Switzerland: National team discussion

[jonas2244]

And they did what they had to do. Outshoot Denmark and according to some reports the result was too close and should have been clearer.

And after the game there was a massive brawl with all players from both teams and 5 game misconducts for each team.

 

[The Noot]

Roster for Sochi 2014

Hello guys.
I know, it's really early for this discussion. But I think this roster will be by far more interesting than the one for the WC12, since our young players will be developed and our overall depth becomes much better.

(Already posted that here, but I think here would be a fairly better place to discuss this topic)



Nino Niederreiter - Luca i - Damien Brunner
# Scoring line: i as playmaker, Niederreiter and Brunner as scorers. Able to play a gritty game.
Sven Bärtschi - Andrej Bykov - Julien Sprunger
# Scoring line: Bykow and Bärtschi are fast, great passers while Sprunger is a cold scorer. Could be a little soft, but we should see some beautiful plays from this line.
Joël Vermin - Peter Guggisberg - Roman Wick
# Scoring line: Peter Guggisberg is (when he's healthy) whithout a doubt the most spectacular player in Switzerland: Great hands, plays a gritty game, very, VERY fast... Roman Wick is a great allrounder for the wings and Joël Vermin does, despite his age, a great job in Bern. Risky line, but if it works...
Gregory Sciaroni - Andres Ambühl - Thomas Deruns
# Grinding line: Ambühl, Deruns and Sciaroni are playing an annoying game. All of them are great forecheckers and could be useful playing against the top lines.
Christoph Bertschy
# Well, no other options

Mark Streit (if still playing) - Luca Sbisa
# No comment needed
Roman Josi - Partick von Gunten
# 2 solid 2-way Ds, could develop a great chemistry
Raphael Diaz - Philippe Furrer
# PMD + Checking threat
Yannick Weber (?)
# Oh well, I'm not a fan of Weber. But no better options so far


Jonas Hiller
# No comment needed
Leonardo Genoni
# No comment needed
Reto Berra / Tobias Stephan
# Berra based on last season. Stephan is the "safe" pick.


Surprisingly good depth at C, solid wingers, good D, great goaltending
This team could surprise

What do you guys think? I don't know if we should use i in the first line, but he doesn't seem to be out of place for me.

 

[jonas2244]

If Romy is continuing to play like this season he's our best Center and a lock.

On Defense the depth-chart is clear. I'd put Diaz in the Top-4 and Von Gunten on the third pairing. But that are peanuts.

On Offense there are so many possibilities. Of course there are a few player who will be there (Nino, Bärtschi, Wick, Brunner). But behind them we have a great depth of many players who can play a certain role. And if those 4 players I named can make the step to the NHL and start producing there Switzerland is definitly a team to watch.

 

[stv11]

The Sochi olympics are less than two years away, you shouldn't expect the team to be completely different than the one we have now. Sure, Plüss, Streit, Jeannin, Rüthemann and the likes probably won't be good enough anymore, although one or two of them could still be. Then you have guys such as Vauclair or Bezina, who won't be far removed from their prime in two years (they will actually be younger than Paterlini and Domenichelli were in 2010).

On the other hand, you can't expect all promising youngesters such as i, Vermin or Sciaroni to successfully develop into olympic caliber players. Some will disappoint, while a guy nobody expect could turn into a solid player, just like i this season and Brunner a few years ago.

 

[duga]

The Sochi olympics are less than two years away, you shouldn't expect the team to be completely different than the one we have now. Sure, Plüss, Streit, Jeannin, Rüthemann and the likes probably won't be good enough anymore, although one or two of them could still be. Then you have guys such as Vauclair or Bezina, who won't be far removed from their prime in two years (they will actually be younger than Paterlini and Domenichelli were in 2010).

On the other hand, you can't expect all promising youngesters such as i, Vermin or Sciaroni to successfully develop into olympic caliber players. Some will disappoint, while a guy nobody expect could turn into a solid player, just like i this season and Brunner a few years ago.

i probably will never be "solid"...too risky his game.
and quite a few people were expecting his turnaround after his good season with GCK ... too much talent

same with Brunner. you could see in his first season with Kloten that a lot has to go wrong, that he won't be successfull... too skilled and too eager to play the game to get lost...

same with Vermin, when he doesn't get injured severely, and adds a bit of weight in the off-season, he'll be a lock for Sochii IMO.

