WC: Team Switzerland 2022

[stv11]

Ah, that's true. Let's just expect that.

The problem is that Canada vs France will be played after Switzerland vs Germany. If Germany wins by two, it means that Canada is third whatever happens and may not give maximum effort in this game.

On the other hand if Germany wins by one Canada can still be 2nd with a win and get to stay in Helsinki for the quarterfinal.

 

[swissexpert]

If CZE wins against US in regulation today, the top 3 of SWE, FIN, CZE are fixed. 4th most probably USA (or Latvia by some miracle...).

That would mean the top seed is actually something positive, since I think those 3 teams are a level above US.
If US boys win today, the "price" for finishing 1st will be a QF against CZE, who I think have one of the best rosters overall.

So I'd suggest we postpone that discussion to tomorrow, when I know if I actually want us to beat GER....

 

[stv11]

If CZE wins against US in regulation today, the top 3 of SWE, FIN, CZE are fixed. 4th most probably USA (or Latvia by some miracle...).

That would mean the top seed is actually something positive, since I think those 3 teams are a level above US.
If US boys win today, the "price" for finishing 1st will be a QF against CZE, who I think have one of the best rosters overall.

So I'd suggest we postpone that discussion to tomorrow, when I know if I actually want us to beat GER....

Not tomorrow yet, but it's official, 1st place avoids Finland, Sweden and Czechia.

 

[stv11]

Canada didn't even try, so we can't afford a regulation loss tomorrow.

I know I'm the pessimistic kind, but I have a really bad feeling about this.

 

[swissdude]

I think it's time to get the mindset of a contender. then that is what we are this year. Yes of course it would be nice to avoid a QF against Suomi but if we want to reach the ultimate goal and that is to win gold we have to be able to beat any team in this tournament, be it in QF, SF or gold medal game. So let's others fear to play us in QF and don't worry to much about who will be our opponent and when.

 

[Sabresbyswords104]

Will Swiss winn the wc soon ? Hope They Can get s wc gold . 2 finals against Sweden . I hoped Swiss would winn the last final as it would be fun with a new wc Champion . Only fin swed Canada russia who have won the wc since 2010 . From Sweden also not fun when the same team winn all the time . Do you think you winn the wc before germany ?

 

[stv11]

Berra gets the start against Germany, same forward lines as against France except with Thürkauf replacing Scherwey. Marti is back but Glauser is scratched.

Surprising decisions, I really though Kurashev worked better with Hischier and Meier.

 

[SwissFan12]

Berra gets the start against Germany, same forward lines as against France except with Thürkauf replacing Scherwey. Marti is back but Glauser is scratched.

Surprising decisions, I really though Kurashev worked better with Hischier and Meier.

I agree, it's a weird choice but we'll see, hope the team win this one.

 

[Speyer]

Well that was another disappointing end to a tournament in the quarters. I have said my piece about Fischer in the game thread and a few times before during other disappointing tournaments so I wont repeat it here. I would certainly question the mental fortitude of this team however. They were extremely nervous from the start and shocked after the two goals against. It seemed like the game was already over after the second goal. And that wasn't the first time in such a do or die situation. I don't know if a mental coach could do anything in this regard but it needs to be addressed in some form or another. Hischier and Meier had one of the worst games of the tournament. If they play ever again together in the WC i would put them on different lines. Their formation had some strokes of genius once in a while but they never really clicked the same way the Suter line clicked for example. And Fischer wasn't able to find Winger to make the line work. Kurashev came the closest but it still wasn't ideal.

It also becomes obvious that Genoni and Berra are not the players that they used to be anymore. I won't blame Genoni for the loss as he had some good saves too after his blunder on the second goal. But it is clear that he is not the player that he was in 2018 that could steal games by standing on his head. And I doubt that trend is going to get better with the coming tournaments. Fischer needs to react here and make JVP the starter as soon as next year and bring in some of the other younger goalies like Schmid, Holenstein etc. If he was willing to cut Diaz from the team he has no excuse holding on to a declining Genoni. Another aspect was the lack of physicality. Sure Scherwey was missing but he and Herzog can't be the only players expected to play physical. Nobody was able to generate net front presence to get some rebounds yesterday. Meier and Hischier were especially disappointing in this area since they have shown that they can do it in the NHL. That should be taken into account when putting together the next roster.

I big chance to get a medal was thrown away yesterday. Its not certain we will get as many good players on the team in the next few years. The window of this golden generation of players born in the 90's won't stay open forever...

 

[Torspo21]

 

[Hinterland]

Will Swiss winn the wc soon ? Hope They Can get s wc gold . 2 finals against Sweden . I hoped Swiss would winn the last final as it would be fun with a new wc Champion . Only fin swed Canada russia who have won the wc since 2010 . From Sweden also not fun when the same team winn all the time . Do you think you winn the wc before germany ?

