Fribourg-Gottéron manages the break in the playoff final

Six and a half minutes separated Gottéron from another premature end to the season on April 1st. The team was a huge favorite at home in the belle of the play-off quarter-final series against the brave and humble Rapperswil-Jona Lakers with a score of 2:3. Then the Swedish center Jacob de la Rose equalized. And Gottéron then trembled his way into the semi-finals in extra time.

It was suspected that it was a flash in the pan. Because two key players are missing: defender Andrea Glauser, the Swiss World Cup captain in 2025, and striker Sandro Schmid. Because defense chief Patrik Nemeth missed five games due to suspension. Because Gottéron had never been able to win a play-off series against their semi-final opponents Geneva/Servette. And because there were persistent rumors about internal dissonance – the strict nature of the Swedish coach Roger Rönnberg is not equally well received by everyone. The first-line center Lucas Wallmark is about to move home despite a contract valid until 2027. Although that perhaps says something more about Wallmark than about Rönnberg: The striker had already said goodbye to the ZSC Lions early in 2023 because he had not been able to warm up to coach Marc Crawford.

But something has started to move in and around Gottéron. The long-lasting win against the Lakers released unexpected energies. The team plays freely without pressure, inspired by the outsider role that Rönnberg conjured up when he was hired: “Us against the whole of Switzerland”.

In the cold Freiburg night, people camp in front of the stadium in search of tickets

It seems as if the Freiburg collective is on a mission. And that only consists of enabling long-time team stalwarts Julien Sprunger (retiring at the end of the season) and Reto Berra (moving to Kloten) to ride into the sunset. With a 4-1 win, Gottéron eliminated the old nemesis Servette, whose goalkeeper Stéphane Charlin and Robert Mayer friendly waved the pucks into the net.

The reward was the first final qualification since 2013. And since securing this rendezvous with the record champions Davos, the euphoria no longer knows any bounds. People camped outside the stadium to get tickets. The FKB Arena has been sold out for every competitive game for three years, without exception; Gottéron could have filled his hall three times in the final.

And the events of Saturday evening provide further fuel that makes the fire of the dragon, Gottéron’s mythical animal in the club’s emblem, burn even stronger. The guest won 3-2 in Davos in what ended up being a dramatic opening game. Against the qualifying winners, who are so often irresistible at home and who had previously won 29 of their 32 home games this season. And was undefeated in the ongoing play-off in the Zondacrypto Arena.

The HCD was 0-3 behind for a long time, but equalized with Brendan Lemieux 91 seconds before the end. Rönnberg took his challenge because of goalkeeper interference, and the referee duo Borga/Kaukokari took up so much time studying the video that you could have watched a “Good Times, Bad Times” episode. For the HCD, the result of the long test had the latter result: the hit was disallowed. The decision was understandable: the top scorer Stransky was on top of Berra, the goalkeeper had no chance to defend.

Not everyone in the hall managed to channel their emotions: Lemieux, who was prevented from scoring, knocked down Freiburg team leader Christoph Bertschy, for which, after studying the video again, he was given a game misconduct penalty one second before the end. It would be a surprise if the American king of punishment wasn’t banned. “He had the clear intention of hurting Bertschy,” raged Rönnberg. Meanwhile, in the final seconds, Gottéron’s bench was harassed for an irritatingly long time by an HCD fan in the main stand, without any security staff showing up.

Former NHL goalie David Aebischer as Gottéron’s secret match winner

When the siren finally sounded, the Freiburg staff members celebrated frenetically in the cabin corridor, sometimes bordering on arrogance. David Aebischer, the goalkeeper coach and former NHL goalie, who sits in the stands and radios the coaching team whether a challenge is worth it, received a particularly euphoric high-five. “You are my hero,” assistant coach Lars Leuenberger called out to him happily. Aebischer’s contribution and responsibility should not be underestimated: Everything was at stake in the supposed 3:3: If the goal had been assessed as regular, Davos would have been able to play for two minutes in the power play. And he couldn’t take nearly as much time with his decision as the referees did afterwards. But he really played poker. And was Gottéron’s secret match winner.

The HCD does not have to be disillusioned by the opening defeat. The shooting ratio was 33:19 in favor of the hosts, Davos were overwhelmingly superior in the final third, although the injury-related absences of Enzo Corvi, Michael Fora and Valentin Nussbaumer hurt this team badly. Resilience was one of the most important quality features in Davos this winter. Coach Josh Holden’s team will have to prove this quality again if they want to win the 32nd championship title in the club’s history. Due to the bang at the start, the characteristics of the HCD have changed significantly: for the first time this season, they are now the outsiders.