The "Swiss young guns" thread started to become a national team discussion, so I thought creating one was a good idea. Now the other thread can be kept for young players discussions.
To hopefully start some good debates, I will post what would be my best possible Swiss national team. Feel free to criticize:
So, I would base my team around some lines that have worked well in recent international tournaments: The Ambühl-Monnet-Brunner one who was impressive at the 2010 WC, the Lemm-Jeannin-Wick one based on their play at the 2009 WC and the Vancouver Olympics, the Plüss-Rüthemann duo and the Lötscher-Trachsler-Moser line from the last WC. Some tweakings would obviously be necessary: Lötscher is unavailable and may never play as well as last season, some positions such as Trachsler's and Lemm's could be upgrader, and someone has to play with Plüss and Rüthemann. Now let's see who's available:
Ryan Gardner: He's been tried with Plüss and Rüthemann in two tournaments, and the results were disappointing. I think those two work better with a physical player along them and thus would pass on Gardner.
Thomas Déruns: He's been a fixture on the national team for quite some times now, and if until 2009 it was a bit questionable, since 2010 he's been an important part of it. Could be the third guy on the Plüss-Rüthemann line, or could play on the fourth line.
Paul Savary: Does his job well, but I don't see him as an upgrade over anyone, neither as a center nor as a winger.
Kevin Romy: Got his share of critics, but his combination of strength and skill is rare among Swiss centers. The fact that he's finally having a good season does help his case. Could be an upgrade on Trachsler.
Patrick Bärtschi: Hasn't featured much in the national team lately, so it's hard to know where he would fit. Good offensive player, but I think there are better options.
Hnat Domenichelli: Isn't the skater he was before his knee injury, but his goal scoring skills are hard to pass on.
Matthias Bieber: Had a good tournament last season and can be an interesting player in the future, but we have better options now.
Andrei Bykov: Seems like he reached a new level this season. Great skater but untested at the international level. Although a big part of his success can be attributed to the chemistry in his line, I think his individual skills can definitely be used.
Julien Sprunger: Discussed in the other thread. Not a big fan of what he's shown in the national team so far, and in my opinion not strong neither quick enough.
Paolo Duca: Not as good as he was two seasons ago, and doesn't really have any top notch skill. He's a good player to have at the WC, but I don't think he'd fit in the best possible national team.
Peter Guggisberg: Great wheels and some goal scoring instinct, but his lack of national team experience makes me wonder where I would fit him.
Fabian Schnyder: Hard to pass on his chemistry with Brunner, I think he'll be a fixture in the national team from now on.
Bjorn Christen: Smart and strong player with some talent, maybe the right guy to play with Plüss and Rüthemann.
Inti Pestoni: Good offensive instinct, but I think his other skills are too limited for him to be efficient at the international level.
Dino Wieser: Good forechecker, but that's not exactly a role in which we are weak.
And last but not least, Nino Niederreiter: I obviously have to fit him somewhere. Fast and physical with some good offensive skills, maybe I finally found the best guy to play with Plüss and Rüthemann.
And now to the final lineup: I'm too much of a fan of what the Ambühl-Brunner-Monnet line showed in 2010 to change it. That would mean there's no place for Schnyder, though. Then we have the Plüss-Rüthemann line. I think Niederreiter fits well here, which would leave the other options like Déruns or Christen available for the physical line. Then there is the Wick-Jeannin-Lemm line. Wick and Jeannin should be locks to make the team, but I'm not sure Lemm's chemistry with Wick is enough to keep him, even though I like the player. Maybe Domenichelli would do well here? Then there's the fourth line. I like Romy over Trachsler here, and I think Déruns is a lock for the forechecking role (I'd like to base that line on the Rüthemann-Ziegler-Paterlini one that worked pretty well for years, with two strong guys and a great forechecker), and the other spot would be for Christen or Moser. I would choose the latter because of the great season he's having. Now a player I would really like to fit somewhere is Bykov, but as I said before, I'm not breaking the Ambühl-Monnet-Brunner line nor the Plüss-Rüthemann combo (although Plüss is the guy he could replace, no way I'm letting Martin off the team). He's obviously not fit for the fourth line or to replace Niederreiter, so that would let the Jeannin line available. Maybe he could play on the wing here, and we could have Domenichelli as a 13th forward who could provide some timely offense. Which would give us:
Rüthemann - Plüss - Niederreiter
Brunner - Monnet - Ambühl
Bykov - Jeannin - Wick
Déruns - Romy - Moser
Domenichelli
Ouch, that was long. I think I'll come back later for the defense!
