Published
LHC take on Ambri in pre-play-off in a best-of-three mini-series. First act Friday at the Vaudoise arena. Beware of the Biancoblu state of mind.
Ambri fans will be ready to push their team to victory once morest the LHC.
Michela Locatelli / freshfocus
While the Lausanne public regained its fervor at the end of the season, that of Ambri vibrates more than ever since the miraculous qualification of the Biancoblu for the pre-play-off. LHC-Ambri? The series of passion and emotions? Certainly. In this sense, Act II, Sunday evening in Leventina, already promises to reach heights in terms of the atmosphere in the stands.
Ambri has just performed a miracle by climbing to 10th place in the final round and everything suggests that coach Luca Cereda’s squad will probably still be on cloud nine to start the preplay-off once morest Lausanne HC. “It was impossible, so we did it,” tweeted the Leventine club on Monday evening just following its unexpected qualification for the preplay-off, paraphrasing in passing the famous quote from the American writer Mark Twain.
The Leventines camp on six victories in a row, including five obtained in regulation time. In this series between the 7th and 10th of the regular season, Ambri will necessarily have everything to gain and Lausanne everything to lose.
Still, on paper, the LHC is clearly the favorite in this preplay-off series. John Fust’s Lions – statistically the best team of 2022 – have made a strong impression in recent weeks by winning eight of their last ten games, and they would no doubt already be through to the title playoffs if a game they were due to play in Langnau on January 25 had not been canceled along the way.
The winner of the series between Lausanne and Ambri will face Fribourg-Gottéron (2nd) in the quarter-finals.
The dates
Friday March 18, in Lausanne (7:45 p.m.).
Sunday March 20, at Ambri (7:45 p.m.).
Possibly Tuesday March 22, in Lausanne (7:45 p.m.).
Direct confrontations
3-1 in favor of Lausanne HC:
19.10.2021: Ambri – Lausanne 3-2
16.01.2022: Lausanne – Ambri 3-2
22.02.2022: Lausanne – Ambri 3-2
25.02.2022: Ambri – Lausanne 3-5
The best counters
Jiri Sekac (50 matches, 19 buts, 27 assists, 46 points).
The Czech Jiri Sekac has been on fire since the beginning of the year.
Pascal Muller/freshfocus
Inti Pestoni (52 matches, 16 buts, 23 assists, 39 points).
The most penalized
Floran Douay (1st in NL, 45 matches, 94 penalty minutes).
Tobias Fohrler (6th in NL, 48 games, 65 penalty minutes).
The gardians
Luca Boltshauser (24 games, 2.55 goals/game, 90.92% saves)
Tobias Stephan (29 games, 2.68 goals/game, 90.35% saves)
Damiano Ciaccio (26 matches, 3.12 goals/match, 90.27% saves)
Janne Juvonen, FIN (7 games, 1.56 goals/game, 93.49% saves)
*Benjamin Conz/Injured (26 matches, 2.59 goals/match, 91.71% saves)
The coaches
John Fust, CAN/SUI (50 years old, 1st full season as head coach of the LHC)
Luca Cereda, SUI (40 years old, 5th season as head coach of Ambri)
The barometer
The LHC is in great shape. The Lions have gotten into the good habit of winning.
freshfocus
Eight wins in regulation time for two defeats in the last ten matches. Most successful team since the start of 2022.
The Leventines camp on a series of six consecutive victories, including five in regulation time.