 

[duga]

Hello guys.
is topic)



Nino Niederreiter - Luca i - Damien Brunner
# Scoring line: i as playmaker, Niederreiter and Brunner as scorers. Able to play a gritty game.
Sven Bärtschi - Andrej Bykov - Julien Sprunger
# Scoring line: Bykow and Bärtschi are fast, great passers while Sprunger is a cold scorer. Could be a little soft, but we should see some beautiful plays from this line.
Joël Vermin - Peter Guggisberg - Roman Wick
# Scoring line: Peter Guggisberg is (when he's healthy) whithout a doubt the most spectacular player in Switzerland: Great hands, plays a gritty game, very, VERY fast... Roman Wick is a great allrounder for the wings and Joël Vermin does, despite his age, a great job in Bern. Risky line, but if it works...
Gregory Sciaroni - Andres Ambühl - Thomas Deruns
# Grinding line: Ambühl, Deruns and Sciaroni are playing an annoying game. All of them are great forecheckers and could be useful playing against the top lines.
Christoph Bertschy
# Well, no other options

Mark Streit (if still playing) - Luca Sbisa
# No comment needed
Roman Josi - Partick von Gunten
# 2 solid 2-way Ds, could develop a great chemistry
Raphael Diaz - Philippe Furrer
# PMD + Checking threat
Yannick Weber (?)
# Oh well, I'm not a fan of Weber. But no better options so far


Jonas Hiller
# No comment needed
Leonardo Genoni
# No comment needed
Reto Berra / Tobias Stephan
# Berra based on last season. Stephan is the "safe" pick.


Surprisingly good depth at C, solid wingers, good D, great goaltending
This team could surprise

What do you guys think? I don't know if we should use i in the first line, but he doesn't seem to be out of place for me.

it's still a long way,
but all around a very good list IMO,
probably a bit too offensive minded on offense,
And I think Flueler will be NR.2 before guys like Berra, Genoni and Stephan


but I don't see what you say about Guggisberg. He's never played C in NLA ... he always was and after his bad series of injuries probably always will be a soft player, who constantly drived the perimeter looking for the deadly pass, even if he has to circle all the offensive Zone 2 or 3 times (which he was more than just capable of thanks to his worldclass skating)
But he avoids contact as the devil the holy water... (God, I love to translate german phrases literatelly ) and after his unlucky injury-history he probably will never skate the same as before, an thus will be deprived of his best assets.
I agree that his combination of hands and skating was/is among the best in Switzerland together with guys like Brunner and i.

 

[stv11]

i probably will never be "solid"...too risky his game.

"Solid" was a poor choice of word. I meant that he would contribute at a high level, not that he would become an all around player. I should have used "Olympic caliber" or something like this.

and quite a few people were expecting his turnaround after his good season with GCK ... too much talent

same with Brunner. you could see in his first season with Kloten that a lot has to go wrong, that he won't be successfull... too skilled and too eager to play the game to get lost...

same with Vermin, when he doesn't get injured severely, and adds a bit of weight in the off-season, he'll be a lock for Sochii IMO.

I can't agree with everything here. It was known that those players had high potentials, but I don't think many people expected Brunner to become an NHL caliber player when he left Kloten. Same for i, one year ago people were hoping he could work with ZSC, but I don't remember any prediction about him being in discussions for the national team.

I'm not saying that it's stupid to expect those players to make the Olympics, but I think we shouldn't forget that it will be played in less than two years and that we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves with young players, and neither should we forget all guys currently older than 28.

 

[The Noot]

it's still a long way,
but all around a very good list IMO,
probably a bit too offensive minded on offense,
And I think Flueler will be NR.2 before guys like Berra, Genoni and Stephan

...

but I don't see what you say about Guggisberg. He's never played C in NLA ... he always was and after his bad series of injuries probably always will be a soft player, who constantly drived the perimeter looking for the deadly pass, even if he has to circle all the offensive Zone 2 or 3 times (which he was more than just capable of thanks to his worldclass skating)
But he avoids contact as the devil the holy water... (God, I love to translate german phrases literatelly ) and after his unlucky injury-history he probably will never skate the same as before, an thus will be deprived of his best assets.
I agree that his combination of hands and skating was/is among the best in Switzerland together with guys like Brunner and i.