That depends on how soon we'll get proper coaches instead of just clowns. I get that we've got a coaching problem in Switzerland but still, there are better options and you can't win titles with clowns behind your bench.

 

[Speyer]

That depends on how soon we'll get proper coaches instead of just clowns. I get that we've got a coaching problem in Switzerland but still, there are better options and you can't win titles with clowns behind your bench.

I was seriously surprised that there wasn't more backlash against Fischer after the fourth quarter finals loss in a row. Sure I expected the old boys network in the federation to once again safe Fischers job, but it didn't seem like any of the media except the NZZ was even critical about him. There were almost no voices who even questioned his work. Its seems like everybody is just content with a good group stage in the weaker group and the supposed "postive development" of our hockey in the last few years. This self-content way of thinking is exactly what completely destroyed our progress in junior hockey too. No interest in any type of reforms just holding on to the status quo and downplaying our problems or even framing them in a positive light. I guess we really have to hit rock bottom like Slovakia did a few years ago to see any type of course correction. I am really starting to get fed up with this mentality.

 

[Hinterland]

I was seriously surprised that there wasn't more backlash against Fischer after the fourth quarter finals loss in a row. Sure I expected the old boys network in the federation to once again safe Fischers job, but it didn't seem like any of the media except the NZZ was even critical about him. There were almost no voices who even questioned his work. Its seems like everybody is just content with a good group stage in the weaker group and the supposed "postive development" of our hockey in the last few years. This self-content way of thinking is exactly what completely destroyed our progress in junior hockey too. No interest in any type of reforms just holding on to the status quo and downplaying our problems or even framing them in a positive light. I guess we really have to hit rock bottom like Slovakia did a few years ago to see any type of course correction. I am really starting to get fed up with this mentality.

Exactly that network is the problem. He's not even a proper coach. Got fired in Lugano because he lost two times in the quarter finals, then lost 10 of 15 games. In Lugano where money never matters. Then somehow gets the job to coach the national team but I still don't know why he'd even be remotely qualified for this job. Sadly, that wasn't enough for him. He wants to control or even coach national junior teams as well, firing Paterlini and co, installing himself or dummy coaches instead. As long as nobody steps up to clean house there will be nothing but regression.

Like I said before it's also a structural issue though. Fischer is a horrible coach but we just don't have many good ones. The capable Swiss born coaches you can count on one hand. That's why they used to hire foreigners for the national team and that's why the pro teams don't tend to trust Swiss born coaches anymore, prefer to hire foreigners. That doesn't always work out if those guys don't know league, language and country so it's not a good option to rely on foreigners completely. Even those who have success might just use Switzerland to get jobs elsewhere and might not stay for long.

While the problems go way deeper than that, firing Fischer would certainly be a start. Like I said, he should have never been hired for this job in the first place given how much of a mess he turned Lugano into. I was against Fischer from day1 and he hasn't given me any sort of reason to change my mind. That guy clearly doesn't have a clue.

 

[Speyer]

Exactly that network is the problem. He's not even a proper coach. Got fired in Lugano because he lost two times in the quarter finals, then lost 10 of 15 games. In Lugano where money never matters. Then somehow gets the job to coach the national team but I still don't know why he'd even be remotely qualified for this job. Sadly, that wasn't enough for him. He wants to control or even coach national junior teams as well, firing Paterlini and co, installing himself or dummy coaches instead. As long as nobody steps up to clean house there will be nothing but regression.

Like I said before it's also a structural issue though. Fischer is a horrible coach but we just don't have many good ones. The capable Swiss born coaches you can count on one hand. That's why they used to hire foreigners for the national team and that's why the pro teams don't tend to trust Swiss born coaches anymore, prefer to hire foreigners. That doesn't always work out if those guys don't know league, language and country so it's not a good option to rely on foreigners completely. Even those who have success might just use Switzerland to get jobs elsewhere and might not stay for long.

While the problems go way deeper than that, firing Fischer would certainly be a start. Like I said, he should have never been hired for this job in the first place given how much of a mess he turned Lugano into. I was against Fischer from day1 and he hasn't given me any sort of reason to change my mind. That guy clearly doesn't have a clue.

After Krüger, Simpson and especially Hanlon the media and fans desperatley wanted a Swiss coach for a change and he was out of a Job back then. We all know that he can sell himself so its not that surprising that he landed the gig. We have discussed the problems in coaching before here and I agree. The fact that guys like Chris McSorely still are sought after by many teams when a job gets vacant is emblematic for the issue. Everybody knows he is a dinosaur but what Gerbe said about him in that youtube interview was just ridicoulus. But most GMs would rather hire him or a Hans Kossman type coach that is a known commodity so they can cover their ass if it backfires. Not to mention the whole Don Neubaur experiment in Bern instead of giving Leuenberger another shot. At least Paterlini got hired with the Tigers now after getting canned by the wizzards apprentice.

