Lakers awaiting opponent for NLA playouts

The relegation round is quickly explained. The teams ranked 9 through 12 after the regular season play each other at home and away. The top two teams remain in the National League A and can plan their vacation. The last two teams play a best of seven series where the loosing team plays yet another series against the winner of the National League B for a spot in the NLA next season.

While the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers and HC Ambri-Piotta were the teams you could expect in the relegation round, HC Fribourg-Gottéron and the Kloten Flyers were a bit of a surprise but in no way unfamiliar to this situation.

Especially the Flyers had stocked up with new players for this season and expectations were high after reaching last years final against the neighbour ZSC Lions, loosing in four straight games. Kloten struggled throughout the season, unable to create a series of wins which would have seen the team of then-coach Felix Hollenstein rise above that dividing line that separates the playoff contenders from the bottom 4 teams of the league. After 50 regular season games they found themselves on the 10th spot.

Fribourg-Gottéron was the other exceptional story. The dragons had a similar set-up as Kloten but struggled to deliver in the same ways as the Flyers and so Hans Kossmann had to clear his seat and Gerd Zenhäusern, assistant coach of EHC Biel took over as the head coach.

The standings after 3 rounds saw Fribourg in the leader position with 66 points (the points earned during the qualification were added), Kloten and Ambri with 62 points each and Rapperswil, with no chance to reach the top 2 spots,  46 points.

Kloten Flyers - HC Ambri Piotta

4 unanswered goals were just too much for Ambri-Piotta as Kloten displayed the much missed confidence during the regular season. James Vandermeer, Tommi Santala, Steve Kellenberger and Captain Victor Stancescu had found a way to beat Edgars Masalskis in the Ambri goal. It was well deserved because the Flyers fought harder for the puck, tried to remain a step ahead of their opponents and seemed more determined to keep the points. Goalie Gerber had a good night, as he added another shutout, not allowing a single goal. With this victory, Kloten remains 4 points behind Fribourg.

Rapperswil-Jona Lakers - HC Fribourg-Gottéron

Between the Lakers and Fribourg-Gottéron, Rapperswil had the lucky start when Dominik Granak put the puck in his own net but Jeremy Kamerzin made up for the faux-pas just minutes later to even the score. Adam Hasani with one and again Kamerzin secured the 3 points for Gottéron and can now take things a little easier. The question remains, if the dragons will try to beat the Flyers at all cost in their last home game on Saturday. Kloten require one more win to book their tickets for their early summer vacation.

The standings now are: 1. Fribourg 69 points, 2. Kloten 65 points, Ambri 62 points, Rapperswil 46 points.

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