SCBdude
SC Bern 1931
All talk about the new NLA season which starts tonight.
ZSC playing Fribourg.
Who ya got? I think the Gotteron wins by goals from Monnet.
ZSC playing Fribourg.
Who ya got? I think the Gotteron wins by goals from Monnet.
Any prediction? Here are mine (written before the first games):
1. Zug
They already had a good offense, but their defense lacked skills, and they made a good job upgrading it with Ramholt, Lüthi and replacing Wozniewski with Hutchinson.
2. Bern
Pretty much the same team as last year, with Moser added. No reason they shouldn't be near the top.
3. Fribourg
Unlike Zug, they didn't really adress their shortcoming on defense, Helbling won't help much. Good job adding Monnet to an already stacked offense.
4. ZSC
Losing Ambühl and Monnet is tough, but their defense is just too good to put them any lower.
5. Lugano
Good job adding Fritsche, Walsky, Kparghai and Walker, but the real improvement would be to avoir all the injuries they had last year.
6. Geneva
Hollenstein replaces Fritsche, and some moves among depth players, but the overall quality of the team didn't change much. Like Lugano, the best improvement would be to avoir injuries.
7. Davos
Getting Ambühl back is nice, but they lost a lot of defensive depth with Ramholt, Joggi and Alatalo. And although the new imports look good, Mahra, Taticek and Sykora were so well integrated that replacing them introduces some question marks. Some key players like Von Arx or Rizzi aren't getting any younger.
8. Kloten
They lost Hollenstein, but managed to add some depth, and Mueller is an intriguing signing. Add the experience of Gerber, a coach who knows what he's doing and a lot of players who gained confidences at the World Championship and you get enough to make the playoffs.
9. Lausanne
Although I'm not convinced with some of their imports, players such as Froidevaux, Savary or Neuenschwander gives them a depth few newly promoted team were able to have.
10. Ambrì
Good job adding some defensive depth, and Steiner should be good for some offense, but that's not enough to get them back to the playoffs.
11. Biel
As if losing Berra wasn't enough, with Kparghai, Huguenin and Wellinger three key defensemen left. Signing leftovers from other NLA teams and NLB players won't cut it.
12. Rapperswil
Persson is a nice addition, but this team simply lacks quality.
Not very different from the predictions you can read everywhere, but I think the people tend to underrate Zug and Lausanne, and overrate Davos. Any though?
Zug gets the recognition as an offensive juggernaut with discipline problems and are fairly rated as a top team in the NLA. Agree with you on Lausanne, I see it as a team that definitely could surprise quite a few teams and actually could become a borderline playoff team if everything pans out.
But I definitely NOT agree on your statement about Davos. They are pretty much the most hated franchise of the NLA (for whatever reason) and simply get way too much media coverage mainly due to their massive fanbase spread over Switzerland. It's probably the Toronto Maple Leafs effect
But it's consensual that they will finish this season between #5 and #8, which is a fair rating for the current team. As you said, Rizzi and RvA are not getting any younger and there are a lot of question marks around the new foreigners. But they still have the offensive depth and a man between insanity and geniosity in AdC as their headcoach. They will be fine until AdC and RvA are gone. After that...
Most prediction I've seen have Zug way behind Bern, Fribourg and even ZSC, which I don't buy. They obviously had descipline problems last season, but getting rid of Helbling and Wozniewski should help in that regard.
I don't know about the "Maple Leafs effect", living in Geneva I'm far away from the HCD hype machine, but I've seen some predictions with Davos at 3rd, which was the base of my overrating comment. If everyone had them between 5 and 8, I'd be fine with it.
And obviously, as long as AdC is there, they will be fine.
It's pretty bad in the german speaking part of Switzerland. Not so much in the greater Bern area, but everywhere else, Davos gets nearly as much media coverage as the local teams and SRF seems to have some kind of a love affair with Davos. At least according to every other fanbase
I guess many people also soured on Davos because of them making money of the Spengler Cup, while the other clubs are forced to have a break in the time around christmas and new year's eve, which would be a rather lucrative time otherwise.
I'm aware of that, but for some reason the Davos fan base never extended into French speaking Switzerland. On the other hand, Bern, Lugano and Ambrì have always been pretty popular over here (as well as the local teams, of course).
