NHL New Year’s Eve spectacle in New Jersey with Nico Hischier in a leading role. The most important sports news at a glance.
Cross-country skiing: Nadine Fähndrich and Jovian Hediger run into the top ten
Jovian Hediger in Lenzerheide before the turn of the year.
(sda) Nadine Fähndrich and Jovian Hediger will advance to the semifinals on Saturday in the classic technique sprint in Oberstdorf on the occasion of the 4th stage of the Tour de Ski.
The woman from central Switzerland missed the finals because of a wobble in the semifinals in the downhill at the place where she won the World Championships on the same route with the skating slats in the team sprint almost a year ago. This uncertainty took the momentum out of her. More than 4th place in the semifinals and the 8th final place was no longer possible.
Hediger, too, in contrast to Nadine Fähndrich, was classically stronger than on skating skis, and came 8th. The French-speaking Swiss is looking for a partner for the team sprint at the Olympic Games in Beijing, where this discipline is run in a classic way. Nobody in Oberstdorf was imposing. The second best Swiss was Cyril Fähndrich in 38th place.
The tour leader Jessie Diggins, winner of the sprint at the start in Lenzerheide, dropped out of the quarter-finals through a fall through no fault of her own. Frida Karlsson, of all people, caused the chaos with a hasty change of lane. After this clear foul, the co-favorite from Sweden was not only punished with being relegated to 30th place, but also received three minutes in the overall standings. The young Swede can hardly achieve the prestigious overall victory.
The new leader is Natalia Neprjajewa. The Russian will try to keep the competitors in check on Monday in Val di Fiemme over 10 km with a classic mass start and on Tuesday on the climb to Alpe Cermis.
In the overall ranking of men, Johannes Hösflot Klaebo extended the lead. The Norwegian won the sprint confidently, Alexander Bolschunow missed the final push by two hundredths. In the tour standings, the Russian is already 1:19 minutes behind.
Ice hockey: NHL New Years Eve spectacle in New Jersey
Nico Hischier (right) is harassed by an opponent.
(sda) The New Jersey Devils said goodbye to 2021 with a New Year’s Eve spectacle. They defeated the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 after extra time.
Right in the middle of the spectacle: the Swiss Nico Hischier and Jonas Siegenthaler. In the exciting start phase with five goals in the first eleven minutes, Captain Nico Hischier scored the 2-1 for New Jersey. And defender Jonas Siegenthaler got a lot of ice time (almost 24 minutes).
The finish was just as spectacular as the first few minutes. Devin Shore and Kaylor Yamamoto turned a 3: 4 into a 5: 4 for the Edmonton Oilers within 72 seconds. Yegor Sharangovich, a former Spengler Cup participant with Dynamo Minsk, equalized 32 seconds before the end with six against five field players (without goalie). Jack Hughes shot the Devils to victory in overtime.
The team from New Jersey, which currently has three Swiss players (including goalkeeper Akira Schmid), won two games in a row for the first time since November 10th. The Devils are four points behind the last play-off spot.
Like Nico Hischier, Pius Suter scored a goal in the last game of the old year. Despite his opening goal, the Detroit Red Wings lost 3-1 to the Washington Capitals. Detroit played a game for the first time in two weeks after the corona turmoil.
Soccer: Ludovic Magnin becomes coach in Austria
Ludovic Magnin, as coach of FC Zurich in October 2020.
(sda)
Ludovic Magnin will work as Altach’s head coach from the beginning of the second half of the season. The 42-year-old Romand signed a contract with the last player in the Austrian Bundesliga until the end of the 2022/23 season.
For Magnin it is the first job since being dismissed from FC Zurich in October 2020. The team from Altach, the village in Vorarlberg with almost 7,000 inhabitants, has lost all of the last six championship games and is 13 points behind a place in the finals of the best six.
Altach has been in the top division of Austria since the 2014/15 season. In that season Altach was the first club in Vorarlberg to qualify for the Europa League. Urs «Longo» had already been Schönenberger’s trainer in Altach for four months from September 2008.
Soccer: Monaco separates from coach Niko Kovac
(sda / afp) Niko Kovac is no longer the coach of AS Monaco, as the news agency AFP learned. The Monegasque occupy 6th place in the table in Ligue 1. In qualifying for the Champions League, they failed to Shakhtar Donetsk. The 50-year-old Croat took over the office in July 2020, the contract would have run until June 2023. From July 2018 to November 2019, Kovac was a coach at Bayern Munich. With the Munich team he won the double.
Alpine skiing: No World Cup races for women in Maribor
(sda)
The women’s Alpine World Cup races planned for next week in Maribor will not take place, as the FIS announced. The reasons are the snow situation and the unfavorable weather forecast. A giant slalom should have taken place in Maribor on Saturday, January 8th, and a slalom the next day. A possible replacement location should be determined. In Maribor the temperatures are currently unusually high. According to forecasts, this should stay that way for a few more days.