Ambri, or when the right words work wonders

So it happens on Monday in Zurich against the ZSC Lions. Ambri has already survived four shutouts at Hallenstadion. It’s still 0-0.

And then Ambri’s second power play in this game ends with a goal down: Sven Andrighetto scores in the 31st minute, outnumbered to make it 1-0.

The end? The eighth loss in a row? No, the beginning of the end for the ZSC Lions. Ambri wins 3-2. British-Canadian Brendan Perlini (24) scores two goals. His first two goals in Game 7 for Ambri.

First, he’s an unlucky guy. His bad pass allows Sven Andrighetto the badly paid goal. Once Brendan Perlini can shoot Lukas Flüeler alone, and he forgives miserably.

But coach Luca Cereda finds the right words. «He returned to the players’ bench completely dejected. I pointed to the game clock and said: No problem, you still have enough time to do everything. “

And so it happens: the gentle and surprisingly agile giant (191 cm / 96 kg) does everything right again. In the second solo attempt, Lukas Flüeler leaves no chance and scores 1: 1 (50:02). His second goal to make it 3-1 (58:08) will ultimately be the winning goal. Maxim Noreau’s goal to make it 3-2 comes too late (59:16).

The meaning of the right word at the right time was already known in biblical times. The great Isaiah said: “The Lord God has given me a tongue that I will know how to speak to the weary at the right moment.”

Ambri’s coach spoke to his tired and dejected forward at the right time at the Hallenstadion. The right words are crucial not only in this game, but during the crisis of recent weeks.

Ambri no longer has ten players due to injuries. With Defense Minister Michael Fora also the only international. Again and again one of the foreign forwards fails. But the brave men of the Leventina never gave up. He never gave up. I never look for excuses. “It’s easy to find excuses,” says Luca Cereda. “But only solutions take us further.”

The solution is an admirable performance culture. Courage, discipline and passion. An intense way to play. Persistence, even through a series of defeats – Lausanne 0: 6, Biel 3: 4, Lausanne 1: 2 nP, Lausanne 2: 3 nV, Davos 3: 5, Gottéron 1: 3 and Bern 1: 4 – without date To be dissuaded.

This only works if the coach finds the right words. During the training. As part of team meetings. In one-on-one conversations, and at the right time in the game, like Monday in the indoor stadium against the ZSC Lions. And those who don’t give up will be rewarded by the hockey gods. Jannik Fischer’s 2-1 after exactly 56 minutes, his second goal in 135 qualifying matches for Ambri, is an own goal by ZSC defender Tim Berni.

Back to the origins

Under sports director Paolo Duca (39) and coach Luca Cereda (39), now in their fourth season, Ambri has found his way back to his origins. Ambris’s real soul is shown in the crisis. Specifically, the way seven losses in a row are processed.

A coach and sports leader who is deeply ingrained in his own culture and who lives ice hockey where he grew up, we really only have him at Ambri. Ambri has been back at work since President Filippo Lombardi installed Paolo Duca and Luca Cereda in office.

Foreign coaches and sports directors were often just guests at the Leventina and had no interest in the local hockey culture. Transfer sales with friendly agents were sometimes more important to them than coaching young players. They focused on earning and keeping the job for as long as possible. If it didn’t work out, they had to carry on as modern sport nomads. Only with a local athletic director and a local coach Ambri became Ambri again.

In the second half of February, the team is still ahead of champion Bern in the table and still has a chance of a playoff spot. That is the true miracle of this season.