What A Comeback! - Fribourg-Gottéron Crowned Swiss Champions For The First Time In The Club’s History After Tight Battle In The National League

The 2026 National League playoff finals might have been the most intense in Swiss Hockey recently, so let’s have a recap at Game 6 and how Fribourg forced Game 7.

(Image credit to @frgotteron on Instagram)

What went down in Game 6?

After a tough Game 5 it was basically do or die for Fribourg-Gottéron. With the score being 3:2 for HC Davos in the playoffs, it was either that they would win their home game on the 28th of April or HCD is Swiss champion. 

1st Third

With loads of pressure that had been put on early on by Davos and by playing in front of their home crowd, Gottéron held up their defenses quite well. There was nearly a goal scored by Davos however the goal was waved off. On a Fribourg power play, they scored one goal by Julien Sprunger after just 7 minutes and 58 seconds into the first third. Despite a few good chances for HC Davos, they just couldn’t bring the puck into the goal with Reto Berra being the goalie for the Gottéron lineup. 

2nd Third

Starting into the second third Davos came out pretty aggressively and controlled the ice a bunch of times during the period. Meanwhile Berra was a key figure for Fribourg, being able to make many crucial saves against Davos players such as Parreé and Zadina. Fribourg however received several penalties and gave HCD many power play opportunities. Davos didn't manage to push through though and so the score didn’t change going into the second break.

3rd Third

Starting into the final period, Davos pushed relentlessly for at least an equalizer. Fribourg-Gottéron kept on defending, relying a lot on Berra who managed to get Gottéron out of many sticky situations. As the game got close to an end, Davos finally managed to even the score after 56 minutes and 51 second into the game with Sven Knak giving a great assist to Klas Dhalbeck who then scored the goal that forced the game into overtime from an impossible angle. 

Overtime

In overtime both teams had many chances to seal the deal with Henrik Borgström once having missed a great goal opportunity for Fribourg. The final moment came at 3 minutes and 51 seconds into overtime in which Lucas Wallmark got close to the opposite team. Julius Gerber delivered the win for Fribourg after receiving the pass from Wallmark and firing the puck past HCD goalie Sandro Aeschlimann into the goal. Fribourg-Gottéron managed to do it and forced a decisive Game 7, also called Belle, which would decide the National League winner and was held in Davos .

Game 7

With the series being tied 3:3 it came down to Game 7, the one that would decide who takes the crown home. It was either Gottéron for the first time in the club’s history or Davos for the 32nd time.

1st Third

Starting into the first 20 minutes it only took 2 minutes and 55 seconds for Gottéron to score the first goal of the game during a power play. The score was assisted by Michael Kapla who passed the puck to Lucas Wallmark before Henrik Borgström got it straight into the goal past Sandro Aeschlimann. Not long after they scored the first one Fribourg-Gottéron scored yet another goal just 9 minutes later without a power play. The score was made by newcomer Jamiro Reber and has been assisted by Patrik Nemeth and Jacob de la Rose. In less than 3 minutes Davos strikes back in the 16th Minute with Lukas Frick and Matej Stransky helping out Klas Dahlbäck who then manages to get it past Reto Berra and straight into the goal.

2nd Third

The second third mainly consists of penalties and loads of defense and aggression from both sides. Davos managed to rack up 3 penalties as Gottéron only got one. 

Last Third

With the score being 2:1 for Gottéron they had to play defensively to make sure there wouldn’t be a tie before the official end of the game. However that tactic didn’t last long as HCD got a power play and then scored 48 minutes into the game. For both it was basically now or never. The score stayed 2:2 as the game ended so the game went into overtime.

Overtime

The beginning of overtime was a bit delayed and had everything on edge, especially both teams. As overtime finally began there were many crucial moments in which Fribourg could’ve lost their first title but they didn’t. Just 5 minutes into the game they got their power play and Lucas Wallmark took the opportunity for Gottéron, scoring the deciding point.

Fribourg-Gottéron has the title 

It was a dream come true for Fribourg-Gottéron as the game ended with a 3:2 win for them and the title in their pocket. "It's unbelievable, it's a dream. I've worked so hard all my career to someday experience this day in this shirt. And then in the last game in overtime, that's unbelievable. It took a while, but now we've done it. The whole team worked so hard. I thought last night that I wanted to quit last season. But then I had a long conversation with coach Rönnberg and he convinced me that I would stay for another year and get another chance. And now it has worked.", is what Julien Sprunger said via Swiss media Watson after his last ever game. After the intense playoffs finished, this is what Fribourg-Gottéron goalie Reto Berra had to say about it all: "I looked up to heaven, to my father. He was still there when I won my first championship (2009 with Davos), now he is in heaven, and in the last weeks I felt closer to him, I felt him extremely much. That is beautiful." 

It was the 5th time that the Dragons got into the finals of the National League and it finally worked out for them.

Article written by Sania Zimmermann © Sania Zimmermann 2026