I'm quite careful when it comes to Flüeler. He played some great playoffs, but was merely slightly above average during the regular season. I doubt, that he'll be better than Genoni, but we'll see.


Oh, yeah... Gritty is pretty wrong when it comes to Guggisberg, sorry

Well, according to eliteprospects, he should be capable to play C. I know, not the best source. But I also thought, I saw him playing there from time to time. But I'm not quite sure... Anyway, I would give it a try, at least in 1-2 testing games. Otherwise could we exchange him with Sven Bärtschi, who told multiple times, that he's able to play all the offensive positions. Just a thought.
He will never be a physical force, that's true. But you have to see, that our depth at C is... well... Let's say not the best. The only guys I could see aside of him would be Jeannin and Plüss. But they are 36/35 yo. Will they be able to play at this level in two years? We don't know...

The next problem would be his health, indeed. I really hope that he's able to completely recover from his injuries. But I'm really afraid, that they'll rush his comeback.

I'm not saying that it's stupid to expect those players to make the Olympics, but I think we shouldn't forget that it will be played in less than two years and that we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves with young players, and neither should we forget all guys currently older than 28.

True words. This list is more like my personal "Best case scenario".
But I also think we should integrate our young guys more. Guys like Rüthemann, Jeannin and Plüss may be good players now. But they won't be reliable long-term anymore. We should let the young guys gain experience at olympic level. It could help their development.

We aren't a force in hockey. We may be able to upset some teams with our (currently) best players, but that's it. It's just my opinion, but I think we should look in the future, since we can't reach much more than QF/SF with our current "stars".
I don't want to say, that our young guns are able to bring us to the Finals or even to win the WC. But there's imo more talent in this young generation than in the generation of our good ol' routiniers. We still wouldn't be able to reach the cup. But we'd be one step closer to that target.

But that's just my opinion. And I know, there's a huge possibility that I'm wrong with it

 

[stv11]

The problem with this reasoning is that if you use the Olympics and WC to develop players, what is the end goal? Those tournaments should be played with the best possible team, and the best possible team usually consists of players spread along the full 20-36 age range.

There are tournaments in which new players can be tried all year long, there is a one month long camp before the WC to see who could make the team. Those are the time to try new players and give them experience.

 

[duga]

"Solid" was a poor choice of word. I meant that he would contribute at a high level, not that he would become an all around player. I should have used "Olympic caliber" or something like this.

Ok, so I got it wrong.

It was known that those players had high potentials, but I don't think many people expected Brunner to become an NHL caliber player when he left Kloten. Same for i, one year ago people were hoping he could work with ZSC, but I don't remember any prediction about him being in discussions for the national team.

.

Well, the Brunner case is a special one. I wasn't sure if he would recover after Eldebrink's destruction of him. (I'm still wondering how unblemished Elde came out of this situation. at least, it's one of the most questionable transfers of all times in swiss hockey history)

I've written it a few times in here already. When I saw him first time in NLA, playing at the 1st line with Rintanen and (Hlinka/Pittis can't remember) as a freshman, he looked pretty close to what he is now, not as polished. He made this Semin-like move coast-to-coast and ripped the puck under the bar with a long distance wristshot, jaw-dropping left and right. And I thought, a guy who skates and handles the puck like Guggisberg, but he cuts the D much more, is eager to score goals and got this electrifying temper as opposed to Guggis' bernish reserved temper.(I sense sensimillia)
and we had a lot of disscussion in the stands about where he was coming from and especially going to with this unbelieveable talent.

To see this big talent a year later wasted as a 4th line grinder with little TOI-stat, far off of how you should handle such a player, nearly made me skip watching Kloten.

