As the Berner Zeitung writes in today's edition, rumors are swirling around that the Russian investors of HC Red Ice apparently have lost interest and might abandon the Valaisans. Therefore, a withdrawal from the NLB does not seem to be out of question. SIHF's Ueli Schwarz said to the same source that he cannot comment on that specific case, "but sure, with only eight teams there would be a dark-red alert."
The situation in the NLB is serious for the SIHF. With currently only nine teams, they are far away from the planned model with twelve teams in both NLA and NLB. The best scenario for the SIHF was, if NLA-teams would build NLB-affiliations, just like the ZSC and GCK Lions. But that would cost the NLA-teams a lot of money. Nevertheless, Ueli Schwarz is positive: "I know from several clubs that they are thinking very hard about it."
