La Quinzaine des Romands #1: everyone at the back of the class, except Lausanne – rts.ch

Ajoie (14e)

The Jurassians completely missed their start to the season. Dead last with no points collected, the Ajoulots have only scored 9 goals (1.3 per match) and conceded 32 (4.6) in 7 matches. With an average defeat of 5-1 each evening, it is an understatement to say that the HCA has been downgraded since mid-September. If the injuries to Jonathan Hazen, Thibault Frossard and Reto Schmutz remove a complete line from an already shallow offensive, the lack of productivity of the Finnish trio (2 goals) is also felt, even if it is appropriate to leave it to him still some time to adapt.

Coach Christian Wohlwend finds himself in a complex situation. The Grisons technician tried different options to remobilize his troops, in particular by using his four (!) guards. However, the crisis does not seem far away and sports director Julien Vauclair has already entered the scene by trialling Finnish defender Kristian Näkyvä, without a club since his departure from Davos, and announcing that he is looking for an additional foreign striker. Enough to stabilize a drifting team?

Biel (13th)

The people of Bienne are having a start to the season which can be seen in two ways: in terms of the gross ranking, this 13th place cannot please them, what’s more with the slap they received on Saturday at home against Geneva (4-0). In reality, the 7 points collected allow them to stay in the right car, since they are only 2 units from a place in play-in. To speak of an achievement would be an exaggeration, but with five absentees per match and a defender (Luca Christen) lined up in attack, this record remains entirely acceptable.

Icelandic performances are based on two main elements: imported players and box play. Two thirds of the 12 goals scored were scored by the foreign delegation, with a special mention for the inevitable Toni Rajala (4 successes), who quickly regained his traditional Top-Scorer guise. Biel also has the best shorthanded play in the league (94.7%), even if the sample is still small. If we add two goalkeepers who deliver the goods (92.6% cumulative saves), the outlook seems rather positive.

Fribourg (12e)

It’s difficult to gauge what Friborg is really worth this season. The Dragons certainly find themselves in a frustrating 12th place, but they are only three points behind 7th. Nothing to worry about too much, even if they score little (2.1 goals per match). They appear average in practically all classic statistics, although with a slight dependence on their foreign legion (two thirds of the 15 successes).

At most we could point to the fact that no defender has yet found the net, which may come as a surprise with players such as Yannick Rathgeb, Raphael Diaz, Andreas Borgman and Ryan Gunderson available. There is no doubt that the trend will improve in the future, which will help to improve the meager 6.4% shooting success rate of Fribourgeois, who are also the second team that tries their luck the most (33.7 shots per encounter). Despite these few offensive concerns, the Swede Marcus Sörensen seems to be back on solid footing with one point scored per match (8th pointer in the NL).

Geneva (11th)

The Eagles only played 5 matches due to the unavailability of the Vernets, which forced them to play away until October 18. Although they appear in a somewhat pleasing 11th place, the Servettians actually rank 7th in points per match (1.6). This start to the year is therefore in line with what could be expected of them, including a current series of 4 games with at least one point collected. The Genevans are well helped by the return to form of Teemu Hartikainen, who, with 4 goals, has already scored half of his total from last year, and Robert Mayer.

The Swiss-Czech goalkeeper had a high-flying month of September (1.8 goals conceded per match and 94.2% saves). He was also forced to make a series of starts in the absence of Gauthier Descloux, injured for an indefinite period. To replace him, sports director Marc Gautschi recruited Antti Raantawho is coming off 11 seasons in the NHL. An excellent signing, which however raises the question of the foreigner who will be designated supernumerary when the 35-year-old Finn is on the ice.

>> See also the RTS archives file on Vernets: SportVintage: the Vernets and the Genève-Servette HC

Lausanne (5th)

There were many questions around the LHC before the start of the season with its many summer changes. For the moment at least, the Vaudois have responded positively to expectations with 5 victories in 7 matches, including the last three in a row, each time beyond regulation time. Offensively, players like Damien Riat (6 points) and Théo Rochette (5) particularly shone in the game.

The Lausanne Foreign Legion worries much more. If Antti Suomela very quickly regained his best level after missing the opening match (7 points), Michael Raffl quickly fell into combat and found himself on the sidelines for a month. The concerns have continued in recent days with the announcement of the injuries to Lauri Pajuniemi and Janne Kuokkanen, forcing the LHC to field only four mercenaries on Tuesday in Bienne. The situation of the first named does not seem too serious (“day to day”, according to the established formula), but the second will be absent until mid-October. A tile for a club where everything was going well until now.

Bastien Trottet

All figures are taken from the website of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation and of nlicedata.com.