Would "Team German" be good enough to compete for a cup?

[swissdude]

i don't think he was the worst captain the isles had albeit at a time when they weren't exactly competitive, to reduce him to the last few years in the nhl shows either young age or neurological problems

 

[Golden_Jet]

Probably wouldn’t make the cap.

 

[tabness]

cant win with crysaitl as your best player

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Is every Swiss nhl player Swiss-German? Any French speakers?

Doubtful

 

[Czechboy]

I'm not sure why you would consider the cap given it's a completely imagined fantasy scenario.

Because there is a cap required to win a cup. Even in fantasty booking.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Is every Swiss nhl player Swiss-German? Any French speakers?

Most of the ones I googled from this list speak German because it’s the most common language in Switzerland. Adding them in fills out the hypothetical, but really doesnt makes much sense.

 

[K1900L]

Most of the ones I googled from this list speak German because it’s the most common language in Switzerland. Adding them in fills out the hypothetical, but really doesnt makes much sense.

Doubtful

I didn't find any of the named not to be Swiss-German, or not at least closest to being so.
Moser and Daccord were the only somewhat shaky candidates. Moser was born in a town that is bilingual, so he probably has grown up this way and you could nominate him for "Team French" as well. Daccord's Swiss background is his mother's family, who comes from the French-speaking part of Switzerland, but this exact town has a Swiss-German background and he himself stated in an interview that it's important for him to continue speaking Swiss-German (additionally to English).

So for whatever reason, all of the Swiss NHL-players seem to have more or less a Swiss-German background.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

What on earth is Hischier doing on the wing lol.

But yes, this team would be a wagon.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

There have been numerous interesting threads/posts in the past where hypothetical teams were created by focussing on certain non-existing nations/nationalities or on linguistic/cultural connections (teams Yugoslavia, USSR, Scandinavia, North America etc.).
Currently, the German-speaking part of the world has produced some very talented hockey players and probably for the first time ever would be able to ice a whole squad made up of players situated in North America (=who are (close to) NHL skill level).

What were my requirements?
1. The player must have the nationality of a country where German is the main-language (being able to speak German would not be enough, which excludes players like Nikolaj Ehlers, Drake Batherson, Josh Norris and others)
2. The player has to be able to speak German
3. The player must be situated in North American hockey (=play in the NHL or a farm team; former NHL players or very talented players in the European leagues do not meet requirements)

This is what I was able to come up with:

Timo Meier — Leon Draisaitl — JJ Peterka
Nico Hischier — Tim Stützle — Kevin Fiala
Nino Niederreiter — Marco Rossi — Philipp Kurashev
Pius Suter — Marco Kasper — Nico Sturm/Lukas Reichel

Roman Josi — Janis Moser​

Jonas Siegenthaler — Moritz Seider​

Lian Bichsel — David Reinbacher​

​

​

Joey Daccord​

Philipp Grubauer​

​

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If this team were to be an additional NHL team due to an expansion, how many franchises would you rank ahead of it and for what reason, and what do you perceive the chances of this team to win a cup?

Not with that goaltending

 

[frederixx]

Is he? That's classy. What brand?

Ice hockey legend and NORQAIN Co-founder
Mark Streit

Mark Streit - NORQAIN

norqain.com

 

[Fantomas]

cant win with crysaitl as your best player

Dany F-ing Heatley.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Dany F-ing Heatley.

1:05 is so on point for the topic lol.

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Pretty certain Seigenthaler is a Swiss Italian speaker, not Swiss German.

 

[BruinLVGA]

Is every Swiss nhl player Swiss-German? Any French speakers?

Every Swiss person speaks 2, 3 or more languages. I am pretty positive that most, if not all, Swiss players on that list do speak French. Nico Hischier comes from Wallis/Valais/Vallese canton which is pretty much bi-lingual (French and German). They‘re also known for wine production and it‘s a very pretty canton (top 3, alongside Graubünden/Grisons/Grigioni and Ticino/Tessin. Canton Bern is also very pretty, imho).

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Pretty certain Seigenthaler is a Swiss Italian speaker, not Swiss German.

Interesting player here. He did say in an interview that Swiss German was his first language, but he learned English pretty immediately after that... Never knew that he was the first player of Thai descent to play in the league.

 

[Zenos]

Pretty certain Seigenthaler is a Swiss Italian speaker, not Swiss German.

Name: Jonas Siegenthaler.
Born in Zürich to a Thai mother and Swiss father with the name “Daniel”.

Not saying you’re wrong, but nothing here says “Italian-Swiss” to me.

 

[JPT]

I don't know. I feel like strict rules about who can join a group of Germans has been tried before with bad results.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Yes they would. Germany without swiss would too

 

[mattihp]

Combining German speaking countries always makes me uncomfortable

 

[Kegs]

The Spengler cup?

 

[Bileur]

Top 6 is nasty

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

Not a single chance in Hell.

 

[mattihp]

Not a single chance in Hell.

Care to tell us why?

 

[Sombastate]

I have a fantasy hockey team modeled after my weiner dogs, so i have all the austrians and germans, and i gotta say... We're doing pretty ok

 

[RANDOMH3RO]

Top 6 is great, top 2 pairs of D are nice too. That should be enough to be a strong playoff team, not a cup shoe in though I don’t think but definitely possible.