After a few hours, the wound is still bleeding, but it will heal sooner or later. Also because, in his heart, without even having official confirmation until Monday, Umbro’s athletic director knew Andre Heim could have let himself be tempted by Missouri, despite the contract until 2025. «Let’s say I didn’t lie on my back after that It flew from the top floor », explains Paolo Duca.

In fact, for some time, from many sides, rumors had been circulating that the 25-year-old Bernese center, who cut at the last minute by Patrick Fischer on the road to the World Cup in Riga, was in the sights of the St. Louis Blues. However, it must be said that after the interview published a few days ago by his agent, Gaëtan Voisard, who said that after Heim’s impressive start in the league, interest in him had waned in the second part of the season, there is some hope that the striker will remain in Leventina seemed to be there. “You should ask Voisard, not me,” Duca continues. I don’t follow negotiations anymore: they’re things that are done between his agent and the franchise, but the gist is that if a player’s contract remains, NHL clubs can’t make agreements before his season in Europe is over. I mean at the club level and at the level of commitments with the national team. Prior to then, only NHL franchises could submit and discuss proposals, but no signing could be reached. But then, when the time comes, you have to say they’re really quick: “Yeah, we’ll get you, sign here.” But when the agent and the player informed us about it, I can’t say I was surprised: let’s just say I saw it coming a little bit.

The fact is that in the middle of May you lose your first position. At least at the level of the Swiss players.

But we wouldn’t have been able to replace a striker like him even if we already knew in November that he was leaving. For us, it is simply unconscionable to think of replacing a player we brought to Ambrì by poaching him at a club (Bern, ed.) in which he played little and had no part, and who we brought into the national team in two years. Team: It would be unrealistic to replace him today with a player of the same caliber. The same goes for when Michael leaves immediately: at that point, you can just start building another player. On the other hand, however, it must be said that in the medium and long term this process is good publicity for Ambrì, because it means that what we preach in terms of strategy also works in practice: we hope the next André Heim, who will not be able to find Space in a top team, he decided to come to Leventina with a goal and a dream of taking a decisive step forward in his career. And this is what will allow us to bring players of this level to Ambrì: because, in these two years, we have in turn benefited from the enthusiasm, commitment and quality of André Heim, and we have done so at reasonable prices. .

However, now that he’s gone, another hole has been created in a role, the center role, which has already posed quite a few issues in recent months.

We are still looking for a foreign position regardless of Heim’s departure. However, knowing there was that possibility, we added two more centers ie Mannix Landry, son of Eric, the coach of the Ticino Rockets, he’s a twenty-year-old coming from the Quebec Junior Hockey League who already has a level and through the summer he’s already coached It is with us, and another boy we also know very well, that Tommaso Di Luca is back from a stellar season in the Western Hockey League. We are confident that both of them can take a decisive and swift step forward to fill the void created by Heim’s departure, of which I am convinced.

After all, Heim himself when he arrived at Leventina wasn’t the position that almost everyone would like today.

It’s always been like this: When a young player or a B player with an unknown name appears, the fan thinks: ‘But who is that?’ Did they go get someone who doesn’t play there? ‘. Alternatively, Andre Heim or Yannick Buren (who signed Bienne, ed.) are now enjoying the interest not only of our audience but of all of Switzerland. And that’s kind of what we’re selling, and it’s also our goal, even if it’s undeniable that it hurts when a player like that goes, because you lose a driving force that has an important role and you pass away. and that in the medium term it will be impossible to accurately replace it.

After asking the foreign position question, what is the overall strategy in the market?

We already have five foreigners under contract, and one striker missing. We are always very alert, but above all we react to the opportunities that will appear in the market. But it is useless to talk about it, even in terms of timing, which I never mention: I have always been very careful, because experience teaches me that things change very quickly in sport, and now I can say nothing more than ten minutes and then it will be over. Before pulling the trigger, you have to wait for everything to align: you have to feel that the player is what you’re looking for, that the price is the right price, that his family situation is the right one, and so on. There are many factors that come into play, and the goal should be to piece together a logical puzzle.