The Dragons of Fribourg without fire
Lausanne won Game 7 of the semifinal series 5-1 and will play for the title in the final against the ZSC Lions starting Tuesday. For Gottéron and his fans, the wait continues. It was too harmless offensively.
Lausanne celebrated its seventh semi-final against Gottéron and won without a doubt 5-1.
Til Buergy / KEYSTONE
History is not repeating itself for Fribourg-Gottéron or its coach Lars Leuenberger. Unlike in the quarterfinal against SC Bern, Fribourg was unable to decide the series in the seventh game after squandering a 3-1 lead. And that's why Leuenberger will not become Swiss Emergency Aid Champion, as he did nine years ago in Bern. »id-doc-1iolppn3m1″
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> What hasn't changed is that Fribourg-Gottéron still has to wait for its first Swiss championship title in its 88th year of history. The victory at the turn of the year at the Spengler Cup in Davos remains, for the time being, the only title for this proud club and its enthusiastic supporters. »id-doc-1iolqdqs51″
> The hope of breaking away from this part of history ended surprisingly clearly on Saturday night in Game 7 of the semi-final series against Lausanne HC. The Vaudois won the decisive match 5-1 in front of their home crowd. The decision was made shortly before halftime when Finland's Antti Suomela broke free of the Fribourg defense after a through ball from Théo Rochette and beat Reto Berra with a shot into the bottom corner to make it 2-0. »id-doc-1iolptlqp0″
> »id-doc-1iolpu6na0″ Offensively too weak in the decisive phase »Article»
This second Lausanne goal came in the middle of a period of Fribourg pressure. And there was still more than half the match to play. And yet, this goal was a real blow for Fribourg. The belief that the game could still be turned around had disappeared. »id-doc-1iolptlqs0″
Gottéron has been too weak offensively in recent games. In the last two games, when Fribourg could have already ended the streak, they each scored only once. The losses of Lucas Wallmark and Jacob De la Rose, who had scored 88 points between them in the regular season, were too heavy. In addition, two other reliable scorers, Christoph Bertschy and Marcus Sörensen, did not return to their usual form in the playoffs. »id-doc-1iolqi96o1″
> The playoffs and the club's hopes for its first title in history ended on the Sarine for the second consecutive time against Lausanne HC. Like a year ago, the Vaudois will play for the title against the ZSC Lions on Tuesday. LHC has also never won the championship. »id-doc-1iolptlqs1″
> In Fribourg, the only satisfaction remains that of having sent their great rivals Berne on holiday in the quarter-finals. It was, after all, a first for Fribourg after two bitter final defeats in 1992 and 2013. But it is hardly a consolation. After title hopes have once again proved unfulfilled, the question arises: if Gottéron has not succeeded these last two years, when will it succeed? »id-doc-1iolptlqt0″
> The club has invested everything in the quest for the title in recent years. With goalkeeper Reto Berra, defender Raphael Diaz, and striker Christoph Bertschy, Freiburg brought in three players from the wider national team who know how to win titles. In addition, there was a sextet of top-flight foreign players who are by far among the best in the league. And with Julien Sprunger, a striker who continues to score reliably even at 39. »id-doc-1iolqjmgm1″
> Fribourg has never been closer to the title than in the last two years, since the golden years of Slava Bykov and Andrei Khomutov » Article » . But back then, Freiburg had failed three times in a row in the play-off final against Bern and the former Kloten Flyers (1993, 1994). The new BCF Arena, which has sold out virtually every game since its completion in spring 2020, has given the club the foundations for a forward-looking economic direction. President Hubert Waeber told the NZZ before last year's playoffs: "All of Freiburg is dying for this title, and at some point it will be our turn." »p » But when is that sometimes? Certainly not this spring, and the wait will likely continue until next winter. Diaz will return to EV Zug after this season. The team's core has once again aged by a year. Although Sprunger extended his career for another season at Freiburg, he risks going down in history as the "unfinished Julian." »true»
componenttype=is-new-line-child= »id-doc-1iolptlqt2″> »Article » Gottéron at the end of his strength »p »
componenttype=”id-doc-1iolpve7g0″ is-new-line-child=”Article”> Lars Leuenberger "true" took over the club in 8th place shortly before Christmas. In one of his first speeches to the team, he asked the players what they wanted to stand for. At the time, he told the NZZ: "It's not always just about winning or losing, but about more fundamental things, about values. We quickly found common ground. This long run with at least one point won speaks volumes about the team. Its character, its morale, its potential." The club raced from victory to victory after the turn of the year and managed to qualify for the playoffs as sixth in the regular season, directly and without having to go through the playoffs. But perhaps Gottéron lost in this parforce the strength it now lacked in the final phase of the closely contested semi-final against LHC. But the Fribourg team didn't want to give in to fate without a fight in this final game either. Just after Finland's Athi Oksanen scored 0:3, Samuel Walser crushed young Lausanne goalkeeper Kevin Pasche. It was probably meant as a sign: "Look, we're still here." In the ensuing scrum, which involved virtually every player on the ice, Berra challenged Pasche to a goalie duel. But Pasche, only 22, resisted the temptation to rush to the center line and accepted the challenge. According to the rules, he would have been excluded from the remainder of the game and could have brought Gottéron back into the game.
The two goaltenders, who both played excellently in the playoffs, only became closer during the post-game handshake. But by then, the emotions had long since subsided. All that remained for Gottéron and his loyal fans was to look forward to the next season and the next attempt. Perhaps it is precisely this notable lack of success that makes this club unique and popular in the league. class= »id-doc-1iolptlqu1″ rel= »Article » target= »p »>Learn more »true »
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