WJC: 2021 Switzerland roster talk

[Speyer]

I think both losses are gonna hurt the team overall. Stoffel is probably the most experienced forward on the roster and maybe the best forward overall after Knak, not counting the rather inexperienced Canonica and Biasca who are difficult to judge right now. While Lindemann doesnt seem to be an offensive dynamo, he has at least a lot of international experience playing in Sweden and I had him locked in to do a lot of defensive work, especially on the PK. Not to mention he is one of the few natural centers on the team so his absence hurts the already weak depth in that department further. In the end we have to be thankful though, that at least Meier and Knak seem to be able to take part in the tournament.

Btw, are replacement players being added to the camp or is it to late for that due to the quarantine requirements?

 

[Hinterland]

Feeling really really sorry for Yves Stoffel. Seasoned pro and great player. Last year he got cut from the roster by this idiot Paterlini. This year he was gonna carry this team but got stopped by covid. Heartbreaking for the kid who deserves much better. Will be rooting for him, hoping he can rebound.

 

[wings5]

Has the Swiss Hockey Association made any recent offers to Rochette , Othmann, or Mactavish? I know Othmann and MacTavish are unlikely given their higher prospect status and how they are on Team Canada's radar but just curious

 

[iginlafan77]

Has the Swiss Hockey Association made any recent offers to Rochette , Othmann, or Mactavish? I know Othmann and MacTavish are unlikely given their higher prospect status and how they are on Team Canada's radar but just curious

Rochette has played internationally for both Switzerland and Canada, but I don't believe that he's played in any "official" IIHF tournaments that would lock his eligibility into one or the other. Although I'd have to think that if he wanted to be, he'd be on this Swiss team.

 

[Speyer]

Rochette has played internationally for both Switzerland and Canada, but I don't believe that he's played in any "official" IIHF tournaments that would lock his eligibility into one or the other. Although I'd have to think that if he wanted to be, he'd be on this Swiss team.

I cant find the source anymore but Rochette had to give hockey Canada a "long term commitment" when he switched federations. So now he probably cant just switch back two years later without looking like a big time opportunist, especially since he still hasn't been drafted yet. I also don't know if the swiss federation is even interested in bringing him back right now, even though he definitely should make the roster from a skill standpoint.

Edit: found the source

 

[neelynugs]

where can you find the final roster for switzerland? looking forward to getting a peek at zanetti.

 

[iginlafan77]

where can you find the final roster for switzerland? looking forward to getting a peek at zanetti.

Eliteprospects.com is pretty good for seeing current rosters for every team

 

[Hinterland]

where can you find the final roster for switzerland? looking forward to getting a peek at zanetti.

News National Teams

Not out yet. They'll announce the last three cuts and the final roster on wednesday.

Rötheli, Landolt and Sidler were the latest cuts.

I'm fine with the other two but Landolt is a very surprising cut considering what's still on the roster.

 

[filip85]

Y
we tend to forget that there are some serious problems in the Swiss system .

Which problems ?

 

[filip85]

I cant find the source anymore but Rochette had to give hockey Canada a "long term commitment" when he switched federations. So now he probably cant just switch back two years later without looking like a big time opportunist, especially since he still hasn't been drafted yet. I also don't know if the swiss federation is even interested in bringing him back right now, even though he definitely should make the roster from a skill standpoint.

Edit: found the source

Well, if they have 0,01% of national pride - they shouldn't be.

 

[Speyer]

Well, if they have 0,01% of national pride - they shouldn't be.

If the decision were up to me I would leave the door open for the adult team in the future but I wouldnt nominate him for the WJC next year. This would also go against the whole "commitment is necessary" narrative that Fischer is preaching since he banned Malgin, Herzog etc. from the NT for several years because they didnt attend some prospect training camp in the summer.

 

[duga]

Still trying to figure out why Bayer would go with 9D and only 13 F.

I mean you can work properly as a team with down to 6 D, but being reduced to 11 F already disrupts the rhythm between them.

Maybe 1 or 2 of the more important Ds are carrying slight injuries, so they keep an extra D? Does anyone know?

And if you go with an extra D, why would you cut the most skilled (but youngest), who will play a major role next year and could quite profit from a small role now? Even more so as his skillset could very well be the most natural one among the Ds to shift to an attacking role, if 2 Fs get injured.

Yet we got Delemont on the roster, whose development has stalled severly for 2 years now.

And after the loss of Canova and Lindemann a few days ago, they thin out the options on C further by cutting Burkhalter?

I don't have any insight. And thanks to Fischer's and Albelin's presence you got the intelligence and experience in the team and gotta trust the decisionmaking.

Still looks a bit weird from outside.

 

[Hinterland]

Still trying to figure out why Bayer would go with 9D and only 13 F.

