Lausanne HC signs a 16th victory. Against Langnau, they won 4-1 at home. A match to which hundreds of stuffed animals were invited.
It was a family Sunday at the Vaudoise Aréna. Children and parents gathered in the ice rink for the traditional teddy toss. And the event is taken very seriously. Some families actually arrived at the rink with whole bags of stuffed animals.
The rule is always the same: the throw takes place at the first base of the LHC or at the end of the second third. But this Sunday, this goal was long overdue. There was nothing very exciting to eat in the first half. A few actions here and there, without seeing any very dangerous shots.
The 5 minutes of powerplay from which the Lions benefited will not have changed anything.
Emotion
Lausanne’s first goal was so desired that it even gave rise to a false start. In the 24th minute, Ken Jäger slammed a powerful shot into the cage, but it only found the outside of the net.
The public wanted to believe it and stuffed animals began to rush down the stands. Finally reaching the ice. No intruding object having penetrated the Lausanne offensive zone where the action continued, the referees allowed the game to play before finally interrupting the match. Gavin Bayreuther laughed about it after the meeting: “I’ve never seen that! I didn’t understand if it was frustration or if they thought we had scored!”
Nothing to disturb the Lions, even if Damien Riat admits that “I tried to go help to remove the lint as quickly as possible, so that we could resume the match”. Some Emmental residents also got their hands dirty. Quite cute since they sent as many soft toys back into the stands so that the children could throw them back later.
Teddy Bears, Act II
“We had the chances, so sooner or later it was going to happen,” comments Damien Riat. It was ultimately number 9 who opened the scoring and triggered the avalanche of stuffed animals (31st, assists: Antti Suomela and Jason Fuchs). A first for the Lausanne striker.
The attacker will undoubtedly be inspired by this afternoon to tell his daughter a story and put her to sleep.
In any case, on the Lausanne bench, we really take this event with a smile. When Geoff Ward is thrown on the stuffed animals, the coach laughs: “I left the bench.” For a second, it’s hard to tell if he’s serious or not. “Not that I don’t like it, but it’s a good time to go for a drink because I know the game won’t resume for 15 minutes,” he smiles.
The Canadian experienced a lot of fluff throwing in the United States. So, what difference does he notice compared to Lausanne? Here again, he responds with humor: “It always takes longer to clear here!” Gavin Bayreuther estimates that the public has launched “at least twice as many” stuffed animals as in the United States, although we doubt it a little.
In this little festive moment, we will again note the courage of this spectator who threw a soft toy bearing the image of the mascot of… Genève-Servette. Enough to make the children responsible for collecting the toys smile.
“If I had known I would have celebrated a little more”
But back to the sportsman. This goal comes relatively late. Not enough to completely protect the people of Lausanne. Before Riat found the net, was doubt setting in?
From there, Lausanne HC actually took the lead completely. Four minutes later, it was Gavin Bayreuther’s turn to deceive the Emmental goalkeeper (36th, assists: Lauri Pajuniemi and Janne Kuokkanen). Then Antti Suomela also consolidated his team’s advantage. The Lausanne Top Scorer pushed the puck deep while Luca Boltshauser was sprawled on his stomach without being able to secure the puck (40th, assists: David Sklenicka and Jason Fuchs).
Kevin Pasche will concede a goal in the third period. Flavio Schmutz forcing a little on his pad to pass the puck behind the line (52nd, assists: Timo Jenni and Janne Kuokkanen). Nothing that would make the Lions tremble.
Jordann Bougro also responded to Schmutz 8 seconds later. An engagement won by Kuokkanen, a puck directly sent into the offensive zone and the eldest of the Bougro brothers recovered to score his first goal with the LHC.
The striker, who plays at Sierre at the same time, has already come close to scoring this first goal a few times. Did this success somehow liberate him?
Navigating between two clubs is not a problem for Jordann Bougro. “I’m 26 years old, I’m in really good physical shape, I feel good about my body,” he explains. The more matches you play, the better you feel, the better your legs are.” So there are only positives in this situation. “When I go back to Sierre, I feel like the game is slower and I have more time with the puck, so that’s good. And when I come here I try to give my best all the time.”
In Lausanne, Jordann skates alongside his brother, Benjamin. Now that the eldest has unlocked his counter, will the two brothers keep a scoreboard to see who scores the most?
Next week, Lausanne HC will travel to Biel on Tuesday before receiving the current leader Davos on Thursday. The Lions are in 2nd place, 1 point behind Graubünden.
