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HC Kosice vs. HK SKP Poprad

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National League A (Switzerland)

HC Davos 6, EV Zug 1 (Davos wins series 4-0):  Dino Wieser and Matthias Joggi each had a goal and an assist to help Davos complete the semifinal sweep.  This really wasn't much of a series:  Davos outscored Zug 20-5 total and 12-2 in the last two games.  They'll rest up and await the end of the Kloten/Bern series in the final.

SC Bern, Kloten Flyers 1 (Kloten leads series 3-1):  Ivo Rüthemann scored the winner with 7:04 to play and added an assist on a first period Martin Plüss goal in front of a crowd of 16,578 to lead Bern to the win.  Marco Bührer made 28 saves as Bern avoids a sweep and forces a Game 5 back in Zürich on Thursday.

Rapperswil Lakers 3, Ambri-Piotta 2 (Playout Series tied at 2):  Samuel Friedli scored the game winning goal as Rapperswil evened up the playout series with a road win.  Martin Kariya scored twice for Ambri in the losing cause.

Elitserien (Sweden)

Luleå 4, Skellefteå 3 (OT) (Luleå leads series 1-0):  Anders Bürstrom was the OT hero, while Par Aribrandt scored twice in regulation to give Luleå a road win to start their semifinal series.  Anders Nilsson made 37 saves in the win.

Färjestad 2, AIK Stockholm 1 (Färjestad leads series 1-0):  Färjestad got a goal and an assist from Magnus Nygren and carried the play enough to get two goals past the red hot Viktor Fasth.  Having Alexander Salak as your goalie helps a lot in lower scoring games, as he made eleven saves  in the third period to conserve the win.

Wednesday's Kvalserien Games (Round 4):  Södertalje @ Örebrö; Mora @ Rögle; Växjö @ MODO (All Games 7:00 PM CET/2:00 PM EST).

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I've been keeping track of four leagues myself throughout the year (and hope to add additional ones through the offseason), and will have more to come on that in the future, but the IIHF released their annual attendance rankings this year for European clubs and leagues today.  If you're curious about the popularity of hockey as entertainment around the continent, it's a good starting point.  Germany continues to dominate the top 5, with three clubs from the DEL cracking the list.  A KHL club joins them, but not a Russian team:  Dinamo Minsk of Belarus moved up 58 spots to 3rd after playing their entire season in their brand new, 15,000+ capacity seat arena that will play host to the 2014 IIHF World Championships.  Here's the top 20, while the top 100 can be seen here on the IIHF's website:

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We continue our whirlwind tour across European playoff leagues by looking at a couple of popular leagues in middle of the continent. 

National League A (Switzerland)

There wasn't a lot of drama in the first round of the Swiss league playoffs, with all top four teams holding serve and no series going the full seven games.  Even the play-outs involving the bottom four teams were boring, with the teams that finished 11th and 12th losing to the teams that finished 10th and 9th respectively.  I guess you can say that in the NLA's case, the playoffs have been just a confirmation of the regular season to date.

(1) HC Davos defeats (8) Fribourg-Gotteron 4 games to 0

The "other" Petr Sykora led Davos in scoring during the regular season, but only suited up for one game in this series.  So it was up to Jaroslav Bednar to lead the way, and he did.  His three goals and five assists led the team in scoring as Davos lit up Cristobal Huet worse than he ever was even in the NHL.  Huet ended up with a 5.33 GAA and .763 SV% in the four game demolishing as Davos outsocred Fribourg 22-5. 

(2) Kloten Flyers defeat (7) ZSC Lions 4 games to 1

The battle of Zurich ended Bengt-Ake Gustafsson's NLA coaching career, but this was a far more competitive series than the one mentioned above.  Kloten won all of their games by only one goal, including two in overtime.  Victor Stancescu scored the series winning goal in Game 5, while Tommi Santala led the Flyers offensively with five points.  Key defenseman Micki DuPont did get hurt and missed Game 5, and if he misses a lot of time it could definitely impact Kloten's championship aspirations. 

(3) SC Bern defeats (6) SCL Tigers 4 games to 0

Another first round sweep, as Europe's most popular club (in terms of attendence) easily advances.  Benjamin Conz didn't have much of a chance in this one:  he still posted a .917 SV% but this was a dominant showing all around by SC Bern.  The series ended with Martin Plüss scoring in overtime of Game 4, though Ryan Gardner led Bern in scoring with one goal and five assists.

(4) EV Zug defeats (5) Geneve-Servette 4 games to 2

The only series where the result was in doubt, this was a high scoring series with three overtime games to end it.  In Game 1, Eric Walsky led Geneva to an 8-5 win with a hat trick, which was matched by Damien Brunner for Zug in Game 2's 6-2 game that tied it up.  Walsky was at it again in Game 4, scoring the OT winner to even the series at 2.  Game 5 ended in an ever popular playoff shootout, won by Zug 4-3, setting up another overtime thriller in Game 6.  And this time, yet again, Brunner answered Walsky's challenge by ending the series.  Glen Metropolit led Zug in scoring with two goals and seven assists, and while Walsky's five goals topped Brunner's four for the series lead, it ultimately was not enough.