I mean you can work properly as a team with down to 6 D, but being reduced to 11 F already disrupts the rhythm between them.

Maybe 1 or 2 of the more important Ds are carrying slight injuries, so they keep an extra D? Does anyone know?

And if you go with an extra D, why would you cut the most skilled (but youngest), who will play a major role next year and could quite profit from a small role now? Even more so as his skillset could very well be the most natural one among the Ds to shift to an attacking role, if 2 Fs get injured.

Yet we got Delemont on the roster, whose development has stalled severly for 2 years now.

And after the loss of Canova and Lindemann a few days ago, they thin out the options on C further by cutting Burkhalter?

I don't have any insight. And thanks to Fischer's and Albelin's presence you got the intelligence and experience in the team and gotta trust the decisionmaking.

Still looks a bit weird from outside.

Seriously?
I'd even take Hanlon back to get rid of that clown. Or Simpson

Swiss national teams suffering from beyond awful coaching the last years. At least the maniac Wohlwend is finally gone. They'll probably hire him again soo though once he gets the boot in Davos

 

[Czechboy]

At least the maniac Wohlwend

What was wrong with Wohlwend?

 

[Speyer]

I watched parts of the game agaisnt Austria and the center-depht looks conserning to say the least. Canonica couldnt influence the game much and wasnt able to drive the play at all. Biasca was not much better in that regard and was straight up lost defensively. Salzgeber and Schläpfer were solid under the circumstances but are both players you want to have on the fourth line in such tournaments.

Also, does anybody know why Petrini from Langnau isnt on the Roster? He should be better than most forwards on the team.

 

[Hinterland]

What was wrong with Wohlwend?

Everything.

 

[duga]

Seriously?
I'd even take Hanlon back to get rid of that clown. Or Simpson

Of course. With Manuele Celio and Köbi Kölliker at his side to keep the quality consistent.

Peak Simpson was a grumpy but excellent coach.

And while I agree that some stuff Fischer did was either a bit over the top (Malgin, Kukan) or probably over ambitious, in the end he did implement a system which after a tough learning process, matched this generations skill and style to a degree that they came closer to bring home gold from a WHC than ever before. He was courageous enough to stick to his general concept of an offensive system even through rough times, and intelligent enough to adapt it where the approach was just too ambitious and to get help on how to structure the D-side by a guy like Albelin.

That kind of behaviour as a coach doesn't exactly seem to turn his intelligence into ridicule in my mind.

Swiss national teams suffering from beyond awful coaching the last years. At least the maniac Wohlwend is finally gone. They'll probably hire him again soo though once he gets the boot in Davos

Well, he certainly is a guy who's coaching right at the edge... and it's easy to imagine him having a pretty abrasive personality.

 

[BigBadBoar]

I know Wohlwend has been notorious for his conflicts with players, despotic personality, absurd eruptions of anger on the bench and similar stuff. At the same time, he has some interesting results behind him. But I can see why players usually don't like him and they are right, a coach should have certain level of manners.

 

[duga]

I watched parts of the game agaisnt Austria and the center-depht looks conserning to say the least. Canonica couldnt influence the game much and wasnt able to drive the play at all. Biasca was not much better in that regard and was straight up lost defensively. Salzgeber and Schläpfer were solid under the circumstances but are both players you want to have on the fourth line in such tournaments.

Also, does anybody know why Petrini from Langnau isnt on the Roster? He should be better than most forwards on the team.

To be honest, even with everybody available there's just no potential 1st or 2nd line center in the 01/02 generation. (Rochette would have been the only one)

Having only watched the highlights from the Austria prep game I can't contribute anything meaningfull. But in general I think Salzgeber would be an adequate 3rd Line Center in most years. He's a very solid 2way player. And he just came back from injury, should make more of an impact after a few games.

I agree about Schläpfer. He definitely got his limits.

Let's hope Canonica finds the chemistry with Bottini again from last year in Lugano, and we'll see a similar impact as he showed during the summer camp vs Germany. It's definitely much needed.

I don't know much about Petrini. But him not having any international exposure in the past might kept the staff too cautious to give him a call?

 

[Hinterland]

I know Wohlwend has been notorious for his conflicts with players, despotic personality, absurd eruptions of anger on the bench and similar stuff. At the same time, he has some interesting results behind him. But I can see why players usually don't like him and they are right, a coach should have certain level of manners.

What interesting results? Where? This idiot coached some of the best national junior squads in maybe forever and how many medals did he win? How many titles elsewhere? What results? He's an idiot. Completely.

Paterlini was the best coach all Swiss national teams had in years and they sacked him after just one year. Yeah, his Hollenstein obsession might have cost him a medal but that 5th place was still a great result when looking at his roster. With Bayer they now got another interesting member of the sort of new coaching wave but with the usual clowns assisting him and a rather weak roster, you wonder what's gonna be possible this year.

