Updated4. April 2024, 3:03 p.m.
Ice hockey: Bertschy and Glauser: brothers-in-law bicker
A violent knee-to-knee clash between Fribourg-Gottéron striker Christoph Bertschy and his brother-in-law Andrea Glauser could have ended badly for the Lausanne HC defender and damaged family relations.
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Cyril Pasche
Christoph Bertschy, left, here in the duel with Andrea Glauser.
Estelle Vagne/freshfocus
All’s well that ends well: there was ultimately more fear than harm after the violent “knee-to-knee” clash, at the start of extra time, between Fribourg-Gottéron striker Christoph Bertschy and his brother-in-law, Lausanne HC defender Andrea Glauser.
Bertschy had announced the color before the start of the series between the Dragons and the Lions: “There, there will be no more family”, had launched, jokingly, the twirling attacker of Fribourg-Gottéron to the attention of the husband of his sister, Andrea Glauser, defender of Lausanne HC.
Bertschy probably took his own words a little too much to heart on Wednesday evening, the same day as his brother-in-law’s birthday, who was celebrating his 28th birthday! His knee strike against that of Andrea Glauser could have had serious consequences for the Lions’ rear, hit head-on in his defense zone.
All’s well that ends well for Andrea Glauser, who was uninjured after a violent knee-to-knee collision with her brother-in-law Christoph Bertschy.
Laurent Daspres/freshfocus
While we could immediately fear a serious knee injury when we saw Glauser painfully leave the ice helped by two trainers, the LHC defender was finally able to return to the game a few moments after this violent collision. A return which visibly relieved Christoph Bertschy, who still seemed particularly worried about the state of health of his brother-in-law.
On the other hand, the decision of the referees – Mr Lemelin and Mr Hebeisen – not to sanction Bertschy at all is a challenge: just like the fact that they did not even make use of the possibility which was nevertheless offered to them to go and watch the scene to the video (for this it would simply have been necessary to first pronounce a five-minute penalty, which was easily justified given the violence of the shock, with the possibility of canceling it afterwards).
Fault or no fault? Match penalty or, like Wednesday, not even a minor penalty? Bertschy and Glauser, once the season is over, will certainly have the opportunity to discuss it during a family meal.
The fact remains that in the quarter-finals for example, the Swede from Fribourg-Gottéron Marcus Sörensen was suspended for a match after letting his knee drag against an opponent from HC Lugano after the final siren. Ditto for Jiri Sekac against Davos, sent off for the match then fined after touching the knee of defender Dominik Egli.