we lost to Russia ... 5-0 in quantity but not in quality !
we should have won to USA
We should have won to Bielorussia
We beat Germany
We may and could have beaten Finland
We beat Kazakstan
There were some quality moments on offense against Russia, but it was a bad defensive performance from start to finish. Maybe the game could have ended 5-1 or 5-2, but I wouldn't argue that it was a strong game. Definitely not compared to how Germany handled Russia yesterday.
I can't comment much on the USA game as I only saw the goals, I can only say that with some luck (read: correct offside calls), there would have been at least one point.
The game against Belarus was a textbook example of a team beating itself, that loss should never have happend. On the other hand, they got 3 points against Germany despite an awful third period. Those games kind of cancel each other.
The last two games were a lot better and it showed on the scoresheet.
Overall, I'd say that the amount of points earned is not far from reflecting the quality of the team. Sure, some lucky bounces can always change the outcome of a game, but it's wrong to blame the result on bad luck or circumstances.
All this without : ... nino, streit, Hiller, Wick, others ... The only great players we are having are Josi, Brunner and Berra (in bad shape) ... these are the only stars we are playing with.
In other words ... we kept it not too badly (but unluckily) with a team that is far from the best we can put together ... i see that as a great positive.
It would be all well and good if it was true for Switzerland only, but almost all teams are far from having their best roster. Russia, although impressive, has to rely on unexpected production from Tikhonov and Plotnikov, the USA don't even have the usual one or two players of Stastny's caliber they can usually count on, Finland got almost nothing from the NHL and even lost some of their strong Europe based players like Aaltonen or Pesonen, and Germany is missing some key players as well. Belarus of course have their best team playing, but still don't look better than Switzerland on paper (they may have more firepower, but their defense has the same depth problem without having any Josi or Weber). Latvia and Kazakhstan have decent roster compared to what they could hope for. It's not much better in pool A, only France and Italy can be happy with what they got.
Switzerland's offense has enough quality (compared to last year, it only lacks some better 4th liner, but the current 4th line is decent enough), and the defense could of course use two top 4 players, but the drop in quality from last year doesn't justify going from 9 wins to only 2/3.
And to me, that the NHL players say no to the team is fine (they finish later ... heavy schedule) ... yet our NLA players should agree to play. Little to no excuse.
This should be evaluated on a case by case basis. I can understand Niederreiter not going, as joining a team mid tournament is not the best situation. Streit, on the other hand, could have joined on time for the last exhibition game, and, unless the Flyers coaching staff doesn't have a clue about how to manage its players, was prepared to play one more month of hockey.
Regarding the NLA players, not everyone can be blamed. Von Gunten was obviously playing injured in the playoffs, it's been reported that Stephan was under painkillers since december, and Walker certainly didn't look happy about not being in Minsk when he was invited by RSI to comment on the game against Russia. But some things are not acceptable, like Wick not picking up the phone, Bieber tweeting a pick from his holidays, or Plüss sudenly wanting more preparation time. Especially since Simpson asked all players in December already, and all said they would take part.
typical hockey.
