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

[SwissGrog]

First comments: No Sbisa or Bezina, good.
Kind of surprised for the absence of Sprunger. His size could have been useful, more that what Bodenmann brings on the table.

 

[Belenos]

Sbisa is still injured, so...

 

[JJTT]

No Sven?

 

[HC Bienne]

No Sbisa Big mistake imo. He brings the physical play that we will need against the bigger teams.

injured

 

[HC Bienne]

No Sven?

ice time. not enough.

 

[swisdan]

I like this choice. Only 2 players in the lineup differ from my selection. Gartner for Sprunger and Weber for Bezina.

I don't have to complain but I'm not a Weber fan. But like I said, I'm very ok with this choice!

 

[HC Bienne]

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.

 

[SwissGrog]

bah I still think that the convocations of Bodenmann and Bieber are sort of "Recompense" for the silver medal run. With should have Sprunger and Pestoni instead.

 

[Kuzya]

injured

Yes but it's better to have him on the list and then replace him if he is not back in time. Now if he comes back he will only be picked if there is an injury.

 

[stv11]

The only surprising choice is Weber over Sbisa (even if Sbisa is not that great and his injury probably played a role, I would have expected Von Gunten, Blum or Grossmann to be ahead of Weber).

I also expected Gerber and Walker rather than Stephan and Bodenmann, but those are minor differences.

 

[Richi]

Biggest surprises:

Weber instead of Sbisa, which raises the question wheter Sbisa´s healing process will take more time than planned

Sven Baertschi not cracking the roster. Simpson probably wanted players with more international experience (Bieber, Romy, etc.)

Gardner being on the roster. Well, Simpson likes him and each international tournament he seems to suddenly get in a really good shape. Big plus is his ability to screen the goalie.

Stephan instead of Gerber. Given Gerbers injury, it seems the logical choice.

 

[stv11]

bah I still think that the convocations of Bodenmann and Bieber are sort of "Recompense" for the silver medal run. With should have Sprunger and Pestoni instead.

I would have agreed with you about Bieber last summer, but he's shown so far this season that he belongs. And none of the two players you suggested could play his role.

 

[HC Bienne]

agreed, Bieber deserves to be in the list.

 

[jonas2244]

I think Bieber outplayed Walker and Bodenmann outplayed Sven Bärtschi.

Weber over Sbisa (and over Du Bois and Von Gunten, etc.) the only real surprise.

And Seger gets the C, I think it is the right decision, but it's rather strange that Seger said in an interview some time ago that Streit was and always will be the captain of the team.

 

[Leafsdude7]

The surprises to me are Seger, Bodenmann and Bieber. The rest were at least on my radar, but those guys are completely out of left field, IMO.

 

[stv11]

The surprises to me are Seger, Bodenmann and Bieber. The rest were at least on my radar, but those guys are completely out of left field, IMO.

Seger was a lock. He's been a constant performer on the national team for years and is not slowing down, no reason to skip him.

Bodenmann and Bieber were part of last year's team, which should be enough to put them on anyone's radar. Their league play this season also helped their cases.

 

[doubleaxes]

SEGER IS captain instead of MARK STREIT. Logic choice as he was captain of successful team of last WC.

Quiet happy with this list but BEZINA over WEBER 100 times. Much more complete player and not afraid to fight if it needs. Where do you use WEBER? on the PP and that's it.

SBISA has 9 little games so far AFAIK and not even back yet from injurie. Not ready.

SVEN, SORRY for him but not enough international experience at this level and does not convince with Flames and as I read not specially either with farm team.

 

[SwissGrog]

I think here in Switzerland people are underestimating Weber. His impact with Geneva last year during the lockout was incredible, and he played really well and an insane amount of minutes (there are no statistics but he was always on the ice). Is not a coincidence that Geneva went from first to barely making the playoff after the lockout ended.

 

[jonas2244]

Weber had a bad tournament 4 years ago because he was overplayed there. And most people just remember this.
If he can play on the 4th pairing with 10-13 minutes a game he's surley not a bad choice, especially for the PP, he probably has the best shot of all D. But I'm still surprised, I just didn't expect that.

 

[HC Bienne]

yannick weber doesn't know how to defend. Last year with Geneve-servette he got 25 minutes a game. all teammates had a +/- positive and the great superstar from nhl had -5. Even third pair hadn't that with Geneve. He's the Mike Green of Swiss.

 

[stv11]

Weber had a bad tournament 4 years ago because he was overplayed there. And most people just remember this.
If he can play on the 4th pairing with 10-13 minutes a game he's surley not a bad choice, especially for the PP, he probably has the best shot of all D. But I'm still surprised, I just didn't expect that.

I think you have the 2010 Olympics mixed with the 2009 WC, where Weber was pretty good for his first national team experience. In 2010 he didn't play much and was quickly benched.

