Kloten is allowed, the others have to win

The performance of EHC Kloten and its coaching staff led by Jeff Tomlinson cannot be overestimated. The newcomers, who started with little credit, were actually seeded for one of the last three places but qualified for the play-off round of 16 thanks to a 4-1 win in Davos on Saturday. There, the Zürcher Unterländer meet an opponent at the other end of the emotional scale.

SC Bern also had to fight against the end of the season until the last matchday, but of course has different demands and a different budget. But you should definitely not write off the Bernese. It was only seven years ago that they also played a miserable qualification, cheated their way into the playoffs by a hair’s breadth against Lausanne, who had the same number of points, and then stormed to the championship title with interim coach Lars Leuenberger – 4-0 against the qualification winner ZSC Lions, 4-1 against the second Davos and again 4:1 in the final against Lugano they won their series.

Tomlinson’s last games as manager

This time they have yet to earn the quarterfinals in eighth place. In a series of two wins, the ice is thin and you can hardly afford to make mistakes. Who saw the jubilation of the Klotener in Davos could get the impression that the breath of the newly promoted team is already gone. On the other hand, he has nothing left to lose. “We are dangerous because we can just play,” promised successful coach Tomlinson, who wants or has to retire to the second rank at the end of the season because of his kidney disease, in the “Tages-Anzeiger”. He would like to delay his retirement a little longer. There were two wins each in qualifying.

But there is a lot to be said for SC Bern. He has already overcome some resistance this season, has some very experienced players in his ranks in Tristan Scherwey, Ramon Untersander or Beat Gerber and generally has a better playing class. PostFinance top scorer Chris DiDomenico is a symbol of this. The discussions about the idiosyncratic – depending on the reading also stubborn – Canadian, who will return to Freiburg after just one season, have not thrown the Bernese off the track. He’ll want to show everyone again; whether he has his emotions under control and plays for the team or for the gallery should be decisive for SCB’s playoff success.

12:0 points for Fribourg

The second series between Fribourg-Gottéron and Lugano appears clearer on paper. Freiburg missed 6th place and direct qualification for the quarterfinals against Zug by just one point and collected nine points more than Lugano. In addition, you won all four games against the Ticino with the maximum number of points.

Nevertheless, the disappointment in the team of coach and sports director Christian Dubé should be great. They were in the top 6 for practically the entire season and only fell below the line after a defeat in the third to last round in Zug. The home advantage does not really appear as such, given only one win in the last seven games in the home St-Léonard. And so Dubé says: “Small things will decide.”

Lugano also hardly goes into the duel with a big chest. The top-class team with great ambitions lost a 5-1 lead against Biel in the last round and only made it into the playoffs thanks to Lausanne’s simultaneous defeat.

The start is on Tuesday, the second game is on Thursday and a possible decision game on Saturday. The playoff quarter-finals will then continue on Tuesday in a week in the usual best-of-7 format.