Switzerland: National team discussion

[swisdan]

I remember predicting Hischier and Malgin as first 2 centers. Not far for reality, just Haas and Suter can challenge this second line spot. Romy seems out of consideration at this moment. And now the team possesses again a some good centers depth. Like you said, all can change quickly.
But this was before the kind Betman detroyed our dreams.

To stick to reality and for the OG, am i the only one who doesnt want Hiller in the team? Seems to me it is a Aebischer number 2, tough end of carreer.

 

[jonas2244]

From problem child center depth to problem child goalie depth. Indeed. I'd stick with Hiller because of his experience and because none of the others are really outstanding. If everything goes normal Genoni will get all the starts.

 

[jonas2244]

So, selection for the Spengler Cup. We probably will see some changes to it because some are slightly injured and probably won't be able to play. But we get some ideas who'll get some consideration. Already named injured are Marti and Furrer on D, Almond and Moser on O.

I really want to see Fazzini. Looks like this is his breakthrough-season, I wonder how he can show up on international play. i is very surprising.

Goalies: Leonardo Genoni (Bern), Tobias Stephan (Zug).
Defence: Eric Blum, Ramon Untersander (beide Bern), Raphael Diaz (Zug), Patrick Geering, Dave Sutter (both ZSC Lions), Joël Genazzi (Lausanne), Romain Loeffel (Servette), Yannick Rathgeb (Fribourg), Dominik Schlumpf (Zug).
Offence: Simon Bodenmann, Gaëtan Haas, Thomas Rüfenacht, Tristan Scherwey (all Bern), Damien Brunner, Luca i, Luca Fazzini, Gregory Hofmann (all Lugano), Fabrice Herzog, Reto Schäppi, Pius Suter (all ZSC Lions), Denis Hollenstein, Vincent Praplan (both Kloten), Lino Martschini (Zug), Tanner Richard (Servette), Joël Vermin (Lausanne).

 

[stv11]

Unsurprisingly everybody from last year's WC team made it apart from Suri (and obviously the injured and unavailable players). The only addition are Sutter and Rathgeb on defense (which says a lot about the lack of defensive depth), and Scherwey, i, Fazzini, Hofmann, Martschini and Vermin at forward.

I guess i was taken because Haas probably won't make it. I'm also surprised that Martschini was called, he didn't do much at the WC and isn't having his best season. Maybe if the hockey played at the Olympics is slower than that of the WC it can work out.

I'm not convinced Fazzini will be efficient with the national team, his skating is below average, which is a big problem in international hockey. But it makes sense to give him a chance to show what he can do, I hope he proves me wrong.

 

[jonas2244]

Depth on D is ugly, but if we can ice Blum, Untersander, Diaz, Geering, Genazzi and Furrer as Top-6 on the Olympics this is pretty solid. It's a pity that Kukan decided to play another year in NA, he'd be great on this team.

 

[stv11]

Blum, Diaz and Geering at their best are fine, but Untersander's skating is an issue (he reminds me of Du Bois, very secure with the puck but so slow. Hopefully he can play like 2015 Du Bois and not the 2011 or 2016 version). Genazzi was fine on the third pair last year, but I doubt he can handle top four minutes, and Furrer should be a third pair player at this level. Loeffel has been playing better lately, maybe he can still make it. Still, he shouldn't be more than a depth player.

 

[jonas2244]

The only comparison from Untersander with international play was last WC and I didn't think that skating was a big issue there. He managed to get better every game and was able to adjust his game. And the level at the Olympics won't be as high as at the last IHWC.

There are some interesting d-prospects in the current U-20 and I hope some of them will find the way to NLA-hockey (or even more).

 

[swisdan]

Not sure for me too about Untersander skating issue.
But it is true we have lack of defensemen depth, it is vetter in ofenbsive. Funny cause few years before, it was the contrary. But the real problem is goaltender depth, apart Genoni, not real international goaltenders in the roster.

 

[jonas2244]

Boltshauser, Kreis, Fora and Rod replace the injured Stephan, Loeffel, Haas and Rüfenacht.

Fora and Rod are interesting, Boltshauser a little less but still interesting, Kreis won't ever make an WC-team (hopefully).

Remember 20 years back, take the Swiss national team, take away the best 10 players and think what would have been left. And now look what skilled and talented team we can ice withouth 10 of our best players (over in NA) and some locks for the olympics injured (Haas, Moser, Ambühl playing for Davos). Really courious how the team plays tomorrow. I'm really optimistic for the olympics.

 

[MBTendy]

Not sure for me too about Untersander skating issue.
But it is true we have lack of defensemen depth, it is vetter in ofenbsive. Funny cause few years before, it was the contrary. But the real problem is goaltender depth, apart Genoni, not real international goaltenders in the roster.

Why no love for Tobias Stephan? Stat wise, he's always put up top numbers since he left the NHL, year and year out.

Being from Canada, I can only judge by numbers so im very curious why he doesn't get the respect Genoni gets.

 

[swisdan]

He is good with his team in Switzerland but not dominant in international level. Anyway it is soo long since he showed up in world championship...
But due to the lack of depth in this position, I would take him as the Genoni backup for the olympic games. But I m pretty sure he ll decline again for the world championship.

