Does the schedule disadvantage the teams from the canton of Bern?
Too many games? Too few appointments? There are legitimate questions about a connection between bad luck with injuries and the National League schedule.
Flavio Dirt (Langnau) and Thierry Bader (Bern) in a duel.
Image: Martin Meienberger / freshfocus
Let’s take two examples. The Biel team defeated Lugano 5:3 on October 4th. The next day they quietly lost 1:4 in Langnau. Langnau rocks the Leventina wins 4:3 in Ambri on October 18th. 24 hours later there was a 0-2 defeat against Kloten. These may be coincidences. Chosen to support a thesis.
Now it is the case that Biel’s board member Ueli Schwarz is not a man of polemics. And certainly not anyone who simply puts theories out into the world. He has been everything in our hockey: coach, sports director, association general and today he is known in the scene above all as a formidable TV expert.
He knows what he’s talking about and says in connection with Biel: “It helps a team with a narrow base like we have enormously if we have at least one day off between two games.” He has already discussed this with Langnau’s coach Thierry Paterlini and he has the same opinion.
The warning voices from sports medicine
There is also no shortage of warning voices from sports doctors who see the double rounds (only 24 hours or less between two games, most often Friday/Saturday) as a reason for many injuries. Especially because in double rounds there are sometimes longer trips home or there between the games.
Injuries have many causes and a direct connection to fatigue from double rounds as the cause cannot be proven beyond doubt. What is certain, however, is that a lack of recovery time and fatigue increase the susceptibility to injury. Especially with players who are pushed hard. The SCL Tigers have now lost four foreigners due to injuries: on Wednesday in the game against Bern (2:1 nV) also defender Juuso Riikola and top scorer Aleksi Saarela. Without illegal enemy influence.
It is still unclear how long the two Finns will be missing. Juuso Riikola definitely cannot compete against Gottéron today. Sean Malone (torn muscle) and Saku Mäenalanen (concussion) will no longer be able to play for a longer period of time. Biel had to (or still has to) do without Gaëtan Haas, Miro Zryd, Damien Brunner, Luca Cunti and Jérémie Bärtschi, among others. The list is not complete.
Langnau and Biel have a narrow base. Only at the ZSC Lions do injuries seem to have no impact on performance: Denis Malgin, Denis Hollenstein and Rudolfs Balcers, for example, were missing three strikers on Tuesday against Biel (4:2) who would form the first line of any other team. Nevertheless, the people of Zurich dominate the league. Because they are the only organization that can afford a farm team and therefore have by far the largest pool of players.
Are improvements to the game plan possible?
Even if a direct connection between the game plan and bad luck with injuries cannot be proven: With his suggestion that the game plan should take more into account recovery time and thus the health of the players, Ueli Schwarz is addressing a topic that is talked about again and again sometimes it has to be used as an excuse.
The EHC Biel (in the white jerseys) had to compete against the ZSC Lions on Tuesday with the last line-up.
Image: Til Buergy / KEYSTONE
So the question goes to “game plan general” Willi Vögtlin: Are improvements to the game plan possible? He says clearly: “No.” The reason: There are simply too many constraints or too few appointments. For example, he still hasn’t found a new date for the game Servette against Langnau, which was postponed on Monday due to a power outage. “We can probably only catch up on the game after the Spengler Cup break.”
In any case, he doesn’t dictate the game plan. Ultimately, he just implements the wishes of the clubs. He explains the procedure like this: “I visit every single club and discuss the dates. Then I put together the game plan according to the clubs’ wishes. The game plan is then sent to the clubs for approval and only then is it published.”
This means: It is up to the clubs to influence the game plan during the planning phase. At the end of the qualification everyone is equal in front of the game plan. But anyone who claims that some clubs are more equal before the schedule is somewhat right. Especially when it comes to the game plan: pleasing everyone is an art that no one can do.
