - SR Lemelin/Ruprecht, Cattaneo/Humair. - Goals: 16th (15:24) Frehner 0:1. 17th (16:32) Jelovac (Strömwall) 1:1. 60th (59:10) Jensen 2:1. - Penalties: 1 x 2 minutes against Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, 5 x 2 minutes against Davos. - PostFinance top scorers: Strömwall; Tambellini.
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers: Nyffeler; Maier, Holm; Jelovac, Nardella; Capaul, Djuse; Henauer; Strömwall, Taibel, Jensen; Moy, Fritz, Wetter; Hofer, Albrecht, Lammer; Wick, Dünner, Alge; Zangger.
Davos: Aeschlimann; Andersson, Jung; Fora, Dahlbeck; Honka, Gross; Guebey, Barandun; Stransky, Ryfors, Tambellini; Frehner, Nussbaumer, Zadina; Kessler, Egli, Ambühl; Wieser, Gredig, Knak.
Remarks: Rapperswil-Jona Lakers without Baragano, Larsson, Quinn, Rask (all injured), Embacher and Hornecker (both ), Davos without Corvi, Nordström, Parrée (all injured), Blaser, Leipold, Lichtensteiger, Müller, Solèr, Van der Kaaij, Waidacher (all ), Lemieux and McShane (both surplus foreigners). Davos without a goalkeeper from 59:27.
Fribourg-Gottéron - Ambri-Piotta 4:1 (0:0, 1:1, 3:0)
9262 spectators (sold out). - SR Tscherrig/Stolc, Stalder/Urfer. - Goals: 23rd Bertschy (Vey, Lilja) 1:0. 39th Maillet (DiDomenico, Heed/powerplay goal) 1:1. 41st (40:37) Schmid (Wallmark) 2:1. 50th (49:12) Wallmark (Schmid, Sörensen) 3:1. 51st (50:12) Bertschy (Lilja, Vey) 4:1. - Penalties: 3 times 2 minutes against Fribourg-Gottéron, none against Ambri-Piotta. - PostFinance top scorers: Wallmark; Kubalik.
Fribourg-Gottéron: Berra; Diaz, Jecker; Sutter, Streule; Rathgeb, Gunderson; Seiler; Sörensen, Wallmark, Schmid; Bertschy, Vey, Lilja; Sprunger, De la Rose, Marchon; Nicolet, Walser, Gerber; Mottet.
Ambri-Piotta: Senn; Heed, Zgraggen; Virtanen, Terraneo; Wüthrich, Isacco Dotti; Zaccheo Dotti, Curran; DiDomenico, Maillet, Kubalik; Bürgler, Heim, Müller; Pestoni, Landry, De Luca; Grassi, Kostner, Zwerger.
Remarks: Fribourg-Gottéron without Dufner (injured) and Borgman (supernumerary foreigner), Ambri-Piotta without Juvonen (supernumerary foreigner). Ambri-Piotta without a goalkeeper from 55:29 to 56:09, 56:27 to 57:18 and from 57:32.
ZSC Lions - Kloten 4:2 (2:0, 1:2, 1:0)
12'000 spectators. - SR Kaukokari/Dipietro, Obwegeser/Gurtner. - Goals: 8. Kukan (Malgin) 1:0. 11. Lammikko (Frödén) 2:0. 22. Kukan (Kinnunen, Balcers/Powerplay goal) 3:0. 32. Meyer (Morley) 3:1. 34. Weibel (Niku) 3:2. 60. (59:38) Malgin 4:2 (into the empty net). - Penalties: none against ZSC Lions, 2 times 2 minutes against Kloten. - PostFinance top scorers: Andrighetto; Ojamäki.
ZSC Lions: Hrubec; Kukan, Geering; Weber, Marti; Kinnunen, Lehtonen; Blaser; Andrighetto, Malgin, Balcers; Frödén, Lammikko, Zehnder; Rohrer, Henry, Riedi; Baechler, Sigrist, Segafredo; Olsson.
Kloten: Zurkirchen (22. Waeber); Niku, Profico; Grégoire, Wolf; Sataric, Steve Kellenberger; Sidler; Ojamäki, Morley, Audette; Aberg, Ramel, Schreiber; Simic, Schäppi, Meyer; Derungs, Diem, Weibel; Smirnovs.
Remarks: ZSC Lions without Baltisberger, Hollenstein, Kärki, Trutmann (all injured) and Grant (extra foreigner), Kloten without Steiner (injured), Aebi, Cuesta Flores, Deussen , Keller (all ) and Hawryluk (extra foreigner). Kloten without a goalkeeper from 57:12 to 59:38.
Lugano - Biel 4:2 (2:0, 0:1, 2:1)
5218 spectators. - SR Wiegand/Hungerbühler, Fuchs/Huguet. - Goals: 8. Fazzini (powerplay goal) 1:0. 20. (19:59) Sekac (shorthanded goal!) 2:0. 23. Sablatnig (Rajala) 2:1. 47. Sekac (Zohorna, Zanetti) 3:1. 54. Kneubuehler (Cunti) 3:2. 59. Canonica 4:2 (into the empty net). - Penalties: 2 times 2 minutes each. - PostFinance top scorers: Fazzini; Rajala.
Lugano: Schlegel; Aebischer, Dahlström; Jesper Peltonen, Alatalo; Guerra, Pulli; Meile; Joly, Thürkauf, Cormier; Patry, Zohorna, Sekac; Fazzini, Arcobello, Verboon; Aleksi Peltonen, Canonica, Morini; Zanetti.
