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Biel fire their number one forward

Biel are still without a win in the regular season. The first to suffer the consequences for the team's inefficiency is Canadian player Ellison (now at Medvescak Zagreb). They are still looking for a replacement

Biel were surprisingly dominant against Bern in their last game. Even though they only got to win after a shootout, it's enough to look at the shooting stats (41-18 in Biel's favor) to get a picture of the developments in this game. While it was only their second win this season (both came after shootouts), it hasn't been the talking point. By far the biggest news is that the team has fired Matt Ellison. The Canadian forward was brought in ahead of the season as a big signing, but he managed just one assist in seven games and completely disappointed his employers.

- He's a good player, but he didn't show for us what was expected from him. We didn't have time to wait, we must look for a new solution right away. We need a new forward, regardless of his profile. We need someone who will score goals - coach Schlapfer said, and director Steingger added:

- The best solution for us would be if we coud get Micflikier back in the team. But he's making big money in the KHL, and this seems a mission impossible at this point. We'll see how things turn out in the next few days.

Coach Schlapfer later admitted that his relationship with Ellison wasn't too good. The Canadian found it difficult to deal with his criticism and demands.

- Other foreigners are not in a very good form as well, but we have some excuses for them. Also, I wouldn't want to lay the blame solely on them for us failing to get results. Some of the responsibility should be taken by domestic players as well - the Biel coach concluded.

And while the foreign players have failed to meet expectations, home team fans can be pleased with their goaltenders. Everyone feared what will happen after Reto Berra's departure, but Meili and Rytz are doing more than a solid job at this point.

As for today's game, it remains to be seen whether forward Wetzel will be able to play after getting injured against Bern and missing yesterday's training session.

Ambri are right to be disappointed at their result against Kloten. They were by far the better and more dangerous team, but the opposing team's goalie Gerber was impressive.

- We need to be more efficient in offense. There aren't many chances, and we must finish the ones we create - forward Grassi said, proceeding to comment on the increasing criticism toward his colleague Giroux:

- Every player has the right to a period of adaptation or a small crisis. He is showing on a daily basis what a good player he is, and I have no doubt that he will meet expectations. Last year it was Williams who had similar problems at the start.

There are no particular news regarding Ambri's roster. Important defenseman Noreau is still out, and the rest of the injured players are non-essential.

Zurkirchen tended the goal against Kloten, so their nominally first goaltender Shaefer is expected to be back on goal in today's game.

I was weighing the options a lot around this bet, but I simply cannot disregard the statistics and circumstances. Biel is a very weak team this season and they will hardly see the playoffs. They are left without their first goalie but they managed to solve that problem somehow. However, the problem in the offense they haven't managed to solve anyhow. They are very inefficient and in first seven matches they never managed to score more than 3 goals. Three times they reached that limit but every time it was in lost matches against strong-scoring opponents. Ambri is not a team that would jump into the fray and risk too much. They know they can reach important points here and they are still hoping for playoffs. Only two times in seven matches they conceded more than three goals, both times in major losses against Davos and Bern. Biel is not even near such offensive capabilities. Adding to that, they terminated the contract with the Canadian forward Ellison. The fact is that he wasn't very efficient but he was an option they counted on. Today they don't have that option. I expect a quite unpredictable match with a small number of goals and if I would have to give an advantage to someone it would be Ambri with a rested goalie. Statistically, Biel is scoring 1.57 goals on average, and Ambri concedes 2.71. The bet probably deserves a higher stake but Ambri is known to be inconsistent in their performance. Let us hope they will not do so this evening. There are no reasons for that.