To hopefully start some good debates, I will post what would be my best possible Swiss national team. Feel free to criticize:
So, I would base my team around some lines that have worked well in recent international tournaments: The Ambühl-Monnet-Brunner one who was impressive at the 2010 WC, the Lemm-Jeannin-Wick one based on their play at the 2009 WC and the Vancouver Olympics, the Plüss-Rüthemann duo and the Lötscher-Trachsler-Moser line from the last WC. Some tweakings would obviously be necessary: Lötscher is unavailable and may never play as well as last season, some positions such as Trachsler's and Lemm's could be upgrader, and someone has to play with Plüss and Rüthemann. Now let's see who's available:
Ryan Gardner: He's been tried with Plüss and Rüthemann in two tournaments, and the results were disappointing. I think those two work better with a physical player along them and thus would pass on Gardner.
Thomas Déruns: He's been a fixture on the national team for quite some times now, and if until 2009 it was a bit questionable, since 2010 he's been an important part of it. Could be the third guy on the Plüss-Rüthemann line, or could play on the fourth line.
Paul Savary: Does his job well, but I don't see him as an upgrade over anyone, neither as a center nor as a winger.
Kevin Romy: Got his share of critics, but his combination of strength and skill is rare among Swiss centers. The fact that he's finally having a good season does help his case. Could be an upgrade on Trachsler.
Patrick Bärtschi: Hasn't featured much in the national team lately, so it's hard to know where he would fit. Good offensive player, but I think there are better options.
Hnat Domenichelli: Isn't the skater he was before his knee injury, but his goal scoring skills are hard to pass on.
Matthias Bieber: Had a good tournament last season and can be an interesting player in the future, but we have better options now.
Andrei Bykov: Seems like he reached a new level this season. Great skater but untested at the international level. Although a big part of his success can be attributed to the chemistry in his line, I think his individual skills can definitely be used.
Julien Sprunger: Discussed in the other thread. Not a big fan of what he's shown in the national team so far, and in my opinion not strong neither quick enough.
Paolo Duca: Not as good as he was two seasons ago, and doesn't really have any top notch skill. He's a good player to have at the WC, but I don't think he'd fit in the best possible national team.
Peter Guggisberg: Great wheels and some goal scoring instinct, but his lack of national team experience makes me wonder where I would fit him.
Fabian Schnyder: Hard to pass on his chemistry with Brunner, I think he'll be a fixture in the national team from now on.
Bjorn Christen: Smart and strong player with some talent, maybe the right guy to play with Plüss and Rüthemann.
Inti Pestoni: Good offensive instinct, but I think his other skills are too limited for him to be efficient at the international level.
Dino Wieser: Good forechecker, but that's not exactly a role in which we are weak.
And last but not least, Nino Niederreiter: I obviously have to fit him somewhere. Fast and physical with some good offensive skills, maybe I finally found the best guy to play with Plüss and Rüthemann.
And now to the final lineup: I'm too much of a fan of what the Ambühl-Brunner-Monnet line showed in 2010 to change it. That would mean there's no place for Schnyder, though. Then we have the Plüss-Rüthemann line. I think Niederreiter fits well here, which would leave the other options like Déruns or Christen available for the physical line. Then there is the Wick-Jeannin-Lemm line. Wick and Jeannin should be locks to make the team, but I'm not sure Lemm's chemistry with Wick is enough to keep him, even though I like the player. Maybe Domenichelli would do well here? Then there's the fourth line. I like Romy over Trachsler here, and I think Déruns is a lock for the forechecking role (I'd like to base that line on the Rüthemann-Ziegler-Paterlini one that worked pretty well for years, with two strong guys and a great forechecker), and the other spot would be for Christen or Moser. I would choose the latter because of the great season he's having. Now a player I would really like to fit somewhere is Bykov, but as I said before, I'm not breaking the Ambühl-Monnet-Brunner line nor the Plüss-Rüthemann combo (although Plüss is the guy he could replace, no way I'm letting Martin off the team). He's obviously not fit for the fourth line or to replace Niederreiter, so that would let the Jeannin line available. Maybe he could play on the wing here, and we could have Domenichelli as a 13th forward who could provide some timely offense. Which would give us:
Rüthemann - Plüss - Niederreiter
Brunner - Monnet - Ambühl
Bykov - Jeannin - Wick
Déruns - Romy - Moser
Domenichelli
Ouch, that was long. I think I'll come back later for the defense!
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