Olympics: 2014 — Switzerland Roster (Released, post #1)

[Dave Hahn]

I'm okay with that list, but I think there'll be at least 4 defensemen I would take at Weber's place.
Now we have the list, here is my projected line up

Hollenstein - Romy - Brunner
Suri - Pluss - Niederreiter
Ambühl - i - Wick
Moser - Trachsler - Bieber
+ Gardner/Bodenmann

Diaz - Josi
Streit - Vauclair
Blindenbacher - Seger
Furrer - Weber

Hiller
Berra
Stephan

I'm not sure about my 2nd and 3rd D-pairing, but I think this is a really good team we can have!

This lineup looks pretty close. I think Moser might get a shot with Pluss and Niederreiter, Suri is a little more adept to playing a physical game, making him a nice option for the Traschler-Bieber/Gardner line.

There is quite a bit of familiarity with this roster, there are a few combinations at forward that make some sense and guys who are used to playing with each other.

It's a shame that Baertschi and Sbisa will not be participating, Baertschi was caught in a really bad situation and Sbisa doesn't look like he will be ready in time. As far as the Weber discussion, I don't think it's that far fetched that he could make an impact in useful situations. He won't be playing much at even strength and he does possess good qualities to help on the powerplay. Special teams are going to be key for Switzerland, and this lineup shows that every player has a role to play and I trust Simpson to delegate those roles responsibly.

 

[duga]

little analyse:

no very big surprises on attack:

Walker (who I like very much) just has 2 piss poor months on his back, wasn't very convincing in Arosa and played himself out of the team....
I guess he's caught somewhere between the system (2 years ago: freeflying Center under Constantine, 1 year ago: simple play, defensive first Center under Mcsorely, this year switching between centering youngsters and being a role player-wing on scoring lines (where he failed until now) in a demanding offensive system under Fischer. While he looked good at the begining of the season, not scoring for quite a while really derailed his game and his decisionmaking with the puck as well as his offensive positioning has gotten more and more questionable.... nevertheless I expect him to be a big factor when the Play-offs start... and be back on the Nationalteam for the WCs.

Now that leads to the question who will play 4th line RW beside Bieber-Trachsler? (Moser or Ambühl on his off wing or Suri?)

Gardner or Liniger as an extra Center makes sense, I'd prefered Liniger but Gardner is so flexible (Center/Wing, PP-Screen, FO% quality, long reach) I can live very well with that decision.

Bodenmann is a bit a surprise. I just think the reunion with his WC-Linemates probably won't work at the Olympic-Level. (physically too weak) and he's no 4th line W.
He definitely profits from last years performances, as opposed to Guggisberg and S.Bärtschi who are unproven for the "Nati", and his skating is just miles better than Sprunger's.

Nevertheless If I had to decide I'd taken Walker or Sprunger over him.

on defense:

Dubois and Sbisa are injured, so that probably costs them a ticket.

Simpson just likes Blindenbacher much more than me, but he definitely brings the experience.

To be fair I haven't seen a single game of Y.Weber this year... but from what I've seen before this season... he wouldn't even make the B-Team for me. I agree on having 4 strong PP-Ds (with Josi, Streit and Diaz) but how Simpson can take Weber over Bezina is puzzeling me. (Bezina showed at the SC and the Deutschland Cup his qualities as a PP-Quarterback) Off course he's slow, makes a stupid play once in a while, and his defensive positioning is questionable... but he brings leadership, size, grit, experience, passion and his first pass abilities are probably the best of all NLA defenders (with a swiss passport). Just doen't overplay him on 5 vs. 5

With Sbisa, Walker and Bezina not being on the roster, I guess this team is on the physical weak side. and when the game will heat up, this team could get intimidated... I'm pretty sure opposing coaches will know that.

Normally I really trust in Simpsons decisionmaking, but this just makes no sense for me. (hope I'm wrong though!)

Beside that I agree on the D picks.

Stephan's performance at the SC is proof enough to skip an injured Gerber IMO. (3rd GK isn't very important anyway)

 

[doubleaxes]

And Weber over Bezina in my opinion. They both lack defensive responsability, but over the last few games with the Canucks Wever has really performed well in his own end. And on the PP is Weber more usefull than Bezina.

BEZINA is a team leader, big tough, has a hard slap as WEBER. I know he is prone to turnovers but so is WEBER. He is a puck mover and somebody who can make order in front of goal and in corners.
There is no comparaison imo. Just don't get it from SIMPSON.

That possible pair FURRER WEBER gives me already cold skin.

 

[Bubbles]

weber sucks. nobody likes him in swiss. media, players... you name it... he doesn't deserve to be in that list. surpised also for Furrer.

As a Canucks fan, why dont people like weber?

