Switzerland: Swiss young guns

[JLT]

I know nobody has been on this thread in a while, but with Rochette being considered a first round 2020 pick, I think it's about time we bring up his name! I think he's looked great this year in the QMJHL!

 

[filip85]

Unfortunaetly he wants to play for Canada, so he is hardly "Swiss" young gun

 

[torero]

He seems to be a loose loose proposal for us Swiss. Meanining if he is bad, he'll be Swiss and if he is very good , he'll be Canadian.

Besides he is making a big mistake.

He was born is Switzerland, where he did all his hockey schools ... and now he wants to turn for Canada ... and stay on the bench for the national team ?
That is a 18yr old Swiss kid fantasy. Be on team Canada.

But once past the opportunity to play being kid in U18 or U20 teams ... he may not qualify for the big team. So it is a really short term view.

with no impact on future professional carreer. Except of cuting exposure that you get in national team games.

Any adult could speak with him.And explain him what an inteligent thought would be.

++

I am Swiss and at school , i had a lot of friends who were foreigners, born in Switzerland of foreign parents ... and proud to be foregners. Later, between 20 and 30 ... they generaly start turning and understanding that they are Swiss and start loving their nation. Because this is were the grew up. And this is the culture they have. They kept their earlier nation as well but they understand. Later ... 40's ... they also understand that Switzerland is a great country ... and start truly loving it.

 

[Theokritos]

Four Swiss players selected in the 2020 CHL Import Draft:

Born 2003:
Atillio Biasca (LW, EV Zug) drafted #5 overall by Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
Lorenzo Canonica (C, HC Lugano) drafted #20 overall by Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
Brian Zanetti (D, HC Lugano) draftet #43 overall by Peterborough Petes (OHL)

Born 2002:
Noah Delémont (D, Acadie-Bathurst Titan) re-drafted #28 overall by Owen Sound Attack (OHL)

 

[Speyer]

Will be interesting to see if Delemont can turn it around with another team. I still believe he is one of the best skating defencemen in this draft but he has just so many red flags in his game. As for the 03 players i think they are all pretty close in both where they are now and also in their ceiling. Will be interesting to see who of them will get drafted highest.

 

[Theokritos]

Atillio Biasca (LW, EV Zug) drafted #5 overall by Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
Lorenzo Canonica (C, HC Lugano) drafted #20 overall by Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
Brian Zanetti (D, HC Lugano) draftet #43 overall by Peterborough Petes (OHL)

After Biasca, Lugano youngsters Canonica and Zanetti have also signed in the CHL.

 

[jonas2244]

Not exactly young guns but:

Marcel Jenni is the new U18 National coach.

 

[jonas2244]

Switzerland beats Germany at the first of 3 U20 games with 8-4

Goals:
12:23 Peterka 0-1
19:48 Jobin 1-1
21:15 Fust 2-1
21:55 Canonica 3-1
23:50 Knak 4-1
25:29 Reichel 4-1
27:28 Allenspach 5-2
30:37 Pasanen 5-3
31:52 Alberg 5-4
40:24 Burkhalter 6-4
54:18 Schläpfer 7-4
57:39 Fust 8-4

Stützle without points. Full scoresheet and lineup: Game

 

[duga]

Switzerland beats Germany at the first of 3 U20 games with 8-4

Goals:
12:23 Peterka 0-1
19:48 Jobin 1-1
21:15 Fust 2-1
21:55 Canonica 3-1
23:50 Knak 4-1
25:29 Reichel 4-1
27:28 Allenspach 5-2
30:37 Pasanen 5-3
31:52 Alberg 5-4
40:24 Burkhalter 6-4
54:18 Schläpfer 7-4
57:39 Fust 8-4

Stützle without points. Full scoresheet and lineup: Game

They got it wrong with the 1st German goal at SIHF tough. Stützle definitely had the primary helper. He literally went through all 5 Swiss and then around most of them again before dishing it perfectly to Peterka.
What a talent he is. Most electrifying German player I've ever seen.

The two 03ers from Lugano both look pretty promising too. Even if Zanetti had kind of a rough game partly, as he was directly involved in 2 goals against.

 

[jonas2244]

Some "famous" names on this roster:

Elvis Schläpfer (son of Kevin Schläpfer)
Ray Fust (son of John Fust)
Lucas Rötheli (son of André Rötheli)

On the other side Noah Delemont didn't make this roster, I really hope he can step up next year with a new team. I'll try to catch one of the games this week or rewatch them later on.

 

[jonas2244]

Today:

Switzerland - Germany 2-3
Germany goes up 3-0 (Reichel, Reichel, Alberg), Switzerland comes close again with goals by Barango and Allenspach.

