Switzerland: National team discussion

[jonas2244]

A lot of help would be needed. And then everyone has to be healthy and willing to come. We'll see.

Untersander won't play in the semis and (hopefully) the final. He is getting a rest.

 

[jonas2244]

Different stuff in the semis tonight:

Genoni
Geering - Diaz
Blum - Schlumpf
Genazzi - Fora
Kreis - Sutter

Holleinstein - i - Praplan
Hofmann - Richard - Martschnini
Vermin - Suter - Herzog
Scherwey - Schäppi - Bodenmann

I like the Vermin, Suter, Herzog line. That sounds interesting.

 

[jonas2244]

Tough job for Fischer, especially on the Wings. Goalies are set, D has probably two open positions. i opens op the race for Centers a little bit but as Suter, Almond and Schäppi can play winger too this isn't a problem. But with Ambühl and hopefully Moser this is a tough decision. I really like Herzog, he offers a lot. Vermin is plain solid, can play a good box-play too. Bodenmann has a great season but his Spengler Cup was quite meh. Hofmann is very fast, but beside that? Fazzini has a great shot, but his skating is limited. No question on Praplan and Hollenstein. Brunner? He's such an amazing player if he's (and stays) healthy. Puh, I wouldn't want Fischers job on that.

 

[jonas2244]

Resting your two best players in the final is a good idea. not.

 

[stv11]

Praplan, Suter and Hollenstein scratched today, i with Hofmann and Brunner, Rod and Vermin with Fazzini, and Herzog with Richard and Martshcini, and the Schäppi line stay unchanged.

About Yesterday's game, I thought that the Richard line had a good game but Suter, Vermin and Herzog were disappointing. Better opposition overall, as Davos played their best hockey of the tournament over the first 40 minutes, but completely ran out of gas in the third period. So far, apart from the obvious name (Praplan, Hollenstein, Blum, Diaz, Genoni), I'd say that the players who made the best case for themselves are i, Richard, Vemin, Schlumpf and Fora.

 

[stv11]

Resting your two best players in the final is a good idea. not.

Doesn't really matter, the main point of the tournament, as far as the national team is concerned, is to get ready for the Olympics, and Praplan and Hollenstein don't need a try out. Good to see i with other wingers.

 

[jonas2244]

I agree but I'd have them sit in the first or second game.

 

[jonas2244]

Slightly off-topic but Florence Schelling is ending her impressive career at the age of 29. Best goalkeeper of the olympic games 2014 and probably the best goalkeeper around in the last 10 years or so. Surley a huge blow for the swiss woman team.

 

[amoboko]

I read it aswell, she is completing her studies this week. As she is only 29 I hope that she still changes her mind

 

[jonas2244]

Fischer gets a contract-extension for 4 years until June 2024.

And he kicks Denis Malgin, Dean Kukan, Simon Bodenmann, Fabrice Herzog and Dominik Schlumpf out of the team (at least until the next WC) because they didn't follow calls in the past for minor reasons. Especially Malgin and Kukan hurt a lot. But I don't want to judge without knowing details and I guess we won't get those.

 

[stv11]

From a purely "team strength on paper" point of view, I think that Kukan hurts the most given that depth on defense has been a bit suspicious lately. The last three WC showed that it's possible to build a strong forward core even with a few top centers missing.

Anyone knows the story behind Bodenmann and Herzog? I don't remember them rejecting a national team call for no reason.

 

[jonas2244]

Tyler Moy gets his first call for Switzerland.

News National Teams

Tyler Moy at eliteprospects.com

I wonder if he could play at the WC. He won't have two full seasons in Switzerland by the end of the season.

 

[stv11]

I don't think he'll be eligible, at least according to my understanding of the rule (I remember there were similar cases when Croatia got all those Candian players through Medvescak).

On the other hand, why have him play at the Deutschland Cup if he's two seasons away from being eligible for an IIHF tournament?

 

[jonas2244]

"Prove that he has participated for at least two consecutive hockey seasons and 16 consecutive months (480 days) in the national competitions of his new country after his 10th birthday during which period he has neither transferred to another country nor played ice hockey within any other country."

You probably could debate what "two consecutive seasons" means, but as he joined Lausanne in early Nov 2018 the 16 months span would fit for him.

 

[jonas2244]

A lot can happen until next May but from the roster of the Deutschland Cup I'd give Noah Rod and Pius Suter realistic chances to crack the roster for the WC. One of the goalies here could end up as third goalkeeper. I'd guess there is still no way round Genoni and Berra (if they're healthy).

