SCB against SCL Tigers: Tapola leaves Kahun out

Lame Langnauer gets a slap in the face in the derby

SC Bern won the season opener against the SCL Tigers 3:1. Dominik Kahun was missing from SCB and the Langnau team lacked the will to fight for a long time.

Published today at 12:04

Clear conditions in the derby: Bern (left Marc Marchon) achieves success against Langnau (Dario Allenspach) even with rustic means.

Photo: Claudio De Capitani (Freshfocus)

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Top scorer Kahun: The starting place is not secure

It was already apparent during the preparation: Dominik Kahun was only used in the 2nd power play block, while the newcomers Viktor Ejdsell, Waltteri Merelä and Austin Czarnik played together in formation 1. And now the SCB top scorer from last season (51 points in 54 games) was actually the surplus foreigner at the start of the championship.

“Kahun will play in Kloten on Friday,” revealed SCB coach Jussi Tapola after the game. And yet there could be more to it than just a rotation of the seven foreign players, of whom only six are allowed on the match sheet.

Only the entry is spectacular: In the game that follows, Anton Lindholm impresses above all with his inconspicuous, solid defensive work.

Photo: Claudio De Capitani (Freshfocus)

Patrik Nemeth and newcomer Anton Lindholm are straightforward and very solid defenders who do everything right, especially without the puck. The way Tapola ticks, it’s hard to imagine either of them watching regularly.

Center Czarnik and the wingers Merelä and especially the 1.95m giant Ejdsell impressed in their first game with their two-way qualities, power and puck recoveries. All things that Tapola wants to see and demands in every shift – regardless of whether the player is a junior or a foreigner. Kahun is probably still the most creative, but also the most offensively oriented SCB striker. He will have to assert himself in his season debut and provide arguments for Tapola – his path to a regular place is most likely via Czarnik.

Langnau’s friendly win «for the Füchse»

“Chräblä, bissä, chlemmä” – in the broadest sense, that should have been the motto of the SCL Tigers. Achieve something with fighting spirit and physical play and return home with one or two points. Things turned out completely differently, even worse: the SCB showed the Langnau team how it’s done. They played with more intensity and less frills. And made significantly fewer mistakes.

Not a successful return to Bern: Claude Paschoud (left) blocks a shot by SCB striker Marc Marchon in his first NL game with Langnau, while teammate Bastian Guggenheim looks on in fascination.

Photo: Claudio De Capitani (Freshfocus)

Which raises the question of whether Thierry Paterlini’s team is being blinded by the outstanding results of the preparation with all the victories. It is of course nonsense that the Tigers have been pushed into the role of favourites here and there, regardless of their upward trend. But it is still surprising that they seem almost a little perplexed after the Mutzen increased their pace. The coach definitely admitted that his team was not determined enough. And when asked about the victory a week earlier in the last test against the SCB, defender Claude-Curdin Paschoud said: “That game was for the Füchse.”

In the last three seasons, the Emmental team started the championship with a big win (against Lugano, the ZSC Lions and Servette). Now they have to deliver against Gottéron and Zug this weekend, otherwise the mini-euphoria will fade again.

Simon Moser’s first time

It was an unusual sight: for the first time since 2017, Simon Moser played without a C on the SCB jersey – he was replaced as captain this season by Ramon Untersander. Tapola now provided the explanation for the change: “After his summer and the preparation with injuries, I wanted him to be able to really focus on himself and his game without any additional pressure.”

Where were the tiger imports?

What would the Tigers be without their foreign players? Since their promotion in 2015, it has been the equation that no one in Emmental can avoid: good imports = few worries. There were seasons when Langnau’s foreign players scored around 70 percent of all goals. In the last season, however, this figure has fallen (55 percent), which speaks for the improving Swiss attackers, but also indicates certain scoring inhibitions among Pesonen and the like.

The game passes the Tigers captain by: Harri Pesonen (right) has to let SCB striker Thierry Schild go.

Photo: Peter Klaunzer (Keystone)

In Bern, captain Harri Pesonen remained pale, as did Sean Malone. Aleksi Saarela and Saku Mäenalanen made a few appearances, but they too were unable to shine. In fact, it was the foreigners who sealed the defeat: in the middle third, the men and defender Juuso Riikola each received a penalty within 54 seconds – Langnau, with two players fewer, conceded the 0:3.

Are these the new “Double Scherweys”?

At the end of last season, Yanick Sablatnig earned the SCB contract for 2024/25 as a loan player from Basel with his rebellious play – a “Scherwey light” so to speak. Marc Marchon, a new signing from Kloten, has similar qualities, and so Tapola turned the two into a wing pairing that was a pain for the opponent in the face in Game 1, with center Thierry Bader as cover in the middle.

Running: SCB coach Jussi Tapola observes the game and victory against Langnau.

Photo: Peter Klaunzer (Keystone)

The SCB coach liked what he saw, and he especially wanted to highlight the trio’s first appearance in the middle third. Marchon and Sablatnig tired out Langnau’s fourth line with several waves of forechecking, which was the basis for Fabian Ritzmann’s 2:0. He came in as a substitute and successfully completed his solo run against the exhausted Joel Salzgeber – a typical goal in the middle third with the long transition routes to his own bench.

“Successful teams know what to do in which situation,” said Tapola. And: “Even if many players in Switzerland believe it: It’s not always just about scoring points.”

The «Tapola Special»

And then there was this: When the Langnau team went for a face-off in front of the SCB goal in the final minute in search of a goal with 6-on-5, they were faced with three Bernese defenders (Untersander, Nemeth, Lindholm) – one I have hardly seen any tactics in professional ice hockey. Brilliant idea or “over-coaching?” Or even inspiration from American football and the intention of being able to slow down the opponents with three linebackers?

1, 2 or 3? With Anton Lindholm, Patrik Nemeth and Ramon Untersander (in the top scorer’s jersey, from left), there are suddenly three defenders instead of the usual two defending in front of SCB goalie Adam Reideborn in the final minute.

Screenshot: Mysports

“He often watches other sports and looks for ideas,” said Tapola. But here it was a stupid matter of having three strong defenders in front of his own goal in order to be able to control the opponents’ sticks. “And,” as the Finn also noted with a grin, “we want to develop ice hockey further…”

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Philipp Rindlisbacher has been working for Tamedia since 2008. He is chairman of the Bern sports team and deputy head of the department. He mainly reports on alpine skiing, wrestling and ice hockey. More info

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topicnews · September 19, 2024

SCB against SCL Tigers: Tapola leaves Kahun out

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