 

[Theokritos]

 

[duga]

Some "famous" names on this roster:

Elvis Schläpfer (son of Kevin Schläpfer)
Ray Fust (son of John Fust)
Lucas Rötheli (son of André Rötheli)

On the other side Noah Delemont didn't make this roster, I really hope he can step up next year with a new team. I'll try to catch one of the games this week or rewatch them later on.

Schläpfer and Fust both seem to have good instincts in the offensive zone. But puckskills are average, and skating a major concern, especially for Schläpfer (not unlike his dad).
I'd be surprised if any of the 2 will carve out a NLA-career.

And unfortunately Delemont seems to go the Auguste Impose route. Hands and skating to create, but not the hockeysmarts to gain much out of it, and it's getting worse and worse with the competition stiffening. His development has stalled for 2 years now, and his peers have passed by in bunches. Red flags all over the place. Hope Im wrong though.

On a positive note, if Knak, as raw as he is, goes outside of top 100 in the draft as projected, he could very well end up as one of the steals of the draft. Unless he goes totally Eggenberger. (Who might still recover somewhat from the atrocity that was his last season.)

 

[canucklax]

On a positive note, if Knak, as raw as he is, goes outside of top 100 in the draft as projected, he could very well end up as one of the steals of the draft. Unless he goes totally Eggenberger. (Who might still recover somewhat from the atrocity that was his last season.)

I saw Knak in Portland this year and while he was a solid contributor, he left me wanting for more at times and I'm not sure if that is just a typical thing of imports having to come over and adjust or if he will be a guy that has some flashes but disappears at other times. He definitely could be a steal like you say, I think he's a late 3rd/4th round pick

 

[Kuracmugger]

I saw the 3 games against germany.
I really got the impression that Knak is a very good leader for this swiss u20 team. I liked what i saw from our team in these games. Switzerland played good as a team not like the germans where almost all goals are a result from stützle peterka reichel.

 

[Speyer]

After only one 7th round pick last year Switzerland wasnt able to produce a single prospect that got taken in the NHL entry draft of 2020. This also breaks a streak going back to 2009. Experts like NHL-Scout Thomas Roost have been outspoken about their concern of the state of the Swiss youth hockey program for a couple of years know. And not producing a single prospect taken in the first three rounds since Hischier three years ago is indeed a very bad sign for the future of our National Teams. Other comparable Nations like Germany, the Czech Republic and even Slovakia have performed much better in that regard in the last couple of years.

What reforms need to be taken to steer the ship in the right direction again? A greater focus on skill and creativity versus tactics in junior coaching, especially at a young age? Better education options for prospects to focus more on hockey and less on school/apprenticeship? Measures to ensure that young players actually get decent playing time in the NLA (instead of being just filler material for line 4) while they are still in their teens?

I feel like there are many options worth exploring but I hope at least something will get done in the near future. Also the Clubs need to step up to the plate instead of just thinking about their immediate financial gain. Unfortunately the current financial implications of the pandemic doesnt make this a likely scenario. If we just pretend everything is fine and focus on recent success stories like the last silver Medal or Josis Norris we might have to pay the price a few years down the line though.

 

[BlizzardSloth]

Despite my little knowledge of youth hockey, I think that having teams like the Ticino Rockets, GCK Lions, and the EVZ Academy in the NLB significantly weakens the national junior leagues. But I don't know how Roost's idea of a program similar to the USNTDP could look like in Switzerland.

 

[canucklax]

How is youth hockey coached in Switzerland? Small side games have done wonders for development in Finland and Sweden, and is now copied in the states. An NTDP type system has been copied in Slovakia and Belarus and seems to be working to at least get their guys on the radar for the CHL and NHL drafts even if it hasn't really developed high end players.

Being an outsider, I don't know if that is realistic to implement in Switzerland, but perhaps Finland would be the best model to try to go after. The clubs are independent but minor hockey is structured the same throughout the country with a focus on skill development above results. There are also coaches that travel around just in the interest of improving their country's talent, not affiliated with any club that check in and see how different programs are doing and run clinics for their positions.

This article from The Athletic is a great read on how they revamped their development system and have seen great success from it. I think based on population and geography this may be the best model to mirror for Switzerland, I just have no insight on the finances involved and motivation from Swiss hockey leaders. Grassroots to Gold: Consistency, communication key to Finland's success

 

[Speyer]

Despite my little knowledge of youth hockey, I think that having teams like the Ticino Rockets, GCK Lions, and the EVZ Academy in the NLB significantly weakens the national junior leagues. But I don't know how Roost's idea of a program similar to the USNTDP could look like in Switzerland.

