With the win against Lugano on Thursday evening, Freiburg survived a play-off series for only the second time with Christian Dubé on the boards. The club is under time pressure because its squad is aging.
Christian Dubé and HC Fribourg-Gottéron are in the semi-finals of the play-offs. The hope for the first title in the club’s history is alive.
Anthony Anex / Keystone
Special occasions require extraordinary measures. That’s why Hubert Waeber, the president of HC Fribourg-Gottéron, climbed down onto the ice on Thursday before his club’s seventh quarter-final game against HC Lugano and used the stadium microphone to invoke Freiburg’s unity “tous ensemble”, all together.
The entrepreneur from the automotive industry has a legendary role model. Before the first home game of the 1992 play-off final series between Gottéron and SC Bern, the legendary Jeannot Martinet drilled a piece of ice out of the playing surface and ate it with relish, to the delight of the audience. His message: Eat your opponent and enjoy it!
The episode had achieved little. The favorite from Bern won that final 3-2. Even the two Russian Gottéron stars Slawa Bykow and Andrei Chomutow couldn’t change anything. The hero of the series was not one of the ice hockey artists, but the young Patrick Howald from Bern, who decided the last game practically single-handedly.
Howald later ended his career in Gottéron’s dress. But the lightning-fast wing didn’t bring the championship trophy to Freiburg. Gottéron is still waiting for its first championship title in the 87th year of its existence. Now there is confidence again. Hubert Waeber told the NZZ before the start of the series against Lugano: “The whole of Freiburg is burning for this title!”
Looking back: HC Fribourg-Gottéron and its stadiums.
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Goalie Reto Berra proves that his reflexes are still awake at 37 years old
At least this fascinating organization made it through the first round of the playoffs, even if it had to go the maximum distance of seven games. Gottéron won the decisive game against Lugano 4-2. Christoph Bertschy was a two-goal scorer and, alongside goalkeeper Reto Berra, one of the key players in this game. Bertschy, a former junior to Gottéron, is already a champion. But he won this title in 2013 with his arch rivals from Bern. Last season he returned to Freiburg as a premium transfer.
After Thursday’s match, Bertschy stood in the dressing room and spoke of “soulagement”, relief – it was by far the most frequently heard word of the moment. And no one was more relieved than coach Christian Dubé. When asked how big it was, he replied: “Immensely big!”
Dubé has been Gottéron’s coach since 2019, and until last autumn he also worked in a dual role as sports director. In a sense, flying and without any preparation, he moved from the ice to the club’s carpet in 2015. But in Freiburg doubts grew steadily as to whether Gottéron could actually win titles with the once brilliant technician on the board. As of Thursday, the club had only won one of seven play-off series with him; a quarter-final in 2022 against Lausanne HC.
Lausanne or Dubé’s former club SC Bern are potential opponents of Gottéron in the semi-finals. The road to the title is still long for Freiburg, especially because the ZSC Lions seem unbeatable this spring. But Dubé not only had relief but also defiance in his voice on Thursday. “I don’t want to win the quarter-finals, I want to win the last game of the season,” he said. Dubé is a smart fellow who knows how great the expectations are in Freiburg and that he no longer has unlimited time to fulfill them.
Gottéron maintains what is probably the most expensive squad in the club’s history. Bertschy is just one of several top earners who wear the dress with the dragon. But the team is at its peak, and in terms of age structure it may have already exceeded it.
One of the veterans is goalkeeper Reto Berra, 37, who joined Gottéron in 2018. His contract runs until spring 2026, then he is likely to end his career. On Thursday, Berra made possibly the save of the season with a save against Daniel Carr with seconds left. Berra proved that his reflexes are still awake.
🐉 @FrGotteron wins act 7 and goes to the semi-final! The people of Friborg will have an eye on #MySports Saturday to find out the name of their future opponent!
📲 Highlights and interviews from the evening available on our app & pic.twitter.com/6ApPrTC2iY
— MySports – C’est le hockey (@MySports_CH_fr) March 29, 2024
Like no other, Slava Bykov represents unfulfilled longing
But the team is in the midst of change. The time of captain Julien Sprunger and defender Raphael Diaz is also coming to an end; both are 38 years old. And Andrei Bykov, 36, is certain to end his career after this season.
Twice in the middle third, the stadium management showed his father Slawa on the video cube. He watched the match standing and almost a little lost in a corner of the arena. Like no other, Slava Bykov represents this club’s unfulfilled longing for a title. Since the Russians invaded Ukraine, the filigree technician has withdrawn from the public eye. He is a proud Russian and yet does not agree with his government’s warlike course.
At the end of Thursday’s game there was another touching scene in the stadium’s catacombs. Vicky Mantegazza, the president of HC Lugano, walked up to Christian Dubé and hugged him tightly. The gesture reflected appreciation for the French-Canadian, who began his career in the National League A in Lugano. The final chapter of Dubé’s story in Freiburg has not yet been written.