Philip Wüthrich moves to Ambri

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Even with a dual team of senior and junior athletic directors, SCB was unable to retain its best talent. Philip Wüthrich will move to Ambri next season.

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Ambri's sporting director Paolo Duca orchestrated the transfer, showing Philip Wüthrich the possibilities of Ambri, giving him time to make a decision and winning the “Transfer Playoff Final” against SCB. He said: “I am sure that Philippe will be happy with us and will get better. We have had very good experiences with “Bärner Giele” in recent years…” And he is right: recently, André Heim, Yanik Burren and Marco Müller did not become qualified National League players until Ambri.

Philip Wüthrich (26) has signed a two-year contract until 2027. The contract with Gilles Senn (28 years old) was extended two years in advance until 2028. Paul Duca relies on two goalkeepers with Swiss passports to compete and support each other. This works if both have the opportunity to play more than 20 games, but rarely works if one is relegated to the No. 2 role and plays fewer than 20 games. “There are 52 qualifying games and you only need two good goalies. That's the way hockey is going.” If one of the two blocks a foreign license, a dual solution will only come if one of them is happy with the role at the Cats table It only works: For reasons of prestige alone, foreigners are number one. If not, the athletic director will have to be asked what he is actually doing.

Regarding the double Swiss solution, Paul Duca has one more thing to consider: “One foreign goalkeeper means one less foreign player. Every time the foreign goalkeeper does not play, the team has to change to a central position. Two Swiss goalkeepers It brings more stability to the team.”

There was a potential gripe at SCB last season as Philip Wüthrich was able to stand on his head but still couldn't get past Adam Reideborn (32). Even after being “blocked” in the decisive game against Zug in the quarter-finals, he had to give Sweden the lead again and SCB suffered a heavy defeat. Jussi Tapola's stubborn preference for Adam Reideborn gives SCB their current 'goalkeeper soup' and makes for an effective dual solution of 'Redeborn-Vetri' “Hope” becomes unnecessarily difficult.

Lugano's sporting director Nat Domenichelli once proposed an interesting solution to this problem: “In reality, you have to sign not one, but two foreign goalkeepers to get stability and composure. But of course this solution is not realistic for us.”

Lugano sporting director Nat Domenichelli.Image: Marcel Biery

SCB's goalkeeping problem has been recognized for two years now. But even if the sporting leadership formed a duo with the junior and senior sporting directors, it would not be possible to find a satisfactory solution for a second strong Swiss goalkeeper alongside Philipp Wittrich. Kloten signs Ludovic Weber, Luca Horenstein moves from Zug to Davos, Giles Sen moves from Davos to Embry, Jolen van Botelberg moves from Biel to Lugano, Ivars Punenov moved from Lausanne to Rapperswil-Jona, and Reto Bella had a cult status in Gautrone. SCB have been looking for a goalkeeping solution since Leonardo Genoni moved to Zug in the summer of 2019.

SCB has a Swiss goalkeeper on contract until 2026, former youth international Andri Henauer (22). He has yet to feature in a single Nations League game so far and has hit a career dead end with Basel in the Swiss league. Since the brother of Lakers guard Micah Henauer (24) has never played in the top league, his potential cannot be reliably assessed.

For the first time since Leonardo Genoni, SCB need a top-notch goalkeeper position to become title contenders. If Adam Redburn fails to meet those demands in the spring, the Bernese will need a better foreign goalkeeper, someone like Bill's Harry Suttree or Zurich's Simon Hrubek if necessary. Play 40 games. Or the “double charmers” with Swiss passports: Connor Hughes (28) and Akira Schmid (24). Both are in North American NHL organizations (Montreal, Las Vegas) waiting for the opportunity to join the most important league in the world. It is completely unrealistic to bring both of them to Bern next season.

Can Davide Fadani solve SCB's goalkeeping problem?Image: trapezoid

Are there really no viable candidates on the Swiss market? Langnau's sporting director Pascal Müller is also asking himself this question after Stéphane Charlin moves to Geneva or the NHL. Kloten's sporting director Riccardo Scheidler is about to solve next season's goalkeeper problem with an interesting variant: Ludovic Warber (28) will replace Sandro Zulkirchen (34) The new second goalkeeper (23 years old) may be Italian national goalkeeper Davide Fadani (23 years old). become.

This transfer is interesting because Ricardo Schödler is focusing on the “Latin Transfer List” often forgotten by sporting directors: the market for Italian national players with Swiss licenses. Davide Fadani is the Italian national goalkeeper and a forgotten hero of the Swiss Sky League: he always uses his heroics to help bottom team Bellinzona achieve amazing results, and recently he almost almost Saved one point in Olten (3:4). The weakest Swiss professional team has an impressive average catch rate of 92.55%.

Davide Fadani trained in Lugano (hence his Swiss license) and was highly praised by then Lugano coach Chris McSorley. Two years ago, he moved to the Ambri organization. He has only played four games in the top flight so far. Despite his average height (182 cm/76 kg), observers praised his professional attitude and talent. But he lacked “serious” professional hockey experience. What this means: Experience in pressure games in the National League.

The goalkeeping problem is not easy to solve at SCB. Well, SCB has enough resources in the athletic department with junior and senior athletic directors to allow for thorough scouting, creative ideas and good solutions.

• 7

  A leader who can decide games and make his team better on and off the ice.

• 6-7

  A talented player who can decide a game on a good night and is a leader.

• 5-6

  A good NL player: usually a rainbow butterfly of talent, sometimes a serious worker who brings out a lot of talent.

• 4-5

  Players on the third or fourth block, veterans or newcomers.

• 3-4

  The future is still ahead of you, or the future is already behind you.

• The rating is based on the North American Hockey Grading Scale, ranging from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest). There are no levels below level 3 because those who play in the top leagues are at least barely adequate.

Leonardo Genoni is set to return after a successful senior training campaign. Has it been these days? The 37-year-old spoke about the complications of the past few weeks and commented on his form.

The 37-year-old Leonardo Genoni performed well in the semi-finals and finals of this year's World Cup in the Czech Republic: 95.5% and 96.8%. He's at his best. After the game, an excited Peter Mettler said his protégé's achievements were “disgusting”. The man from Schwyz was the goalkeeper coach of the Swiss national team until this spring. And: “Jenoni lied to some people.” Mettler's vote was a swipe at critics who have called for a changing of the guard from the “old guard.”