Fribourg-Gotteron defeated Orli Znojmo 5-2 in the CHL's lone game on Thursday night. Afterwards, Caryl Neuenschwander and Andre Lakos, veterans on the respective teams, shared their thoughts. 

by Alain Hauert

FRIBOURG – The game between Fribourg-Gotteron and Orli Znojmo separated the teams further in the Group F standings. After the 5-2 win, Fribourg are still perfect with six points, while Znojmo still search for their first points. The two teams meet again in Znojmo on Sunday. After the game a pair of veterans, Fribourg forward Caryl Neuenschwander and Znojmo defenceman Andre Lakos, answered some questions.

Neuenschwander, 32, who was playing his first career CHL game, helped his team immensely with two goals – the team's first and last. 

“I am happy I was able to help the team to grab this win with my two goals. To play on a line with Andrei Bykov and Killian Mottet was a pleasure tonight and we will see how this is goes. In the end the coach decides the lines and we are a good team with many good players, so I'll do my best whoever I am playing with.”

After Fribourg dominated the first period and built up a 2-0 lead, Znojmo pushed back in the second.

“In the second period we were kind of disoriented. Being in front by two goals, we lost our game plan for a short moment and so Znojmo scored and were suddenly back in the game. In the second intermission we discussed this in the locker and we wanted to play simple and straight again – and that's what we did in the third period.”

When analyzing Fribourg's two Group F opponents – Znojmo and Red Bull Munich – Neuenschwander figures, "The two teams are quite similar. Both are physically very strong and hardworking teams, which means we also have to play physical. On the other hand, we were able to use our speed to win pucks on offence and create danger in front of the net."

“Now we will travel to Czech Republic and Germany and try to win also the two games on the road. The CHL is a nice competition and it is also important to get confidence also for our national league.”

Lakos, 37, an Austrian who played junior hockey in Canada and has played professionally across two continents, is now in his second season in Znojmo. He didn't think his team was good enough this game. 

“In the end, we have to admit that Fribourg were stronger tonight. They were better in the game from the beginning and when we finally found a way to come back, we made individual mistakes again, and those cost us this game.”

One thing that has plagued Orli to this point has been a lack of scoring by forwards and at even strength. 

“It's still early in the season and actually it is true that our forwards haven't scored many goals. At this time, the defencemen are trying to make it up, with my partner Libor Sulak scoring four goals in the CHL so far, which is quite impressive. But I am sure our forwards will find a solution and soon start scoring regularly.”

Looking ahead to Friday's game at home to Fribourg and then the last group game in Munich, Lakos is brutally frank. 

“After losing these first two games it is going to be very difficult for us to qualify. But now we can play our next game at home against Fribourg and we need a solid effort in front of our crowd to get the first points in this group. We need more pressure and we have to reduce our mistakes. We also did some good things tonight, but overall this was not enough to win – especially not in an away game. When we can play our game and limit our errors, we will have our chances in the next games, and there is still hope that we can reach the playoff stage.”