 

[HC Bienne]

BEZINA is a team leader, big tough, has a hard slap as WEBER. I know he is prone to turnovers but so is WEBER. He is a puck mover and somebody who can make order in front of goal and in corners.
There is no comparaison imo. Just don't get it from SIMPSON.

That possible pair FURRER WEBER gives me already cold skin.

me too, man. me too...

 

[SwissGrog]

there is an easy explanation: Weber is right, and is stronger then Blindenbacher (another Right defensemen).
You can't make a defense full of lefty, and Diaz is the only other one Right.

 

[Richi]

As a Canucks fan, why dont people like weber?

poor play at the last WC he played and constantly criticized by the media. He must feel like a goalie in Philly

Fact is that Moser is valued much higher in Switzerland even though he´s never even been called up to the Predators. Meanwhile Weber is close to establishing himself as at least the #7 defensemen with the Canucks...
And I'm damn sure that most of the people who talk trash about him have never actually seen him play other than at the aforementioned WC.
Funny thing is, that the coach of the team he played for during the lockout, McSorley, wanted him to come back to Switzerland the very moment the Canucks waived him.

 

[duga]

As a Canucks fan, why dont people like weber?

it's not that we don't like him, it's just because most people think there are at least a dozen swiss Ds who are more complete than him. and at least 4 Ds who are better offensive Ds.

 

[Richi]

Actually, Seger said in an interview that it's 100% sure that Streit will be the Captain for the Olympics. Kind of funny how that worked out. Probably Simpsons choice and so Seger didn't think it had much sense argueing. It's just a letter on the jersey and Seger and Streit will possibly share the role in the locker room.

Little update:

Too lazy to translate everything Seger said, but he more or less stated the following:
We (Simpons and Seger) talked with Streit and decided that it would be best if I were to be the captain. I know the team better and he'll be joining us just 2 days before the first game. But a team needs more than just one leader and even though I'm wearing the C, other guys will help leading the team...

Source: http://www.blick.ch/sport/eishockey/nati/silber-gerber-fehlt-in-sotschi-id2603888.html

 

[HC Bienne]

As a Canucks fan, why dont people like weber?

little inside story: in 2010 OG he thanked he was already the best Swiss defense-men. And he was not shy to tell that to other players.

So in a real Olympic game he make a huge mistake, and when comebacks and to seat, there were two defense-man players(they are still in 2014 list) near him that had to put the hands on mouth for actually not laughing on him.

 

[chokei]

Simpson has put together a talented and experienced group of players, there is not much to disagree with IMO, well done. I like that he had the courage to leave 2 NHL players at home, even if you could criticize him for that after a bad tournament. But one is hurt and one is not playing too well, so not a difficult choice.

Some of the forwards are blossoming on big ice in the NLA right now, let's hope their success translates to Sochi. And if Josi plays as well as in Stockholm, maybe they can surprise offensively.

I don't think a lack of physicality will be a problem. In Sochi even less than in Vancouver. The NHLers should be used to it and Suri or Trachsler aren't soft either.

Four years ago I thought "In 4 years we could have a complete NHL block or two complete NHL pairs on defense, how cool would that be?" Funny that now it's Sbisa who isn't there anymore, the promising young defender who was a safe bet to be in Sochi, and we still don't have 2 NHL d-pairs. He is hurt right now yes, but I fear this only defers the moment where he won't get a spot in Anaheims defense anymore... He has to step it up. And Bärtschis time will come, he has many more Olympic tournaments to play in.

 

[Richi]

Four years ago I thought "In 4 years we could have a complete NHL block or two complete NHL pairs on defense, how cool would that be?" Funny that now it's Sbisa who isn't there anymore, the promising young defender who was a safe bet to be in Sochi, and we still don't have 2 NHL d-pairs. He is hurt right now yes, but I fear this only defers the moment where he won't get a spot in Anaheims defense anymore... He has to step it up. And Bärtschis time will come, he has many more Olympic tournaments to play in.

In my opinion the injury is the only reason why Simpson chose Weber over him but I could be mistaken of course. I don´t think Simpson would have taken all 4 of them in any case because it is risky to take NHL defensemen to the big ice. Therefore I wouldn´t be surprised if each of our NHL players will be paired with an NLA player.

As for Sbisa I hope he gets a top 6 role in Anaheim once he comes back. Honestly, I´m not worried at all about that because with 23 he´s still young for a defensemen. He´s still got at least three times the chance to compete at Olymipics, even if he truly doesn´t make it this time.

I would have hoped that Baertschi would go instead of Gardner, playing as the 13th forward and getting some power rushes. But Gardner might play an important role in Simpsons plans. And he´s always a beast when it comes to international tournaments.

 

[hototogisu]

little inside story: in 2010 OG he thanked he was already the best Swiss defense-men. And he was not shy to tell that to other players.

So in a real Olympic game he make a huge mistake, and when comebacks and to seat, there were two defense-man players(they are still in 2014 list) near him that had to put the hands on mouth for actually not laughing on him.