 

[Speyer]

What interesting results? Where? This idiot coached some of the best national junior squads in maybe forever and how many medals did he win? How many titles elsewhere? What results? He's an idiot. Completely.

Paterlini was the best coach all Swiss national teams had in years and they sacked him after just one year. Yeah, his Hollenstein obsession might have cost him a medal but that 5th place was still a great result when looking at his roster. With Bayer they now got another interesting member of the sort of new coaching wave but with the usual clowns assisting him and a rather weak roster, you wonder what's gonna be possible this year.

Wohlwend certainly has his faults especially on the communication side but his results were at the very least decent for the players he had at his disposal. In 2017 we gave the eventual champions the closest game of the tournament and could have won a medal with a bit more luck. A year later we pulled an upset against the swedes but the roster wasnt up to the task in the semis and against the russians in the bronze medal game. Wich conrete mistakes did Wohlwend do in those tournaments in your oppinion? Even with the 2010 team that had Josi, Sbisa, Conz and Niederreiter we couldnt win a medal. The gap between the top nations and us is so big that we would need a above average roster, luck, and good coaching to win one. From the roster perspective Wohlwend only had that in 2017...

 

[jonas2244]

We faced twice relegation before Wohlwend (With John Fust) also with strong rosters (Meier, Fiala, Malgin, Hischier, Siegenthaler, Van Pottelberghe, etc.).

Switzerland played close to its potential in each tournament since 2017 (beside the Olympics 2018) and mainly lost because mostly they faced a (sometimes much) better opponent in the KO-round. The difference in junior-hockey is even bigger than at senior level.
Fact is if you look at our player potential we're currently at the right place. Maybe we can pull of an upset from time to time.

I agree on Paterlini though. A decision I still don't understand. We need the best coaches at Swiss Junior level to get closer to the top. And now instead of having Paterlini there he coaches in the Swiss league. It's just a loss for Swiss ice hockey.

 

[Hinterland]

Just looked at the ice times and was shocked. Bayer (though not sure if all of this was his call) has to stop bullshitting and play his best and most experienced players. Overall, I'm happy with the first game and they just ran into a very good goalie. Still, I think ice times need to get fixed.

Baragano, who cost Switzerland the game almost single handedly, played 16:38 but Meier just 15:16, Guggenheim just 13:32 and Pezzullo, by far the best and most experienced defender, played just 16:20. Wtf. Still don't know why they cut Landolt, the best righty defender eligible and decided to scratch the 2nd best righty (Villa). The two remaining righty defenders were arguably the two worst players.

Forwards not much better. Underwhelming Canonica played 16:32 while Marchand and Jobin, who, in my view, were outstanding, got just 13:51 and 8:37. If Salzgeber is back for game 2, I'd like to see the following lines:

Marchand, Schläpfer, Knak
Jobin, Salzgeber, Hofer
Fust, Allenspach, Bottini
Dähler, Canonica or Biasca, Derungs

Alternatively, keep the Schläpfer line together and play Knak with Salzgeber and Jobin. 20/20/15/5 roughly in terms of ice time.

On defense, at least 25mins for Pezzullo and at least 20 for both Meier and Guggenheim.

 

[jonas2244]

You get those D-icetimes when you play with 4 pairs. I thought Chanton played a solid game, had quite a few good plays in the D-zone and mostly a good first pass.
I don't think D is the main issue. There are just too many Forwards on this roster who wouldn't be part of the roster in the past years. Bottini is far away from being a first liner. Canonica wasn't good either, but at least I see some potential there, some speed. Maybe he just needs a few games, he's also the youngest guy on the roster. Dähler, Derungs and Biasca just don't offer anything special.

 

[Hinterland]

You get those D-icetimes when you play with 4 pairs. I thought Chanton played a solid game, had quite a few good plays in the D-zone and mostly a good first pass.
I don't think D is the main issue. There are just too many Forwards on this roster who wouldn't be part of the roster in the past years. Bottini is far away from being a first liner. Canonica wasn't good either, but at least I see some potential there, some speed. Maybe he just needs a few games, he's also the youngest guy on the roster. Dähler, Derungs and Biasca just don't offer anything special.

I don't mind rolling 4 defense pairs and that's no excuse not to play your best defender 25 mins. Baragano is almost a carbon copy of Delémont and should get sheltered as well...

Pezzullo, Guggenheim, Meier, Marchand and Jobin are some of the best players on this team and all of them should have played about 10mins more.

Canonica may be young but he's not particularly gifted. Same goes for Biasca. Knak was better than them last year already. I don't mind having the two kida on the roster because Center depth is weak. But once Salzgeber is back, they should compete for no more than the 4C job. Salzgeber and Schläpfer are clearly the best Centers of this team and Allenspach is normally nr.3.