Play-Outs:  (9) EHC Biel defeats (12) Ambri-Piotta 4 games to 2

The bizarre play-out format rewards the series winner by ending their season earlier...  the longer you play, the worse you are.  Ambri-Piotta built up a two game to none lead in this series, but eventually Biel broke through their defensive shell and posted four straight wins, ending their season in a kind of anti-climax.

(10) HC Lugano defeats (11) Rapperswil Lakers 4 games to 0

Not much to write about here, Julien Vauclair ended the short series in overtime in Game 4, but other than that it was three fairly straight forward regulation wins for Lugano.  Rapperswil must now face Ambri-Piotta, and they'll have home ice advantage to help them.  The loser of that series will have to play the winner of the NLB Finals for a spot in the NLA in 2011-12, as Lussane HC and EHC Visp will face off in that final for the chance at promotion.

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Bob Hartley's name has come up before in regards to coaching vacancies in European leagues, including earlier this year when HC Lugano of Switzerland's NLA were looking for a new coach.  It appears that the former Stanley Cup winning bench boss, who last worked in the NHL for the Atlanta Thrashers from 2003-07, will indeed come to Switzerland to work, starting next season with the ZSC Lions.  He replaces former Team Sweden boss Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, the man behind the bench for their 2006 Olympic Gold Medal in Turin.  The team lost to its biggest rivals, fellow Zurich area team Kloten Flyers, in five games after finishing 7th in the regular season standings.  This is a team that won the only edition of the Champions Hockey League in 2008-09, as well as the 2009 Victoria Cup over the Chicago Blackhawks, who went on to win the Stanley Cup later that year.

In other ZSC Lions news, the team will be bringing back national team member Severin Blindenbacher for next season.  Blindenbacher failed to catch on this season with the Dallas Stars, after a successful campaign in 2009-10 with Farjestad in Sweden.  He was briefly called up to the team from Texas of the AHL back in November, but never played a game.  He had a tough year, suffering a concussion in the AHL, and only played in 26 games, getting one goal and nine assists.  He had released himself from his contract back in February, and will likely play for Switzerland at the World Championships in Slovakia starting on April 29.  

As the U20 Championship season approaches, I figure doing these link posts is a good way to report on the various rosters that are coming out, and other news from around the hockey world.

Lugano looks to hire Bob Hartley
After firing Philippe Bozon after this weekend's games, HC Lugano of Switzerland's NLA has a coaching vacancy... and they're reportedly thinking big, trying to land Stanley Cup winning coach Bob Hartley. He's currently committed to some media projects in Quebec, most prominently something on the Quebec-Montreal rivalry which are holding him back for the time being, but by the new year, he could be free to take on the challenge. While Hartley is fluent in both French and English, Lugano is an Italian Swiss city, so he might have to pick up a third language.

Bob Hartley has been rumored for European coaching jobs in the past, and has said he'd be open to coaching in the KHL if need be, but he is doing relatively well as a media personality in Quebec, appearing regularly on RDS' Antichambre program the past couple of years.  That being said, if he wants to coach again, he isn't getting much younger (he's now 50), and he'll be coaching professionals in a pretty comfortable environment if he takes a job in Switzerland. 

Ekman gets 5 games, plus fined for additional 4 games pay on slash
Nils Ekman of Djurgarden gets the book thrown at him by the Elitserien's disciplinary board for a vicious slash on Jakob Silfverberg of Brynäs. The punishment has been deemed quite harsh, and over the top... and Swedish commentators like Jonas Fahlmans (who runs an AIK centered blog, Djurgarden's cross-town rivals), think the whole incident got blown out of proportion when Brynäs officials filed a police complaint about the incident. Certainly, in North America, we're getting used to the idea of police involvement and criminal investigation of on ice conduct, but looking at Ekman's slash... it's hard not to side with guys like Fahlmans here: this is something the league can handle on it's own.

Goalie shuffle in Elitserien
Vesa Toskala is back in the unemployment line, with his brief contract with AIK Stockholm expiring. His replacement? Bjorn Bjurling, who lost his job with Brynäs last month when the San Jose Sharks loaned the team Thomas Greiss. Greiss struggled early, but is finding his groove now as his numbers start to approach repsectibility (3.13 GAA, .894 SV%). It could really just be temporary for Bjurling, as the moves are being made to hold the team over while Christopher Heino-Lindberg recovers from injury. Viktor Fasth, AIK's starter, has a 2.20 GAA and .928 SV% so far through 20 games, so Bjurling will be lucky to play more than Toskala did (2 games).

