Besides Bichsel, coaching will be most interesting to watch this year. Coaching was what cost us last year and the team would have been capable of more if it had some sort of strategy or discipline and if the coaches had leaned towards the right players. Obviously, Bayer was just a dummy HC last year but with Wichser replacing Fischer it could be different. Of course, the Swedish moron is still behind the bench but I don't think Wichser is necessary part of that rotten clan so we might find out whether Bayer is actually capable of properly coaching a team or not.
The team itself isn't bad. I'd like more righty defenders and a bit more scoring upfront but it is what it is. The team is very deep and experienced, Patenaude should normally provide solid goaltending. Some inexperienced defenders are on the team but Meier, Sidler and Chanton played very well in last years tournament already. Delémont hasn't but he's an NL pro now so I'd say it's fair to expect more. They're joined by three promising youngsters from overseas and sensation Lian Bichsel so I'm pretty happy with the defense. Many returning players upfront as well and big things can be expected from Hofer, Knak, Allenspach and Biasca. Canonica has always sucked ass with junior national teams lately so my expectations for him are trending towards zero. Though they're also returning players, I wouldn't expect much from Derungs or Fust either but though he's a 02 born, new big kid Cavalleri could be a player to watch. Some of the younger new guys like Robin, Henry or Garessus are interesting as well based on their experience or stats in pro leagues. I like also like that they added some older righty forwards with pro experience like Graf or Fahrni to the team. The other two guys I'd add to the Derungs, Fust and Canonica category. If they're anything more than complementary players, I'm excited.