The die is cast, the eight playoff and four playout participants have been decided. On Saturday, bottom-placed Kloten of all teams ensured that Geneva-Servette qualified for the playoffs. The Zurich lowlanders defeated the SCL Tigers, who fought a fierce battle for 8th place in the long-distance duel against Geneva until the very end.
The Tigers are hugely disappointed. Last week, the Emmental lost the direct duel against Servette in the Ilfis-Halle at home, followed by the decisive game against Kloten. The two games are symbolic of Langnau's failure in key games. Tigers coach Heinz Ehlers is hard on his team, saying: "Maybe it has to do with pressure. There are stowaways. They're just there and hope someone else will take responsibility. That's not how it works."
While the SCL Tigers, together with Lausanne, Ambri and Kloten, are fighting to stay in the league, Bern, Zug, Biel, Lugano, Davos, ZSC, Fribourg and Geneva are battling for the championship title.
The clear favorite for the cup is - as so often - SC Bern. The 2017 champions have been running lonely circles at the top of the table for months and qualified for the playoffs on January 19. The main challenge for the qualification winners was to keep their concentration high. It seems to have succeeded in doing so.
But the SCB has been warned. The quarter-finals have often been the last stop for the qualifying winners. This is probably also due to the fact that the eighth-placed team - this year Servette - has been playing with maximum intensity in the battle for the play-offs for some time. And this intensity is a key attribute for success in the playoffs.
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