Preseason NLA rankings

Preseason LNA rankings 

1. Zürich Lions

His name is Auston Matthews and he's big attraction in this years LNA, the future number one of NHL draft for 2016 chose a different way to get into the NHL. Tradition says the fastest way to get into NHL are the juniors leagues. But the young american star is about to turn a pro-player one year before all others.  Last year he just beat the points record of USDP(American junior league) by passing Patrick Kane and Jack Eichel. So is natural to get big expectations(a point by game) for this young star in this years NLA. 

Zürich is the natural regular season favorite because the way the club is able to work with young players. The team adopts a North American/Scandinavian style were they able profit of all talent they have in the junior squads and their farm team in LNB. Marc Crawford is the right men for the job by not having afraid to give a those talents a big amount of ice time even in the first team.

2. Lugano 

Damien Brunner, Ilari Filppula, Linus Klasen, Tony Martensson and Fredrik Pettersson are more than enough arguments against the NLA defenses, specially in power-play where the team expects to be the power-house in this years LNA. If Daniel Manzanto can continue with the 93% of saves, Lugano can be a serious contender. 

3. Bern 

In the third year with the club, coach Guy Boucher could fill the pressure to win the championship. Janick Schwendener could be the number one goalie this season, stealing the job that in the last 15 years was from Marco Bührer. The last two years at 91% was unacceptable for a caliber championship like Bern. Cory Conacher, Andrew Ebbett and Trevor Smith are the Canadian players that Guy Boucher know and trust for score goals. 

4. Davos 

Arno del Curto is still the right men for the job. The "Panoramix" of Swiss ice hockey is still the boss in the city. This will be the first year without the brothers Von Arx(both retired in the end of the season). The team(still very young) is basically the same of last years title with one year more. So you can expect again a big fight for the championship. 

5. Zug 

The fifth tenor of this league have the pressure this year to get at least a semi-final. The third biggest budget of the league has no excuses to get a place in the top-4. The best goalie in the league. A solid defense and an attack that have the pleasure to receive this year Finish star Jarkko Immonen in the squad.

6. Geneva-Servette

In the fifteen year with Servette coach Chris McSorley knows how to get the best of the team. If the biggest teams have problems with their performance Geneva will be there to profit. It would't be a surprise to see the Spengler Cup champions to get new presence in semi-finals or even in finals. 

7. Kloten Flyers

Another team to big to fail, but sometimes...they fail big into the play-outs. Last year was case and certainly coach Sean Simpson don't want(can't) repeat that horrible performance. Swedish defensemen Erik Gustafsson and the American Chad Kolarik were engaged to give a new life to this talented team. But the biggest question for the Kloten Flyers team is... his the Swiss legend Martin Gerber still the man for the job? At age of 41 we have some doubts has the veteran goalie pass from 92.7% to 91.5%  last year. If he still got it all, Kloten can be trouble for the top-5 teams. 

8. Biel-Bienne 

With the new stadium come big ambitions. The target number one is to make a solid season into the play-offs. Coach Kevin Schlapfer receive some good gifts like the American Tim Stapleton but the defense(with big potential) seems to be a little bite young has the oldest player has 27 years old. The two goalies Rytz and Meili must play at minimum 90% for that play-off spot be a reality. 

9. Lausanne  

The season of Lausanne is depending of former NHL goalie Cristobal Huet. If Lausanne was in the play-offs the last two years was thanks to great defensive system from coach Heinz Ehlers and the 93% of saves from his star goalie.  

10. Fribourg 

After a nightmare season for Fribourg, this 10th place in the ranking is full of doubts also in the Swiss press because no one really knows the real value of this years team. Starting with the goalie Benjamin Conz that passed from two season at 92% to 89.6%. If players like the captain Julien Sprunger and center Andrei Bykov are healthy Fribourg can easily give trouble to anyone in the league. If not... it will be a long season. 

11. Ambri 

The team from the little village called Quinto is like the "carton Asterix" were they always find way to put a fight against the power-house teams, specially at Valascia were the home crowd make figure of seven men on the ice. They won't go to the play-outs without put a big battle on. 

12. Langnau 

After two years without participating in LNA. Like Ambri players and fans breath the local hockey. That's what matters and they are very proud of it. And like Ambri they won't go in play-outs without a fight. 

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