Hard to say but I have a hard time seeing the all the NLA clubs agreeing on a concept with the federation. I think this idea is doomed from the start. If it should happen however they would probably have to play either older teams or foreign teams in order to be properly challenged. There is also the question of where the team would be based. I think there was a concept for facilities in the canton of Zurich that fell through a couple of years ago...

 

[Speyer]

How is youth hockey coached in Switzerland? Small side games have done wonders for development in Finland and Sweden, and is now copied in the states. An NTDP type system has been copied in Slovakia and Belarus and seems to be working to at least get their guys on the radar for the CHL and NHL drafts even if it hasn't really developed high end players.

Being an outsider, I don't know if that is realistic to implement in Switzerland, but perhaps Finland would be the best model to try to go after. The clubs are independent but minor hockey is structured the same throughout the country with a focus on skill development above results. There are also coaches that travel around just in the interest of improving their country's talent, not affiliated with any club that check in and see how different programs are doing and run clinics for their positions.

This article from The Athletic is a great read on how they revamped their development system and have seen great success from it. I think based on population and geography this may be the best model to mirror for Switzerland, I just have no insight on the finances involved and motivation from Swiss hockey leaders. Grassroots to Gold: Consistency, communication key to Finland's success

I dont really have much insight on swiss junior hockey but the problem of neglecting skill and creativity in favor of tactics (especially at a young age) has been brought up by experts on this topic several times. Also junior coaches have been criticized for caring more about winning championships to further their careers, than developing their players. Another issue is the general quality of coaches for the youngest age groups. The Finnish model would be a great approach but unfortunately I dont think most NLA Teams want to work together on this issue and look at a bigger picture that extends beyond their own immediate benefit.

 

[canucklax]

I dont really have much insight on swiss junior hockey but the problem of neglecting skill and creativity in favor of tactics (especially at a young age) has been brought up by experts on this topic several times. Also junior coaches have been criticized for caring more about winning championships to further their careers, than developing their players. Another issue is the general quality of coaches for the youngest age groups. The Finnish model would be a great approach but unfortunately I dont think most NLA Teams want to work together on this issue and look at a bigger picture that extends beyond their own immediate benefit.

Sadly that focus on winning at the lower levels is very common in all sports, and I think the change would have to come from the top in a strong, unifying message. Who knows if this downward draft trend sends the message or not.

 

[Speyer]

Sadly that focus on winning at the lower levels is very common in all sports, and I think the change would have to come from the top in a strong, unifying message. Who knows if this downward draft trend sends the message or not.

I hope you are right. The need for reforms in Swiss junior hockey has been acknowledged for years but I dont think much has happened until now. Unfortunately with Covid threatening the very livelihood of Swiss hockey at the moment, it probably wont be at the top of a lot of agendas I am afraid.

 

[jonas2244]

I wonder if we see Rochette back in Switzerland soon (and also for Switzerland).

I wouldn't overreact because it is known that Swiss players need some more time to develop than others. This is especially essential for players who would get picked in a later round. As we see with Haas, Kukan and hopefully Suter you don't need to get drafted to be an NHL player one day.
What worries me is the lack of high end talent. We cannot have a Hischier each year but we should have at least a third-rounder each year.
There are surley different reasons for that, most have already been said here. One thing I also would consider. Even in our rich country, ice-hockey is a tough sport to start. It's expensive and time-consuming. You start early as kids, you need to train in the early morning. Parents need to support a kid who wants to play ice-hockey heavily. Much more than if the kid would play Soccer or Floorball or Handball.

 

[Theokritos]

Central Scouting lists Lorenzo Canonica and Janis Moser as a potential 1st 2nd to 3rd round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. Four other Swiss prospects are named as 4th to 6th round picks: Attilio Biasca, Simon Knak, Noah Meier, Dario Sidler, Cedric Fiedler, Liekit Reichle and Brian Zanetti.

Full list: https://cms.nhl.bamgrid.com/images/assets/binary/320582316/binary-file/file.pdf

 

[salamandra]

Central Scouting lists Lorenzo Canonica as a potential 1st round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. Four other Swiss prospects are named as 4th to 6th round picks: Attilio Biasca, Simon Knak, Noah Meier and Dario Sidler.

Full list: https://cms.nhl.bamgrid.com/images/assets/binary/320582316/binary-file/file.pdf

What?

Canonica and Moser(overager) are 2nd/3rd round candidates. Ohters 4th and later are Biasca, Knak(overager), N. Meier, Sidler, Fiedler (overager). L. Reichle and B. Zanetti.

Maybe I forgot someone...