I don't know if that story's true, but Weber took some heat near the end of his time in Montreal when he was a healthy scratch for saying he was definitely better than some of the guys that were playing instead of him. I imagine that didn't sit too well with his teammates.

 

[SwissGrog]

In my opinion the injury is the only reason why Simpson chose Weber over him but I could be mistaken of course. I don´t think Simpson would have taken all 4 of them in any case because it is risky to take NHL defensemen to the big ice. Therefore I wouldn´t be surprised if each of our NHL players will be paired with an NLA player.

And is a right. We have now 3 defensemen out of 7 that are right-handed (Weber, Diaz, Blindenbacher), and this is damn important. You could discuss of Furrer instead of Sbisa or someone else but Weber is surely on the top3 of our right-handed defensemen.

 

[BMongrain]

there is an easy explanation: Weber is right, and is stronger then Blindenbacher (another Right defensemen).
You can't make a defense full of lefty, and Diaz is the only other one Right.

You got it!

Except of the Romy (never a fan of him) nomination, this is a very good (pretty sure the best we ever had on the paper) team.

 

[fallsviewafro*]

Hopefully Berra sees some ice time!

 

[SwissGrog]

You got it!

Except of the Romy (never a fan of him) nomination, this is a very good (pretty sure the best we ever had on the paper) team.

If I remember right, Romy and Brunner have shown a great chemistry during the WC 2012.

 

[BMongrain]

If I remember right, Romy and Brunner have shown a great chemistry during the WC 2012.

Could be true. But for me, Pluess, i, Gardner and Trachsler are the Center who will start.

 

[stv11]

Could be true. But for me, Pluess, i, Gardner and Trachsler are the Center who will start.

Romy, i and Plüss are locks for the top 3 center spots. I could see either Trachsler or Ambühl centering the 4th, depending on Simpson's plans.

 

[Richi]

Hopefully Berra sees some ice time!

I think he´ll be the 1b goalie. Hiller will start against Latvia and Berra will either get the Czech or the Sweden game. And then Simpson will probably ride the hot hand...

 

[Natey]

I don't know if that story's true, but Weber took some heat near the end of his time in Montreal when he was a healthy scratch for saying he was definitely better than some of the guys that were playing instead of him. I imagine that didn't sit too well with his teammates.

He definitely seems to not be shy about stating his opinion, for having proved so little. But at the same time, he never seemed to cause to many problems.

I think he probably has finally understood as well. He went to Vancouver and actually got sent down to the AHL (which he tore up) before coming back. He's still eating small amounts of ice-time, but it seems Torts trusts him more now than before.

 

[SilverRed]

This team looks so neutral.
A team that could upset some teams for sure

 

[doubleaxes]

And another big contributing factor: In Switzerland you simply cannot trust the +/- stats. Each team posts different stats, pretty much always different from the official league stats. The reason is, that the official match sheets aren´t filled out seriousely in this regard.

Do you have insider knowledge to say this.
Figures only sometimes differe in details between SIHF,HOCKEYFANS and clubwebs and certainly not to induce errors of the players real situation in stats matter.
For instance. The little differences are mostly due to update delays (like in linked examples) and has no influence on value of the information.
Its not NHL but its not bad.

http://www.nationalleague.ch/NL/spiele/de/pm_nla.php?season=2014
http://www.hockeyfans.ch/legacy/stats/playerstats
http://www.zsclions.ch/home/team/statistik/punkte-statistik/?no_cache=1

 

[neutral*]

If we play the system again like in the WC's, we have a chance at going far.

 

[Richi]

Do you have insider knowledge to say this.
Figures only sometimes differe in details between SIHF,HOCKEYFANS and clubwebs and certainly not to induce errors of the players real situation in stats matter.
For instance. The little differences are mostly due to update delays (like in linked examples) and has no influence on value of the information.
Its not NHL but its not bad.

http://www.nationalleague.ch/NL/spiele/de/pm_nla.php?season=2014
http://www.hockeyfans.ch/legacy/stats/playerstats
http://www.zsclions.ch/home/team/statistik/punkte-statistik/?no_cache=1

It was kind of a big thing a year ago, but most of the newspaper have paywalls for articles that are older than one month. I found one though:
http://www.blick.ch/sport/eishockey/nla/hockey-liga-duldet-fresszettel-id88627.html
It´s in german and the newspaper that published the story isn´t always reliable, but at least for sports they seem to be reliable. I wouldn´t read any other section of the newspaper than sports though!

The main thing is, that Ueli Schwartz, head of the Swiss hockey league, admitted, that they knew of this problem. They blame it on the teams for not doing their job very well.

So everything I said should be true. The guys who keep track of the statistics of each game are not officials of the league, but of the teams themselves. Not very reliable, especially for +/- which is a very heavy stat to keep track of.