Olympics: Switzerland Roster Discussion (Roster in post 1)

[Jon Riley]

Confirmed roster:

Goaltenders:
Jonas Hiller
Tobias Stephan
Leonardo Genoni

Defensemen:
Patrick Geering
Félicien Du Bois
Raphael Diaz
Dominik Schlumpf
Philippe Furrer
Romain Loeffel
Eric Blum
Ramon Untersander

Forwards:
Vincent Praplan
Thomas Rüfenacht
Andres Ambühl
Reto Schäppi
Simon Bodenmann
Pius Suter
Tristan Scherwey
Fabrice Herzog
Denis Hollenstein
Enzo Corvi
Simon Moser
Grégory Hofmann
Cody Almond
Gaëtan Haas

***************************************************************************************

Original post:

No discussion yet? Then I open it, waiting for some official news.
This was the roster called for the Spengler cup:
Goaltenders (2): Leonardo Genoni (SC Bern), Tobias Stephan (EV Zug).
Defensemen (9): Eric Blum (SC Bern), Raphael Diaz (EV Zug), Patrick Geering (ZSC Lions), Joël Genazzi (Lausanne HC), Romain Loeffel (Genève-Servette HC), Yannick Rathgeb (HC Fribourg-Gottéron), Dominik Schlumpf (EV Zug), Dave Sutter (ZSC Lions), Ramon Untersander (SC Bern).
Forwards (16): Simon Bodenmann (SC Bern), Damien Brunner (HC Lugano), Luca i (HC Lugano), Luca Fazzini (HC Lugano), Gaëtan Haas (SC Bern), Fabrice Herzog (ZSC Lions), Gregory Hofmann (HC Lugano), Denis Hollenstein (EHC Kloten), Lino Martschini (EV Zug), Vincent Praplan (EHC Kloten), Tanner Richard (Genève-Servette HC), Thomas Rüfenacht (SC Bern), Reto Schäppi (ZSC Lions), Tristan Scherwey (SC Bern), Pius Suter (ZSC Lions), Joël Vermin (Lausanne HC).


Hiller will most likely be added to the goalie list, among the defensemen I see Diaz, Blum, Geering and Schlumpf quite sure to be called. I'd bring Untersander, but then among Furrer, Genazzi, DuBois, Grossmann, Marti, Löffel and Rathgreb I really do not know who I'd take.

Forward for sure if healthy Moser, Ambhül, Haas, Hollenstein and Praplan. i, Schäppi and Richards will probably the other centers. Only other possible name would be Corvi, maybe?

Bodenmann, Brunner, Rüfenacht, Herzog, Suter and Scherwey I think have more possibilities to be called than Martschini and Fazzini.

Anyone else I forgot?

Click to read more...

 

[MBTendy]

Any word on when they’ll announce it?

 

[jonas2244]

We had quite an intense discussion in another thread.

I don't see Corvi, i had a good Spengler Cup, he could be one of the winners from there. I see Almond as a lock, the chemistry he had with Schäppi and Rüfenacht last WC could be a big plus. I really like Vermin, his experience from NA could be a big plus. Brunner has to be there IMHO. We'll see.

Defense seems to be quite clear for me. Diaz, Geering, Blum and Untersander Top-4, behind that I see Furrer. Schlumpf and Genazzi could complete the D, don't think that Grossmann and Du Bois have a shot.

I don't know when it's going to be officially announced. Yesterday was the date to submit the list to Swiss Olympic. Selection date is the 22.January, maybe we'll know by then.

 

[Jon Riley]

Oh did not see the thread, where are you guys hiding it?
Almond and Brunner would be locks if healthy and in good condition, but are they?
Brunner is the most talented player of the crop, but his continuous injuries basically keep on dragging him down..every time he comes back and get in a good shape something happens again. I'd bring him anyways but it has been long since he was doing really ok.
Of course, forgot about Vermin, he'd be very useful.
I'm not sold about Bodenmann, his Spengler has been quite horrible, if Fischer has doubts that tournament won't do him a favour.
I like Scherwey (not true, I really do not like him, who does?), he can bring something that's useful in an olympic tournament, intensity and physicality. That said Vermin is probably a smarter choice, and for sure more palatable for me.
I still would not count out Loeffel, he's doing quite good and he's a good pp option.

 

[jonas2244]

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/national-team-discussion.1026241/

This one.

 

[Speyer]

I really hope Moser will be healthy when the tournament starts. He has often been the best Swiss NLA forward at the last few World Championships. He's also our only power forward on a roster that otherwise consists of mostly smaler players or guys who are not overly physical eek:i etc.). Would be a huge blow for the Swiss if he missed the olympics imo...

 

[stv11]

I agree with Jonas regarding the defense, Diaz, Geering, Blum and Untersander look set for the top two pairs, then Genazzi-Furrer seems to be the most sensible choice for the third with Schlumpf as the 7th defenseman after his good Spengler cup. I'd go with Fora to complete the roster, I like him better than the other possibilities.