 

[stv11]

I think Stephan tends to get forgotten as he hasn't played for the national team since the 2012 World Championship (he was with the team in 2013 and at the 2014 Olympics but never dressed). Since then, he either declined to play or was injured.

I'm not even sure he's that far behind Genoni, but Genoni had strong showing at the international level in 2015 and 2017 while we lack a recent reference to rate Stephan.

 

[jonas2244]

Offence first today:

Genoni
Geering - Diaz
Blum - Untersander
Genazzi - Fora
Schlumpf - Rathgeb

Hollenstein - i - Praplan
Hofmann - Suter - Fazzini
Herzog - Richard - Martschini
Rod - Vermin - Brunner

 

[MBTendy]

Thanks for the tidbit on Stephan.

BTW was he cut from the team? I noticed it's Luca Boltshauser backing up Genoni in today's game.

 

[jonas2244]

He's injured (again) and got replaced by Boltshauser.

 

[stv11]

Very good game from start to finish. The first line had great chemistry, and i was excellent. Good performance on defense and on the PK as well.

On the downside, the PP could have been better, and the other offensive lines created more chances with individual plays rather than a strong build up. I didn't like the 2nd line, all three players can score but they need some playmaking and physical play. I'm not crazy about Brunner with Rod and Vermin either, he needs at least a player he can set up.

 

[jonas2244]

i was excellent, indeed, but I still don't see room for him. With Haas, Suter and Richard set and Schäppi and Almond also in the waiting room it's not an easy task to crack the roster for him.

I really like what Vermin has to offer. He's the kind of guy who can fill in every role you need and in a tournament it's very important to have such guys. He can play a 4th liner role with a strong physical and defensive play and pk-duties and could also step in a first or second line if needed because he has skillset to do so. He's better than Scherwey or Wieser or whoever we had in such a role at past tournaments.

Geering was amazing, he's the perfect addition to Diaz and I'm pretty sure we'll see Geering-Diaz and Blum-Unterander as top-pairings at the Olympics. Genazzi ist in the bubble too, as Schlumpf (whom I really like, would be a great 7th guy). Fora and Rathgeb were solid, Rathgeb with some flashes of his vision and hockey-iq but also with (only) a few mistakes. For both the olyimpcs come too early.

 

[stv11]

I'm pretty sure i is the backup plan for Haas, so it's top line or bust for him. Still, I'd like to see him with other wingers to see if there could be a spot for him. Suter and Schäppi are not set at center, both can play on the wing.

Vermin could be a good 4th liner indeed, but it's difficult to break the Rüfenacht - Almond - Schäppi line that was so efficient last year. Although I guess everything is still wide open for the 2nd and 3rd line.

Agree about the defense. Hopefully Furrer can make it, he'd fit well with Genazzi. I also think that Fora has an outside chance.

 

[stv11]

Same forward lines today with Scherwey-Schäppi-Bodenmann replacing Herzog-Richard-Martschini. On defense, Genazzi plays with Rathgeb, Geering with Schlumpf and Kreis with Sutter. Diaz and Fora scratched.

I would prefer to see Praplan and Hollenstein scratched, it would have been the perfect game for experimenting a bit.

 

[jonas2244]

The best i I've seen since 2013. The chemsitry with Praplan/Hollenstein looks so good, maybe try to build something around Haas and Ambühl.

 

[stv11]

That's why I was hoping to see i with another line! But if he stays with Hollenstein and Praplan, I wouldn't play Haas with Ambühl, as Ambühl worked well with Suter last year. And I always wanted to see Haas with Brunner and Moser.

But let's not forget that, with all due respect to Dinamo and HPK, this is not Olympic caliber opposition. I'm starting to wonder how well thought out the idea of using the Spengler as a pre-olympic tournament was.

 

[jonas2244]

Canada and Davos should be a good test.

Moser, Brunner and Haas sound like a good idea. I hope Moser is healthy in time. And Brunner belongs to the Olympics if he stays healthy until then and can get some playing time.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Sven Bärtschi - Nico Hischier - Kevin Fiala
Sven Andrighetto - Denis Malgin - Nino Niederreiter
Timo Meier - Pius Suter - Tanner Richard
Roman Wick - Andres Ambuhl - Denis Hollenstein

Roman Josi - Luca Sbisa
Yannick Weber - Mirco Muller
Dean Kukan - Raphael Diaz

Reto Berra
Leonardo Genoni

With NHLers....best team switzerland ever?

 

[jonas2244]

Replace Wick with Praplan. Yeah, very probably the best Swiss team ever. Also still quite young (beside the goalkeepers). It's a pity we can't see all those at the Olympics.

 

[filip85]

Sven Bärtschi - Nico Hischier - Kevin Fiala
Sven Andrighetto - Denis Malgin - Nino Niederreiter
Timo Meier - Pius Suter - Tanner Richard
Roman Wick - Andres Ambuhl - Denis Hollenstein

Roman Josi - Luca Sbisa
Yannick Weber - Mirco Muller
Dean Kukan - Raphael Diaz

Reto Berra
Leonardo Genoni

With NHLers....best team switzerland ever?

With little "help" from NHL clubs this roster could be very possible in Denmark. Medal contender without any doubt.