Will the Champions Hockey League version 2022/23 finally be that of the Swiss clubs? With already three qualified before the last two days, Switzerland could be proud to have almost flown over the group stage. Since yesterday evening, they are four, only Rapperswil will remain on the floor.
There are matches you can approach without pressure. Salzburg-Freiburg tonight will be the perfect example. Yesterday, thanks to the success of Ilves Tampere against Stavanger (4-1), the formation of Christian Dube qualified without a fight for the round of 16 of the competition.
The last two games to be played against the Austrians should therefore above all serve the Dragons to regain a certain ability to score goals, their big black spot since the start of this season.
To the Salzburg Ice Arena, no luck for the people of Fribourg, we are not used to losing on the Austrian side. The last time was… this weekend (!) against Klagenfurt (photo, Ali Wukovits), otherwise at the beginning of September in CHL against Ilves (normal, what) and last March against Vienna in the playoffs, on the road to the title.
In short, the meeting will be taken seriously by the winged Bulls who still have to make points to finish 2nd in the group. With success tonight in regular time, Salzburg would get their way and eliminate a small Ilves Tampere who remain on three defeats in their last four Liiga games.
To score goals!
In Freiburg, we remain on a mortifying defeat against the red lantern Langnau. And yet the opportunities abounded. On the balance sheet, only one goal scored by a … defender (Diaz). The Dragons have put on their overalls, we can no longer blame them for the sufficiency displayed against Ambrì and Ajoie (five points lost!), but they do not score. 22 shots to 4 for the Freibourgese in the 3rd period against the Tigers, what more could you ask for?
Goals. Those that might mark a Marcus Sorensen which is seriously starting to fail… without having proven anything yet, except during the preparation. It’s a bit of a short excuse.
The Friborg coach admits that producing two goals per match (we’ll forget the nine against Kloten) is very insufficient. If the chances are there, but the puck doesn’t end up in the back of the net, there is only one plausible reason: you have to know how to give the last thrust. Of hands.
And there, we are obliged to point the finger at the duo From the Rose–Kuokkanen. However excellent they may be, they are currently unsubscribed. Dubé did not want to look for a replacement for Sörensen to give them a little more responsibility, it is now up to them to prove that they deserve the confidence of an understanding coach. But worried.