Biel: Säteri; Jakowenko, Blessing; Luca Christen, Grossmann; Dionicio, Zryd; In-Albon, Christe; Hofer, Andersson, Sallinen; Sablatnig, Cunti, Rajala; Greco, Nicolas Müller, Kneubuehler; Eugster, Tanner, Bachofner.
Remarks: Lugano without van Pottelberghe (injured), Carr and Huska (both supernumerary foreigners), Biel without Burren, Bärtschi, Haas, Lööv, Stampfli (all injured), Bächler, Livio Christen, Neuenschwander, Villard (all ) and Heponiemi (supernumerary foreigner). Biel without a goalkeeper from 56:33 to 58:21 and from 58:55.
SCL Tigers - Ajoie 5:1 (0:0, 4:0, 1:1)
6000 spectators (sold out). - Referees Piechaczek/Hürlimann, Schlegel/Francey. - Goals: 24 (23:56) Rohrbach (Riikola, Pesonen) 1:0. 25 (24:21) Allenspach (Mäenalanen, Malone) 2:0. 29 (28:45) Allenspach (Malone, Riikola) 3:0. 30 (29:42) Saarela (Julian Schmutz, Erni) 4:0. 47. Garessus (Reto Schmutz, Palve) 4:1. 49. Pesonen (Mäenalanen, Saarijärvi/powerplay goal) 5:1. - Penalties: 2 times 2 minutes against SCL Tigers, 4 times 2 minutes against Ajoie. - PostFinance top scorers: Rohrbach; Nättinen.
SCL Tigers: Boltshauser; Zanetti, Riikola; Saarijärvi, Baltisberger; Meier, Erni; Paschoud; Rohrbach, Flavio Schmutz, Pesonen; Allenspach, Malone, Mäenalanen; Julian Schmutz, Berger, Saarela; Fahrni, Felcman, Salzgeber; Jenni.
Ajoie: Conz (30. Ciaccio); Honka; Maurer; Fischer, Nussbaumer; Thiry, Pilet; Palve, Bellemare, Nättinen; Hazen, Devos, Reto Schmutz; Robin, Garessus, Romanenghi; Scheidegger, Rundqvist, Veckaktins.
Remarks: SCL Tigers without Charlin, Petrini (both injured), Dukurs, Mathys, Trachsel (all ), Lapinskis (suspended) and Kristof (supernumerary foreigner), Ajoie without Frossard, Patenaude, Pedretti, Turkulainen (all injured), Bozon (suspended) and Brennan (supernumerary foreigner).
Zug - Lausanne 4:1 (1:0, 1:1, 2:0)
7463 spectators. - SR Borga/Staudenmann, Altmann/Gnemmi. - Goals: 18th Senteler (Leuenberger/powerplay goal) 1:0. 29th Muggli (Hofmann, Wingerli) 2:0. 39th Fuchs (Prassl, Marti) 2:1. 58th Hofmann 3:1. 60th (59:42) Wingerli 4:1 (into the empty net). - Penalties: 4 times 2 minutes against Zug, 5 times 2 minutes against Lausanne. - PostFinance top scorers: Martschini; Suomela.
Zug: Genoni; Muggli, Johnson; Hansson, Mischa Geisser; Balestra, Stadler; Bachmann; Martschini, Kovar, Künzle; Wingerli, Olofsson, Hofmann; Leuenberger, Senteler, Eggenberger; Wey, Antenen.
Lausanne: Keller; Heldner, Bayreuther; Glauser, Marti; Vouardoux, Frick; Fiedler, Genazzi; Riat, Suomela, Oksanen; Perlini, Kahun, Fuchs; Hügli, Rochette, Raffl; Bozon, Jäger, Prassl.
Remarks: Zug without Bengtsson, Tobias Geisser, Herzog, Schlumpf, Vozenilek (all injured), Biasca, Carlsson, Riva and Simion (all sick), Lausanne without Hammerer, Pajuniemi, Pilut (all injured) and Sklenicka (supernumerary foreigner). Lausanne without a goalkeeper from 0:00 to 0:00 and 59:10 to 59:42.
Bern - Genève-Servette 5:1 (1:0, 3:0, 1:1)
17'031 spectators (sold out). - SR Stricker/Ströbel, Steenstra/Duc. - Goals: 20th (19:56) Merelä 1:0. 28th (27:24) Baumgartner (Loeffel) 2:0. 29th (28:26) Merelä (Czarnik, Loeffel/powerplay goal) 3:0. 36th Marchon (Aaltonen, Merelä) 4:0. 52nd Loosli (Jooris, Hischier) 4:1. 55th Czarnik (Nemeth) 5:1 (into the empty net). - Penalties: 4 times 2 minutes against Bern, 4 times 2 plus 10 minutes (Granlund) plus added time (Granlund) against Genève-Servette. - PostFinance top scorers: Czarnik; Manninen.
Bern: Wüthrich; Loeffel, Klok; Untersander, Nemeth; Vermin, Kreis; Kindschi, Füllemann; Lehmann, Czarnik, Ejdsell; Merelä, Aaltonen, Marchon; Andersons, Baumgartner, Scherwey; Schild, Ritzmann, Simon Moser.
Genève-Servette: Mayer; Lennström, Karrer; Schneller, Berni; Jacquemet, Le Coultre; Chanton; Hartikainen, Manninen, Granlund; Timashov, Jooris, Praplan; Hischier, Pouliot, Miranda; Cavalleri, Völlmin, Loosli.
Remarks: Bern without Liniger, Levin Moser, Weber, Wieczorek, Zürcher (all ), Häman Aktell, Lindholm, Ryser (all injured) and Reideborn (supernumerary foreigner), Genève-Servette without Descloux, Richard, Rod (all injured) and Vatanen (sick). Genève-Servette without a goalkeeper from 54:00 to 54:14.
