“We want to get out of it”: Fribourg-Gottéron in search of its reference matches

Currently 11th in the National League with 22 points in 19 games, Friborg is not where it would like to be. After four days of vacation, the Dragons returned to the ice, with a smile.

A first training session of 30 minutes, then another of 40. In Fribourg, we take advantage of the international break so as not to lose momentum. Normal, after a start to the season below expectations.

“I think this break was good,” says coach Pat Emond. We played 25 matches in eight weeks: 19 league matches and 6 Champions League matches, that’s a lot. Emotionally, we had our ups and downs and I think it feels good to have had a break.”

For its last match before the break, Friborg went to collect a point against Zurich, solid leader. But in a situation like the one Gottéron is currently experiencing, this point almost sounds like a defeat. “We have shown good performances in the last matches, despite results not always living up to our ambitions,” says the Quebec coach. But the quality of our game was there. We have to build on this match against Zurich.

Know how to chain

This season, Friborg is struggling to keep going. A good performance on a Tuesday can be canceled out by a missed game on Friday. It’s as if the Friborgs couldn’t rely on a reference match.

“I think we need more than a reference match,” notes Patrick Emond. That’s our difficulty this year. We have had good performances, sometimes poorly paid, but we have not been able to put together a certain number of victories which would allow us to say that we have got through it. We are playing much better these days, but we need points. Fortunately, the guys are very supportive. They work hard and everyone wants to do well.”

On Monday, Freiburg flies to Sweden, because the Dragons face the Växjö Lakers on Tuesday in the Champions League. A way to escape the daily life of the National League. “The CHL matches during the season did us good,” he analyzes. This brings in some fresh air. The guys like it, it creates a good atmosphere. Especially since we are going there by charter. The organization allows us to make this trip in good conditions.”

The desire for new momentum

Faithful soldier of Patrick Fischer in the Swiss team, Christoph Bertschy did not have the honor of being selected this time, but the Fribourgeois knows that it is only a postponement. “We talked about it with Fischer and we said to ourselves that since there was the Champions League and the Spengler at the end of the year, it might be easier to select me for the matches in Friborg in December” , he explains.

And Gottéron’s number 28 particularly appreciated these few days of break: “It did a lot of good, both physically and mentally. This frees your head and allows you to come back with new momentum. There we are going to go to Sweden and we will be able to get to know each other in another way.”

If the European Cup offers the chance to escape a little from the current gloom in the league, the National League is never far away. After returning from Sweden, Pat Emond’s squad received Bern for an extremely important Zähringen derby, before heading to Davos and receiving Växjö. No really, if you have to breathe, it’s now.

ATS, by Jean-Frédéric Debétaz