And still it's a good roster with many interesting players

 

[stv11]

Van Pottelberghe has been pretty good so far, I could see him ending up third keeper. What are the alternatives anyway? Mayer, Zurkirchen and Flüeler are having good seasons, but I don't think they have the potential to ever play at the WC, so Fischer might prefer going with the young guy. I had hope that Schlegel would turn into a solid starter but he's struggled so far this season.

The defense will be very interesting to watch. Karrer, Glauser, LeCoultre and Egli can all be solid national team players in the future. Kreis is a fine player, but at 25 I'm not sure about his margin for improvement. I'm not a big fan of Paschoud, Rathgeb and Heldner, feels like these guys have been prospects for years and have failed to improve.

I agree with you about Rod and Suter being the only ones with a realistic chance to make it. Guys like Fuchs, Müller or Fazzini may have an outside chance but they would need a very good season and WC training camp.

 

[jonas2244]

Senn might be in the mix also, depending on his availability.

Joerens performances are pleasing, I still think he's the coming starter, he has the highest potential and I'm glad he progressed so much lately. He's still young and has some years to progress.

 

[jonas2244]

First: Tommy Albelin also renews for 4 years. An important piece, I think.

Then: Bachofner cannot play the this weekend due to an injury, so Fischer calls Marco Miranda which then gets sick. So he calls Ken Jäger who I completly forgot. Interesting move.

 

[stv11]

According to Yesterday's game recap on hockeyfans.ch, Moy would be elligible for the 2020 WC. I'm really not sure what to believe.

Regarding the game itself, I liked the Rod-Prassl-Moy line, especially Rod, very strong against the board and on the PK. Liked the Bertaggia-Simion combo too, but I was a bit disappointed by the Fuchs line, although Suter had his moment. Strong game by the defense, especially Heldner who had some good breakout passes. Nyffeler was good, the goals are definitely not on him.

 

[stv11]

According to this article, Moy was cleared by the IIHF to play for Switzerland at next year's WC:

Moy von Kalifornien in die Schweizer Nati - hockeyfans.ch

 

[Kuracmugger]

According to this article, Moy was cleared by the IIHF to play for Switzerland at next year's WC:

Moy von Kalifornien in die Schweizer Nati - hockeyfans.ch

Interesting, he could play for us at the wc but i don’t know if he’s good enough to crack our roster, depends on which nhl players are available i guess

 

[jonas2244]

I think he is theoretically good enough. It depends on NHL-players and injuries and if the best of the best are available he probably won't crack the roster but especially the decisions on the 3rd and 4th line are quite tough and often a question of the feeling the coaches have. And if he fits in and has a good season in Lausanne who knows.

But yeah, it's just crazy how many solid players we got in the last few years, especially on the wing. D-corps is worrying more, especially if we cannot count on Josi.
But we can dream of Meier - Hischier - Fiala, if their NHL-team continue to play like that. And maybe Sbisa is a topic again, if he can play there is no question he is one of the best d-men we have.

 

[stv11]

Any thoughts about the Germany game? Best game I've seen during the November break in a long time. Suter and Rod the best players, and the Fuchs line did a lot better than on Thursday. Solid game by Egli on defense, on the other hand the Heldner - LeCoultre pair had trouble with the speed of the game.

 

[jonas2244]

Indeed, a very good game overall, from both teams. A lot of intensitiy but also a good skill level, especially if you imagine that these are B-teams at best.

Suter obviously the best player on the ice, Fuchs reminds me so much of his dad. Rod is just rock solid in every apsect of the game. Van Pottelberghe was good also. Egli the best defender, Rathgebs offensive influence not as big as it should be in such games. But he was solid in the D-zone, which often is/was his problem.
Bertaggia has also become a really solid player for that level. Didn't think this would happen.

 

[stv11]

That last game had high and lows. Switzerland should have put it away in the third period, but on the other hand it could easily have been 4-1 Russia after the second. Great game by Moy, Suter, Rod and Egli, Kreis had a few stinkers and Nyffeler could have done better on some of those shots that hit the post and during the shootout.

Overall, a very good tournament. Rod and Suter were expected to be the best players and they delivered. Then I think that Moy, Bertaggia and Egli made the best case for themselves, and some youngsters like Prassl, Bader, LeCoultre and Maillard had a solid tournament. Fuchs and Fazzini were good, but I expected a bit more from them as they are further in their development than most of the team.

The most disappointing players were Rathgeb, Kreis and Simion. They are not newcomers and should be expected to be noticeable at that level, but they were at best invisible, or even poor in the case of Kreis.