The forward group should be based on last year's WC team. If healthy, the Praplan-Haas-Hollenstein and Rüfenacht-Almond-Schäppi lines should be kept intact. I thought about i, and even though he looked very good with Praplan and Hollenstein, I don't think it makes sense to break a line that works well and has been kept intact for so long. Assuming that Haas could build chemistry with other linemates and be as efficient as he is with Hollenstein and Praplan, and that i can keep up the level of play he showed at the Spengler cup is probably a bit too much even for a risk taker like Fischer. That would leave six spots opened. Ambühl is a lock and I guess he would play with Suter as they worked well together last year, and Brunner and Moser (100% agree that he is needed for his presence around the net) should make it if healthy. Richard had a strong Spengler cup and is playing a good season overall, he will definitely be centering a line. That leaves one spot, plus two extra forwards. Vermin was convincing at the Spengler cup and could make it, I'm not crazy about Bodenmann but he is the safe choice, Hofmann did well at his only WC but his lack of hockey sense is a big minus, Herzog I think got a bit overrated because of his goals against Canada, but did well at the Karjala cup and is a safer bet than the other possibilities.

So I'd go with this lineup:
Praplan - Haas - Hollenstein
Ambühl - Richard - Suter
Moser - Vermin - Brunner
Schäppi - Almond - Rüfenacht
Herzog, Bodenmann

 

[stv11]

And to contradict my last post, I just watched Lausanne-Lugano and i was excellent. Good game by Brunner and Genazzi as well.

 

[jonas2244]

There will be a lot of Brunner-critism no matter how Fischer decides. If he's in the roster there will be critism, if he's out there will be. Our favourite newspaper with the big letters already started to trash Brunner.

Brunner can be a game-changer in any game. He has to be in the roster. It's up to Fischer to handle him the right way (force him when he's hot, rest him when not). I thought he handled that quite good at the last WC.
I agree on the the names on stv11, I wouldn't let Vermin center a name, but these are just details. Hofmann is very fast but otherwise he's missing a lot. Fazzini is not yet there. Scherwey is a name that we should have on the list, he's having a good season, but I don't know where to put him in. We'll see, really curious to see the list and the decisions by Patrick Fischer and his staff.

 

[stv11]

There will be a lot of Brunner-critism no matter how Fischer decides. If he's in the roster there will be critism, if he's out there will be. Our favourite newspaper with the big letters already started to trash Brunner.

Brunner can be a game-changer in any game. He has to be in the roster. It's up to Fischer to handle him the right way (force him when he's hot, rest him when not). I thought he handled that quite good at the last WC.

Are you thinking about that Blick article where they "tell Fischer who he must take"? (the arrogance level of this title is unbelievable).

There are obvious pros and cons with Brunner, mainly that he's a game breaker and that he has been injury prone since his time in New Jersey. On the other hand, looking at his behaviour, all the criticism regarding his character seem completely unwarranted. But we live in a world where a lot of people are dumb enough to believe what Klaus Zaugg has to say.

I agree on the the names on stv11, I wouldn't let Vermin center a name, but these are just details. Hofmann is very fast but otherwise he's missing a lot. Fazzini is not yet there. Scherwey is a name that we should have on the list, he's having a good season, but I don't know where to put him in. We'll see, really curious to see the list and the decisions by Patrick Fischer and his staff.

Vermin is probably better on the wing, but his line worked well at the Spengler cup (Probably the best chemistry after the Hollenstein line), so I wouldn't be surprised if we see him with Brunner and a grinder. And assuming that Ambühl, Suter, Brunner, Richard and Moser make the team, this is the most logical place to put him. Unless you have Ambühl at center.

 

[jonas2244]

Yeah, of course. And that's the stuff people read (together with Klaus Zaugg). Brunner always gets the most pressure (like Mark Streit) and they rarley could avoid critism. But yeah, I guess that's part of the game. But not the part I like.

 

[Jon Riley]

It is enough to read the comments on the italian websites to see the amount of hate and bashing that Brunner takes, every time I am impressed. Plenty of Ambrì fans, but lots of Lugano fans too. He's been accused to ruin the team even when he was out injured, it's kinda incredible.
All my doubts come only from his conditions, it would suck to keep out someone that would deserve it (Herzog, Hoffmann, Scherwey or whoever else) to have a 40% Brunner, but then again I hope Fischer is willing to take the risk.

 

[stv11]

Unfortunately the majority of fans think they know everything about stuff they don't have clue about. I myself had a heated discussion with a teammate during a game recently, and I'm sure that if we were pro players we would have had the newspapers all over us. But we actually were celebrating the win together 15 minutes after it happened.