The trade just came at the right time and saved his career.


about i: 10-16-2011, 12:24 PM,swiss young guns

when talking about Centermen:

Luca i just played his first 2 games this season for ZSC after his injury. and I think he's finally mature enough to succede. When he gets his game together in near future, I can see him ending up on NT rather quickly. He's still the most skilled center prospect for Switzerland IMO.

and don't forget about Schäppi. He's the new Luca Cereda. big, intelligent and very mature for his age. good hands and shooting skills.

Sorry for quoting myself. I acctually was expecting that he'll have quite a lot of influence once he really makes a team. Of course, I had my doubts. In oppsite to Brunner (similar CV with their rough treatment as juniors) he seems not to have the same mental toughness, Brunner offers. That was and still is my biggest questionmark.... and I know a few guys who tought the same, especially after seeing him with GCK last year.

 

[stv11]

about i: 10-16-2011, 12:24 PM,swiss young guns



Sorry for quoting myself. I acctually was expecting that he'll have quite a lot of influence once he really makes a team. Of course, I had my doubts. In oppsite to Brunner (similar CV with their rough treatment as juniors) he seems not to have the same mental toughness, Brunner offers. That was and still is my biggest questionmark.... and I know a few guys who tought the same, especially after seeing him with GCK last year.

Quoting yourself is ok, you earned some bragging right here

And I'm jealous you have so many hockey teams close from home

 

[duga]

Quoting yourself is ok, you earned some bragging right here

And I'm jealous you have so many hockey teams close from home

Though I live closest to the footballstadium (Letzi)... which I hardly ever go to visit.

and I would give away a team from my area (let's say Rappi, and only Rappi) in a second... to reintegrate one of the the most prosperous fan-cultures of our country...Lausanne HC. The "Romandie" that goes through rough times once again when it comes to football, would deserve an other hockey-derby. (and why Le Valais can't stand together and go for one Club, though having the potential in talent and audience to run an NLA-club, doesn't make sense for me... but I'm derailing...)

so what's in your area then?

 

[stv11]

Though I live closest to the footballstadium (Letzi)... which I hardly ever go to visit.

and I would give away a team from my area (let's say Rappi, and only Rappi) in a second... to reintegrate one of the the most prosperous fan-cultures of our country...Lausanne HC. The "Romandie" that goes through rough times once again when it comes to football, would deserve an other hockey-derby. (and why Le Valais can't stand together and go for one Club, though having the potential in talent and audience to run an NLA-club, doesn't make sense for me... but I'm derailing...)

so what's in your area then?

Well, I live right next to Les Vernets, and rarely attend games. McSorley's kind of hockey is not my cup of tea.

About Lausanne and Rapperswil, one team has better management and was good enough to keep their place in the NLA the other wasn't. Lausanne's awful record at player development doesn't help either. Sure, they have potential, like their fans always like to point out, but instead of talking about it, they'd better get something out of it. I know that swapping LHC and Rappi is popular opinion, but fortunately, things are decided on the ice.

In Valais, the rivalry between the teams is just to big for something to happen. The crappy state of arenas doesn't help either.

Anyway, Switzerland is so small that distances is hardly an excuse for not attending the games you're interested in.

 

[croAVSfan*]

Just one more win for Phoenix and Josi is coming

Hopp Suisse!

 

[holyprime]

Though I live closest to the footballstadium (Letzi)... which I hardly ever go to visit.

Sorry to go completely offtopic.. its just that the Letzigrund is anything but a soccer-stadium

Is the ok from the Preds for Josi a given? It'd be awesome if he comes tough, you could almost describe our D as "stacked" then.

 

[stv11]

Now that we had to digest that disappointing tournament, anyone thinks that Simpson may not be the right guy?

I think he's definitely a downgrade compared to Krüger, but who wouldn't? And I can't think about anyone available who would do a better job.

 

[The Noot]

Now that we had to digest that disappointing tournament, anyone thinks that Simpson may not be the right guy?

I think he's definitely a downgrade compared to Krüger, but who wouldn't? And I can't think about anyone available who would do a better job.

I'd say it's too early to say that.
He has the hard task to make the jump into the big nations.
The casual fans in Switzerland have utopic expectations, caused by the media. To statisfy them he has to let our team play attractive hockey AND he has to be successful.