It doesn't really surprise me. Most of eastern Switzerland like St. Gallen or Thurgau and central Switzerland are somewhat in Davos' commuting area. And Zürich and Basel have many people from Graubünden that moved because of their jobs.
But there isn't anything I can think of that would draw any attention to Davos in the Romandie. SC Bern on the other hand is a club that is close to western Switzerland and has a drawing size that is nearly as big as HC Davos'. Ambri gets sympathy wherever they play, but I'm scratching my had a little regarding Lugano. Fans from their "Grande Lugano" times, perhaps?
As an interested observer I'm very intrigued by this Biel team (you may call it the Kane-effect). How come everybody always predicts them at the bottom and nevertheless they manage to get into PO - last year it took Fribourg a game 7 to kick'em out. Is it only Schlaepfer or are they sistematically underrated? They started off quite well again (SO win against Zurich and a narrow loss against Zug)
As an interested observer I'm very intrigued by this Biel team (you may call it the Kane-effect). How come everybody always predicts them at the bottom and nevertheless they manage to get into PO - last year it took Fribourg a game 7 to kick'em out. Is it only Schlaepfer or are they sistematically underrated? They started off quite well again (SO win against Zurich and a narrow loss against Zug)
Didn't like Fribourg in their first game, their offense did not look as good as last year but (unfortunately) they'll get better.
Hello guys.
Fabian Suter, from Zug, is leading in points league wide. 6 in 3 games. (it s a bit early to speak now ... obviously.)
In other words he scored in 3 games, 1/3 he scored in 50 games last year.
Or his carreer average is 0.5 pts/game, now he is at 2 pts/game.
Is it luck ? circumstances ? increased skills ? good line mates ?
all together ?
Do you consider it sustainable ?
tks
A 2ppg pace of Fabian Sutter?
I'd say it's a mix of linemates, small sample size, him being in good shape and the EVZ having a decent start. Emphasis on small sample size.
Just as Santala won't be able to keep his pace of 1.33 gpg up. And we won't have 20+ players that will keep scoring at a ppg+ pace.
1. Zug
They already had a good offense, but their defense lacked skills, and they made a good job upgrading it with Ramholt, Lüthi and replacing Wozniewski with Hutchinson.
2. Bern
Pretty much the same team as last year, with Moser added. No reason they shouldn't be near the top.
3. Fribourg
Unlike Zug, they didn't really adress their shortcoming on defense, Helbling won't help much. Good job adding Monnet to an already stacked offense.
4. ZSC
Losing Ambühl and Monnet is tough, but their defense is just too good to put them any lower.
5. Lugano
Good job adding Fritsche, Walsky, Kparghai and Walker, but the real improvement would be to avoir all the injuries they had last year.
6. Geneva
Hollenstein replaces Fritsche, and some moves among depth players, but the overall quality of the team didn't change much. Like Lugano, the best improvement would be to avoir injuries.
7. Davos
Getting Ambühl back is nice, but they lost a lot of defensive depth with Ramholt, Joggi and Alatalo. And although the new imports look good, Mahra, Taticek and Sykora were so well integrated that replacing them introduces some question marks. Some key players like Von Arx or Rizzi aren't getting any younger.
8. Kloten
They lost Hollenstein, but managed to add some depth, and Mueller is an intriguing signing. Add the experience of Gerber, a coach who knows what he's doing and a lot of players who gained confidences at the World Championship and you get enough to make the playoffs.
9. Lausanne
Although I'm not convinced with some of their imports, players such as Froidevaux, Savary or Neuenschwander gives them a depth few newly promoted team were able to have.
10. Ambrì
Good job adding some defensive depth, and Steiner should be good for some offense, but that's not enough to get them back to the playoffs.
11. Biel
As if losing Berra wasn't enough, with Kparghai, Huguenin and Wellinger three key defensemen left. Signing leftovers from other NLA teams and NLB players won't cut it.
12. Rapperswil
Persson is a nice addition, but this team simply lacks quality.
They shouldn't. But the pressure in those games might be higher than in any playoff game. At least for the NLA team (Biel). Visp has nothing to lose. But the NLA teams just have too much depth.
I'd say Biel in 5.
On the other hand, if stv11 comes out and predicts a win for Biel, the chances for Visp should be really good.