Anyway, all players need to be 100% fit, we saw last year that Brunner can't perform at this level when recovering from an injury. And in my opinion, you don't "deserve" to make the national team, you make it if you make the team better.

 

[jonas2244]

Roster announcement ist today in approx 4 hours (14:00 Swiss time).

 

[stv11]

Insufficient blurring suggests that Genoni, Blum, Almond and Vermin made it:

 

[jonas2244]

Haha, what a fail.

 

[stv11]

Trying to guess the forward list: Almond, Ambühl, Bodenmann, i, Haas, Herzog, Hollenstein, Praplan, Richard, Rüfenacht, Schäppi, Scherwey, Suter, Vermin

 

[jonas2244]

Hui, some surprises here.

Hiller, Genoni, Stephan

Geering, Du Bois, Diaz, Schlumpf, Furrer, Loeffel, Blum, Untersander

Praplan, Rüfenacht, Ambühl, Schäppi, Bodenmann, Suter, Scherwey, Herzog, Hollenstein, Corvi, Moser, Vermin, Almond, Haas

 

[stv11]

Corvi and Du Bois, nobody saw that coming. Genazzi, Richard and Brunner the biggest names missing.

 

[Jon Riley]

Corvi and Du Bois, nobody saw that coming. Genazzi, Richard and Brunner the biggest names missing.

I did, I did! At least I skeptically mentioned their names once
Odd choice the exclusion of Richards I was sure he'd be a lock on the roster.

 

[jonas2244]

Yeah, odd decision. Du Bois is ok, his experience is a big plus and he's still quite versatile. About Brunner we talked before, you can argue both ways, I'd have taken him but I can understand it the other way round. But taking Corvi over Richards is very strange, they're totally different players, so maybe Fischer wanted the speed of Corvi more then the strength of Richard. But Richard is much more than strenght and I'm pretty sure we'll miss him.

 

[SwissGrog]

I understand Brunner missing, but i is playing really well and most importantly is backchecking and playing physically. Totally at the center of lugano resurgence in 2018. Knowing his great alchemy with praplan and hollenstein , it kind of surprise me the exclusion, particularly because corvi is not incredibly better, and i bring international experience.

Untersander has been having a rough season, horrible on the pp, genazzi would have been preferable

 

[Speyer]

Do you guys think any of the players would get a shot at the NHL next season if they have a good tournament?

What about Haas, Praplan, Suter?

 

[Jon Riley]

I understand Brunner missing, but i is playing really well and most importantly is backchecking and playing physically. Totally at the center of lugano resurgence in 2018. Knowing his great alchemy with praplan and hollenstein , it kind of surprise me the exclusion, particularly because corvi is not incredibly better, and i bring international experience.

Untersander has been having a rough season, horrible on the pp, genazzi would have been preferable

Except for the exclusion of Richards (but then again I understand the rational for Corvi and Almond) I think that every choice can be easily defended. I get why Scherwey, Vermin, Herzog and Bodenmann over Hoffman, Brunner, Fazzini etc. I also get why Corvi over i, even if I personally would have taken i. Specially since Richards won't be there, a center that can win faceoffs can be important.

The good thing is that there are actual choices to be made, this feels like a new, fresh feeling. Fischer can choose a roster that he believes fits better together, rather than just the maximum number of players than can actually play hockey, fill the rest and then try to figure out how to play.
He will probably do different choices for the world championship.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have depth!

 

[duga]

One thing for sure, there's not much room for forwards with questionmarks about their physical and/or defensive commitment, regardless of their offensive potential. There's a whole lot of fine 2-way-forwards, but hardly anyone to create the extra play on the attack. Does that mean Fischer says goodbye to hurray-hockey, on to a bit more realistic approach? Or just pulling the safe options for the Olympics and go risky for the WHC?

I mean from the list of the offensively most talented swiss forwards available (beside the obvious starters) only Corvi made the team. No Hofmann, Brunner, i, Martschini, Fazzini. There are of course arguments for each of them to be kept off the team. And i lost his spot to Corvi, who's unproven, but beside the footspeed as good or better in most categories. But nevertheless I'd expected at least one of the 4 wings to make the team.

Not that I disagree with the roster. There's no forward you could point at and say, he shouldn't be there. It's just more conservative than expected IMO.

And as I wanted Corvi on the team for quite some time, Im excited to see what he'll be capable of on next level. Can he overcome his average strengh and footspeed. He does combine hands, smarts and shot on a proper level though, a rare feat among swiss skaters. All in all still a bit of a surprise to make the team hardly proven.

Richard is a different case I suppose, he might just lost the competition against Suter, Almond, Vermin and Schäppi or it could be something else, maybe around team-building as he has a strong character, not unlike RvA, doesn't always stick strictly to the gameplan, and likes to take stupid penalties once in a while.

His physical presence, FOskills and playmaking ability would've been very welcomed though.