The good thing is:
We played fairly good and "fun to watch"-hockey. It didn't look like a permanent PP for the opposing team as we know it from Krueger (slightly exaggerated).
Hell, from time to time we even dominated superior opponents.

But the bad thing is:
We still don't have the goal scoring quality we need to succeed with this strategy. The spectacular play leads to better chances for the opponents. And that's the reason we lost to a team like France. In the past, we tried to take over the game against them, too. BUT we still had the defense back in our minds. Our PK was one of the best in the whole tournament. And against stronger enemies... well... it was a fairly safe way to produce 1-2 surprises per year.

We are basicly not good enough to win our games regularly when we play offensive. But the fans out there would be disappointed if we play defensive hockey, reach the QF and get destroyed (once again) by a superior opponent.

He really doesn't have a job I'd like to have. And he does it pretty good.

So keep calm and wait for Sotchi

 

[torero]

While results were not there, our team played great, it was great spectacle. I was proud of them.
They also acted as an excellent ambassador for Swiss hockey.
And matched the great nations in the game.

As per Krueger, he was playing the trap ! with amazing goaltending. (Gerber, Aebischer were simply amazing !)
Today, goaltending isn't at the same level. Instead we have a great game on the field.

Add better scorers, a goaltender in good shape ... and with a bit of luck, we could end up beyond the semis !

To change our view on Simpson, didn't we end up 1st of the robin round in 2010 ?
robin round classification in 2010
then we lost to Germany in the QF in an absolute scandalous manner, with a huge luck for the Germans and all the opposite for us ! 41 shots to 25
game stats for SUI GER 2010 QF
Then the germans lost to the Russians ... in a game that the Swiss would have won ... and we would have ended up in the finals ! with only an NLA team.
Simpson heading all this !!

So i wouldn't be too tough on Simpson.
Under Simpson, Switzerland beat many great nations.

I like our team, i like Simpson and believe that their is plenty more to come.
And i hope Simpson stays.

 

[duga]

Krueger was very important at the begining of his choaching time, and boosted the confidence-level of swiss hockey players on intern. level with his sheer optimism, and vice versus his selfbelieve was profiting enormously from the early success... he truly believed in this team... win-win situation

this went on till OG 2002 and the defeat against France.
after the heavy critics he recieved from swiss media after OG 02, he lost a lot of his early drive, and lost the big picture... still giving the same lame optimistic interviews, but his tactical actions showed clearly otherwise. his fear of losing has grown bigger than his believe in this team, and even more important his believe in the strengh of his own players.

So, he took away any liberties of the players on the ice. The only things the players were aloud to do were fighting in the D-Zone, and brainlessly bang the puck into an icing. (Imaging that nowadays when the defending Line has to stay on the ice)
A lot of players lost the interest (with good reason) in playing in such a system... He still had success from time to time (like OG 06) but most of the wins, though were based partly on simple heavy work, were mainly build on luck. (and very strong GK)

So, while he was very important for the first boost. He was hindering the development of the NT actively, cause of his unableness to integrate at least a bit of risk in his gameplan. It's a simple thing that is a general fact of life: no risk= no development


Simpson, now has the hard task, to bring this team a step forward.
Reintegrate the best possible players, give them some trust, when it comes to the constructive parts of the game, allow a real forechecking from time to time, but at the same time make them play a sound, systemorientated D-game.

It's a lot more complicate and ambitious, and therefore riskier gameplan than Krueger's. But if we wanna see our NT develop, we have to go this route... independantly from the results they gain the first few years. (and the Hockey Culture the team showed recently is so much higher than anything they ever were allowed to (or capable of) under Krueger)

Simpson has shown with the ZSC Lions that he's capable of doing that. (I mean the CL-Run has been the most impressive hockey I have ever seen a swiss team play... heavy forechecking, hard team work on D, smart decision making with the puck, superior transitiongame than any competition, some highlightreel goals, and the Cup in the end...)

The questionmark, that remains, is: Can he develop such a demanding system with a team he barely works with through the year? And will he get several chances even if the results show otherwise?

IMO, Simpson is double the coach Krueger ever will be.