Latvian U20 candidates announced " Latvian Hockey News Report
We're getting news of various country's U20 rosters, and Latvia has released their preliminary roster.  It's not the final list, which won't be made until Dec. 12, a day before the IIHF Div. 1A tournament begins in Bobruisk, Belarus.  You can scour the IIHF's website for a few more rosters, with the big one being Slovakia's preliminary list, the first of the countries that will be at the top level championship in Buffalo.  Slovakia hilites include Martin Marincin, Richard Panik, and Juraj Holly.  Other preliminary rosters available on the IIHF website include Japan (already mentioned in an earlier piece here), Great Britain, Croatia, Spain, Australia and Romania. 

Flickr: Sochi 2014 Winter Games' Photostream

Pictures of the construction of the Bolshoi Ice Palace (capacity 12000) and other Olympic venues in Sochi, Russia. You can find more here in these forums at Skyscraper City. I'm having issues logging on to the official website for some reason, so you can check out Sochi2014.com on your own if you wish. It is rumored that there will be a KHL team placed in Sochi when the arena is ready. There is also a second arena, called the Maly Ice Palace, being built right beside it. It will be about 7000 in capacity.  Enjoy!

I haven't paid much attention to the goings on in Germany's top league, the DEL, so here's a bit of a catch up so far.  The season started before everyone else, on September 3, and 37 games have already been played to date.  The league is definitely a popular one in Germany, drawing more fans to its games than any other European hockey league on average, save for Sweden's Elitserien.  It's easy to see why.  As was on display at this past year's IIHF World Championships, German fans bring a party atmosphere to the games, and can fill larger arenas with songs, chanting, disapproving whistling, and just pure joy.  Here's a very long form highlight reel from Friday's Eisbären Berlin home game against league leading Alder Mannheim, which was won by Berlin 3-2 in a shootout.

The spectacle is as much the show in Germany as the game itself.  The schedule had to undergo some late changes, partly due to Berlin unexpectedly walking away with the pre-season European Trophy, but also due to the late suspension of play by the Kassel Huskies, who filed for bankrputcy on August 27.  Financial uncertainty still plauges this league, but the top teams do very well for themselves.  Read up on the DEL on my European Hockey For Dummies entry from July. 

Perhaps the most recognizable name appeared in the video posted above, former NHL goaltender Fred Brathwaite, who plays for Mannheim.  He currently leads the league statistically in minutes played (438), wins (5), GAA (1.51) and save percentage (95.4%).  Goaltending is probably the most familiar position to the hockey fan, with names like Jean-Sebastien Aubin, Dmitiri Pätzold, Dennis Endras, Marc Lamothe, and Travis Scott all being at least moderately known around the hockey world.  The players are lesser known:  defensemen like Derrick Walser, Patrick Traverse, Sasha Goc, and Mario Scalzo are at least somewhat familiar to NHL fans, while leading scorers like Brad Leeb, Norm Milley, and Barry Tallackson definitely give off the smell that this is a league that is more than likely AHL caliber.  There aren't many hidden gems in the DEL, unfortunately, as the top German players rarely stand out from their more seasoned imports.

Join me after the break for a breakdown of the action to date (stats AND analysis this time).

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It's not often that Switzerland's National League A adds a player who scored 16 goals in the NHL the previous season, but EV Zug was the beneficiary of this rare occasion.  Glen Metropolit returned to the NLA this summer, having played for Lugano previously in 2005-06.  That year, Metropolit scored 23 goals and 65 points in 44 games, while adding 9 goals and 26 points to help the team win their 7th national championship.  His work was so impressive, that he was named Swiss league MVP and the NHL came calling for him again, playing from 2007-10 on four different teams.  That Lugano team boasted some impressive foreign content:  Ville Peltonen, Petteri Nummelin, Jukka Hentunen and Jason York all suited up for the team last year, and the three Finns and Metropolit led the team in scoring.  Now, it's a different challenge for Metropolit:  Zug's foreign players are less decorated (Josh Holden, Andy Wozniewski, Canadian-turned-Swiss Paul DiPietro, goaltender Jussi Markkanen), so he's much more relied upon even though he's now 36 years old.  His linemates are Swiss nationals Corsin Casutt and Sven Lindemann, both of whom are NLA veterans (Casutt is 25, Lindemann 32) who did not play in Zug last year.  It's a formidable challenge for the veteran, who is now playing for his 16th different professional hockey team, encompassing the ECHL, IHL, AHL, NHL, SM-Liiga and NLA. 

Going from 4th line centre with PP time in the NHL to a top line NLA player takes some adjustment, but you wouldn't know it from his hot start.  In both of Zug's games this past weekend, Metropolit scored twice and added an assist, making him the leading scorer in the league and helping the team become one of only three teams to start the season 2-0.  Certainly, the lighter schedule should help Metropolit immensely, as the 85 NHL games he played in last year will be dropped to 50 regular season games plus playoffs.  Zug finished third in the league standings last year, and bringing in an impact player like Metropolit might be the move that can help them compete with SC Bern for the championship.  Here's a great feature from Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette in August on Metropolit making the move back to Switzerland.

Here's a rundown of the NLA scores and statistical leaders from this past weekend.  In keeping with Switzerland's neutral tradition, each team played one game on the road and one at home to kick things off:

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