I agree he can probably do ok on the 4th pair and help the PP, but with three functionning pairs (Josi-Diaz, Seger-Vauclair and Blindenbacher-Furrer) returning from last year, it would have made more sense to select a player who complements Streit better. And are his PP skills really needed with Josi, Diaz, Streit and Seger? (even the other three regularly play power plays)

Anyway, like we all learned last spring, Simpson knows what he's doing.

 

[ElTailR]

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!

 

[Richi]

SEGER IS captain instead of MARK STREIT. Logic choice as he was captain of successful team of last WC.

Quiet happy with this list but BEZINA over WEBER 100 times. Much more complete player and not afraid to fight if it needs. Where do you use WEBER? on the PP and that's it.

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.

Here is the interview between TagesAnzeiger and Seger with translation:

TA: Wären Sie gerne wieder Captain an den Olympischen Spielen? Would you like to be Captain at the Olympics?
Seger: In Sotschi ist Mark Streit Captain. Ich wäre einfach gerne dort dabei.In Sotschi Mark Streit is going to be Captain. I'd just like to be there.

TA:Steht das fest mit Streit?Is it definitive that Streit will be captain?
Seger: Es ist für jeden Spieler klar, dass Streit der Captain sein wird. It's clear for every player that Streit is going to be the captain.

TA: Nationalcoach Sean Simpson hat das aber noch nicht gesagt, oder?But coach Sean Simpson hasn't already said so, or did he?
Seger: Das muss er nicht sagen. Das ist klar. Weil Streit schon immer Captain war. Und weil er unser bester Verteidiger ist. He doesn't need to. It's clear. Because Streit has always been our captain. And because he's our best defensemen.

Ta: Aber Sie sind der Silbercaptain. But you are the captain that lead the team during the silver run.
Seger: Ja, das ist schön und gut. Aber es ist Streits Position. Ich durfte einspringen, weil er nicht kommen konnte. Yeah, that was great. Still, it's Streits position. I was captain because he couldn't be there

Source: http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/sport/fussball/Die-Guetsli-meiner-Mutter-sind-ein-Gedicht/story/16291040

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.

 

[doubleaxes]

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.

Here is the interview between TagesAnzeiger and Seger with translation:

TA: Wären Sie gerne wieder Captain an den Olympischen Spielen? Would you like to be Captain at the Olympics?
Seger: In Sotschi ist Mark Streit Captain. Ich wäre einfach gerne dort dabei.In Sotschi Mark Streit is going to be Captain. I'd just like to be there.

TA:Steht das fest mit Streit?Is it definitive that Streit will be captain?
Seger: Es ist für jeden Spieler klar, dass Streit der Captain sein wird. It's clear for every player that Streit is going to be the captain.

TA: Nationalcoach Sean Simpson hat das aber noch nicht gesagt, oder?But coach Sean Simpson hasn't already said so, or did he?
Seger: Das muss er nicht sagen. Das ist klar. Weil Streit schon immer Captain war. Und weil er unser bester Verteidiger ist. He doesn't need to. It's clear. Because Streit has always been our captain. And because he's our best defensemen.

Ta: Aber Sie sind der Silbercaptain. But you are the captain that lead the team during the silver run.
Seger: Ja, das ist schön und gut. Aber es ist Streits Position. Ich durfte einspringen, weil er nicht kommen konnte. Yeah, that was great. Still, it's Streits position. I was captain because he couldn't be there

Source: http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/sport/fussball/Die-Guetsli-meiner-Mutter-sind-ein-Gedicht/story/16291040.

It looks to me he was just prepairing the ground and being correct to Streit.

 

[Richi]

yannick weber doesn't know how to defend. Last year with Geneve-servette he got 25 minutes a game. all teammates had a +/- positive and the great superstar from nhl had -5. Even third pair hadn't that with Geneve. He's the Mike Green of Swiss.

Yeah... +/- is such a valuable stat. Mark Streit has had the worst +/- on the Islanders for a few years. Still they wanted him to stay and he got offered a contract for 5 M a year by the Flyers. And it's not just because he's one of the best PP Quarterbacks in the league, but also because he's a capable defensemen. Look at his stats this year, where he's havin an even +/-.

There are a few contributors to this fact.
1. Competition you're facing. With the Islanders, Streit often faced the oppositions top line and was up with the EN, which often gives a player a minus because the opposing team usually scores... The same could be said for Weber and Genf-Servette.
2. The rest of the team. If you have nearly 30 min TOI every game and you´re not facing the opponents 3rd of 4th line, your +/- is going to suffer. Or would you really like to argue that Ryan Ellis is better than Shea Weber or Josi?

I could go on, but I think this is enough evidence that +/- is an invalid stat if it´s not backed up with a few other things.

And just for information:
Romy, Mercier, Gerber, Randegger, Friedli, Simek and Antonietti all had worse +/- than Weber. Where do you get your facts????
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.