And if Gaydoul and co decide they wanna go back to old solutions, just trying to survive anyhow on international level, I'll skip heavy-heartedly my most loved events in any sport (Hockey OG and WC), or I'll only gonna watch the Russians again (as I did in the 80's-90's when swiss hockey struggeld to keep their place in Division A)

Sorry for the long post

and off course, that's all just my opinion and probably far off the truth

 

[torero]

Duga for the Presidency

Your post could be at 98% mine.

One of the big challenges Simpson has is to integrate mercenaries and Swiss NLA players in the same team.

And we are not good enough to play on our talent alone ... so we still need a game plan.

 

[croAVSfan*]

While results were not there, our team played great, it was great spectacle. I was proud of them.
They also acted as an excellent ambassador for Swiss hockey.
And matched the great nations in the game.

As per Krueger, he was playing the trap ! with amazing goaltending. (Gerber, Aebischer were simply amazing !)
Today, goaltending isn't at the same level. Instead we have a great game on the field.

Add better scorers, a goaltender in good shape ... and with a bit of luck, we could end up beyond the semis !

To change our view on Simpson, didn't we end up 1st of the robin round in 2010 ?
robin round classification in 2010
then we lost to Germany in the QF in an absolute scandalous manner, with a huge luck for the Germans and all the opposite for us ! 41 shots to 25
game stats for SUI GER 2010 QF
Then the germans lost to the Russians ... in a game that the Swiss would have won ... and we would have ended up in the finals ! with only an NLA team.
Simpson heading all this !!

So i wouldn't be too tough on Simpson.
Under Simpson, Switzerland beat many great nations.

I like our team, i like Simpson and believe that their is plenty more to come.
And i hope Simpson stays.

More or less I agree with you. I don't remember when Swiss beat two TOP7 nations in one tournament like in 2010. I am talking only about WC's...

 

[torero]

More or less I agree with you. I don't remember when Swiss beat two TOP7 nations in one tournament like in 2010. I am talking only about WC's...

I guess you are right (i am too lazy to go and look ;-) ) Yet qualitatively, there is a serious improvement. And actually you state yourself : you don't remember when the team beat 2 TOP7 nations, yet each year they beat one !! (and each year we talk about it like an upset )

And then, generally circumstances were against us. (luck)

In the Kruger era, we had some years where we beat some teams, us being clearly inferior but through GK and trap. (good game plan) and positive circumstances (luck).

Today we match in the game, the best teams. That is a serious improvement.

 

[stv11]

I think that the playing style issue is a bit overdone. Krüger's basic system was always the same, but sometimes the team was passive in the neutral zone, sometimes it used a more agressive forechecking (remember some goals scored by the Paterlini-Ziegler-Rüthemann line by forcing a turnover in the offensive zone), even though the basics was always one man up forcing the play along the boards. Every coach will use the system that he thinks gives the highest chance of winning games, and after the Salt Lake City disaster, Krüger only trusted the one he got success with early on. But playing style notwithstanding, I don't remember ever seeing Swiss national team players looking as confused about what they had to do as this year.

Some of you have mentioned luck to explain Krüger's achievements, but luck works both way (for example getting just the right results to reach the semifinals in 98 vs hitting the posts tons of time in 09). In the end, we have eight top 8 finishes in 12 World Championship, which is a large enough sample to conclude that Switzerland was actually a top 8 team during that span.

Anyway, I disagree with Duga's idea that Krüger's system was hindering development. There is only so much a national team coach can do regarding development, he has to work with the players available, and getting more and better players is a long term process that has to start way below then national team. His task was to rank in the top 8 while 7 teams were clearly superior, and playing mistake free hockey was the only way to do it. I think we can all agree that it's a bad idea for Switzerland (or anyone else for that matter) to enter a game against Russia with the idea of beating them with pure skill.

Anothere point that hasn't been discussed is player selection. With Krüger, even though I admit I often didn't agree with his choices, they all made perfect sense. You had the feeling he had the team build in his mind and then picked the right player for each role. With Simpson, I just don't have that same feeling. It seems that he first chooses the players, and only then try to work a lineup out of them, and while Krüger always had four functioning lines, with Simpson there is a lot of tweaking going on and he ends up with three strong lines and one that looks more like a "best of the rest" one (see Jenni-Trachsler-Duca in 2010 or Lemm-Bieber-Sancescu in 2011. I won't comment on this year's lines too much because of all the injuries).