I guess the only way out of this is indeed cleaning house at the federation, starting with Weibel and going down the chain of command from there. But until that happens a lot more structural dammage will be done to Swiss hockey.

 

[jonas2244]

This is a common problem in each sport, have a look at Swiss football, there are guys who once had success and never again and still find new jobs. I'd even say that some NHL-coaches don't deserve their jobs from their level of skill.

The federation is just one side of the story, NLA-clubs could do much more to push Swiss coaching and also Swiss players. They just don't do that. Their has to be some sort of regrouping when we don't want to loose contact when players born in the 90-ies retire. This is a golden generation and the players born after currently can't hold that level.
I spoke to a guy last week whos son was playing U16 national team when Bayer was coach. Bayer used to stand in front of the team and rant at everybody how bad they were and they don't deserve to play for the national team.

Anyway, this discussion is pretty meaningless. Fischer won't get fired until he misses the quarters.

Now, a short look at the players:

Aeschlimann: Played a really good game until he got those softies late into the game. Don't know if he's the solution, he's 28, also inconsistent in the playoffs.

Berra: He's a good goalie but I hope this was his last WC.

Genoni: See Berra, he can steal games, but he didn't this WC. This 0-2 vs. the USA was pretty crucial.

Egli: He played what we could expect I guess. He can play a good role vs. weaker opponents. You could argue that a guy like Loeffel or Le Coultre which are a little bit more physical would have been the better solution for a 7th D-men.

Fora: Fora is just Fora. He is a smart defender with just too many mistakes. He shouldn't be in the Top-4 if he cannot reduce his mistakes.

Geisser: Rock solid I guess, built a good pairing with Glauser with very few mistakes. He can work on his offensive games in the coming years in Zug I guess, I hope he gets to play PP there.

Glauser: The positive surprise from this WC. He didn't look ready in the preparation games. He was ready.

Kukan: Best Swiss D-men. Nhl-calibre for sure, a pity he didn't get the chances he deserved in Columbus. Calm, good skater, also with smart plays all over the rink.

Marti: Didn't play much, especially after not being totally fit after some games. He throwed in what he has (physicality). Don't think that there is much room for improvment but he's a guy you can take to a tournament as #8

Moser: He makes a step each year but his offensive impact was lower the later we were in the tournament. Needed to cope with an error-prone Fora. Needs to shoot more on the PP.

Siegenthaler: Started really good especially also on the offensive side of the game. As Moser his offensive impact was reduced as the game went on. Still, he's made a step and you could see why he got so much praise for his season in NJD. Also great that he didn't give up on playing WC after his injury.

Ambühl: I was sceptical after seeing some preparation games. But he delivered again.

Bertschy: Not the WC he probably hoped for. Didn't have the influence he had the last two tournaments. Took too many penalties and especially after Scherwey was gone he couldn't show much.

Corvi: 7 helpers in 7 games (I don't count the 2 minutes ice-time in QF) are solid. His hockey-IQ is just exceptional, if just his finishing would be better.

Herzog: He is probably the best Swiss winger playing outside the NHL and he showed that again. Honestly I'd rather had him on the first PP than Simion.

Hischier: What remains from this tournament was that he couldn't show up again in the Quarter. He played his heart out and fought for every minute but he failed to be as dominant as he was in every round-robin game. Hope to have him back for some more tournaments so he can show that he's able to lead a team to a medal game.

Kurashev: Not his tournament. Had his best moments early in the tournament, wasn't bad with Hischier/Meier and it was not understandable for me why he wasn't in that line in the QF. But still, if he wants to stay in the NHL he has to make a huge step next year.

Malgin: Was the best Swiss forward in the QF but he also failed to produce there. It's a pleasure to watch him skate and if he plays with the confidence he has right now he's just a very good hockey player.

Meier: Meier is tough to rate. He scored and he shoot and he was dangerous. But he also had a lot of weak plays (remember that pass back in the QF) and some unnecessary penalties. He also took very long shifts from time to time, for example before the 0-2 vs. USA.

Miranda: Tough to rate also because he just didn't play enough.

Riat: He has tools and skills but I don't think he should be the solution on a first line.

Scherwey: As noted everywhere his loss had a huge impact. Unbelievable player with a never ending energy. We were missing a fourth line in the Quarters.

Simion: If you play with Suter and Malgin and on the first PP 4 points is not enought I guess. He didn't play bad and he was a good linemate for those two but he also showed clearly why those two are just better hockeyplayers.

Suter: Same story as Hischier I guess. Couldn't show up in the Quarters but had a huge round robin. Such a smart player with a great two-way game.

Thürkauf: Started strong with two goals vs. Italy. Had his moments afterwards but couldn't produce anymore and his offensive influence completly broke away when Scherwey was gone. But yeah, we'll see him again for sure, a lot of grit, also a good skill-level for a guy on the 4th line.