Did the Fribourg-Gottéron season take a new turn on Monday October 28? That day, Gerd Zenhäusern sold Chris DiDomenico, who had requested his departure, in exchange for the Swede Jakob Lilja d’Ambri. Criticized in the days that followed, isn’t the sporting director of the Dragons ultimately the big winner of this transfer?
Since that exchange, the dynamic has changed at the BCF Arena. In five games without the Canadian, Pat Emond’s men collected nine points, their best streak of the season. Over the period between October 28 and November 18, Gottéron is the fifth best team in the National League in terms of average points per game (1.8).
The Friborgs also, for the first time this year, had a weekend with two victories: Friday at home against Bern (5-4 tab) and Saturday in Davos (2-3). In these two games, against teams appearing in the top 4 of the championship, Friborg stole nothing. And Jakob Lilja, after three first matches passed through almost like a ghost, scored his first two successes under his new colors.
This transfer had an impact on the Dragons’ power play. They have scored five goals in the last five matches (26% success rate) in this situation. This represents a significant increase since in 16 games between the start of the championship and October 28, they had only scored six times in power play (13% success rate).
And Ambri in all this? The Biancoblu have not won a single duel since the arrival of Chris DiDomenico (a goal and an assist). With a record of three units (three defeats in overtime) in four outings, Luca Cereda’s team has been the weakest in the National League since October 28.
This analysis should be taken with a grain of salt because the sample remains relatively small. Time will determine the real winner of this exchange.