We could also question the selection of new players who in the end weren't up to the task. Plüss for example worked very hard and had the skating skills required to play at this level, but he simply didn't bring much. Wouldn't a more proven player like Déruns have done better, despite his poor club season? We'll never know for sure, but past experiences such as Paterlini in 08 or Sannitz in 09 suggest he would.

Some food for thought. But I want to make clear that I don't suggest that Simpson should be fired and that Krüger should return, but given that last two WC, I think it's worth having the discussion.

 

[Partagas]

Sorry Stv11 i completely disagree and i'm agree wîth Duga.
I have never seen such a swiss team challenging Canada and Finnland as this year.
The limit of success and lost is always very small. Very well played against the 2, on paper , strongest teams of our group but to come out without a single point was very tough psycologically . And then the bad luck against France ,we were in the third time on the win way , the Monnet hit and penalty for Bezina.
In this moment the intire squad was shocked and a big mistake by Simpson not to call a time-out to relax the team.
Imho we should go with Simpson .
Not to forget: our team will be sure much stronger in(perhaps already 1 year )in 2,3 years.
Streit except we have still young (Hiller,Weber ,Diaz) or very young NHL players(Nino,Sbisa,Josi,Bärtschi). Perhaps more NHL players too(Brunner and..) .In the next year they will be more experienced and stronger.And we have also in Switzerland more skilled players like i,Moser and Loetscher (both we hope recovered and in his best shape for the future).

 

[stv11]

Sorry Stv11 i completely disagree and i'm agree wîth Duga.
I have never seen such a swiss team challenging Canada and Finnland as this year.

You didn't really tackle any of my points, and your remark is simply not true. For most of the last decade, strong teams have been challenged every year: Canada in 2011 (OT loss after tying the game following a late goal), Canada and the Czech Republic (eventual champion) in 2010, Russia in 2009 (that one was a tactical masterpiece ruined by an individual mistake), Sweden in 2008 (impressive win), Sweden in 2006 (third period comeback to earn a tie), Russia (tie) and Sweden (quarterfinal) in 2005, Slovakia (quarterfinal, impressive pressure in the second half of the game after falling behind) in 2005.

The limit of success and lost is always very small. Very well played against the 2, on paper , strongest teams of our group but to come out without a single point was very tough psycologically . And then the bad luck against France ,we were in the third time on the win way , the Monnet hit and penalty for Bezina.
In this moment the intire squad was shocked and a big mistake by Simpson not to call a time-out to relax the team.

I agree that there was some bad luck in this game, and the ref definitely screwed up, but you can't dismiss the way Switzerland played early in the 2nd period, that was just awful (the same thing happend against Belarus and Canada, by the way). Then, there is the performances against Slovakia and the US, which you can't dismiss either. All things considered, this was Switzerland's worst WC since 2002.

Imho we should go with Simpson.

To make it clear once again, I think Simpson should stay. And in case he doesn't, going with Krüeger would be a huge mistake.

Not to forget: our team will be sure much stronger in(perhaps already 1 year )in 2,3 years.
Streit except we have still young (Hiller,Weber ,Diaz) or very young NHL players(Nino,Sbisa,Josi,Bärtschi). Perhaps more NHL players too(Brunner and..).

This sure is a new situation for Switzerland, but it has some downsides too. A depth NHL player is not significantly superior to a good European league player, therefore the gain in talent doesn't compensate the loss in team chemistry. Hopefully in few years, our NHLers will have developed into solid contributors and this problem will be solved.

In the next year they will be more experienced and stronger.And we have also in Switzerland more skilled players like i,Moser and Loetscher (both we hope recovered and in his best shape for the future).

It works both way, some players are on their way in, while some important ones are on their way out (Plüss, Jeannin, Rüthemann...). Still, Switzerland's player depth has been slowly improving over the last 15 years, now we need to produce some world class talent.