Let’s imagine the voice of Julien Lepers.
I was born 47 years ago in Quebec. I spent my childhood in Valais where my dad was a professional hockey player. When I was younger, I was a good player. I was also crowned U20 world champion with Canada and I was drafted by an NHL team where I did not succeed in making a career. My playing career was mainly spent in Switzerland where I celebrated two titles. When I hung up my skates, I became a sports director and coach. I also had the reputation of being the most elegant coach behind a bench. I was fired by Fribourg-Gottéron on May 27, 2024. Today, despite myself, while I am not active in Swiss hockey, I am the big winner of the 2024-2025 National League season. I I I I am…
Let’s put Julien Lepers back in the closet.
Seven games definitely don’t make a season. But Fribourg-Gottéron, which is in 12th place in the ranking with a meager harvest of eight points, constitutes the disappointment of the start of the 2024-2025 regular season.
HC Ajoie was expected to be 14th. And that HC Bienne (13th) is going through a storm after losing a lot of skaters during the hot months.
But Gottéron, who had dismissed Dubé after an elimination in the semi-finals of the play-offs against Lausanne (1-4), was scheduled to ride the wave of success which had allowed him to pick up 102 points (club record) in the regular portion of the 2023-2024 calendar.
In fact, the Dragons, with a squad very similar to that of the last campaign, pocketed six points less than 12 months ago at the same stage of the season.
Let’s say that we have had changes in coaches which have produced better effects.
Today in transition awaiting the arrival of Swedish coach Roger Rönnberg for 2025-2026, Fribourg-Gottéron has forgotten that its name rhymes with the word “emotion”.
In all its rich history, perhaps because it is not an organization like any other, the Friborg team has known its moments of grace when it fell into the irrational and nourished itself from its relationship fusion with his audience.
Teams often resemble their coaches, like dogs resemble their owners.
Christian Dubé was an emotional coach.
