2023-05-06 15:35:00
It is a relaxed Patrick Fischer who faces the media in the belly of the ice hockey arena in Brno. He enjoyed his team’s performance more than he had in a long time. No comparison with the lamentable performance a week ago in Riga against Latvia (1:5).
“That was definitely not the way we want to play,” Fischer thinks back with a shudder. Already on Thursday at 0: 3 in Sweden a lot has been better, offensive but “very tame”. “We knew that we had to put more pressure on the Finns.”
Swiss on the offensive
And his players implemented that very well in the 2-1. “Compliments to my team,” the boss at the gang was able to balance with satisfaction. “The Finns were mostly on their heels, we were attacking.” That’s how you want to play, that’s how you’re dangerous. “Run a lot and play hard.” And in contrast to the recent past, they once again brought a narrow lead over time.
The power play was particularly pleasing with the winning goal to make it 2-1 through a deflection by Calvin Thürkauf and, above all, the outnumbered game, which kept the box clean with four penalties. “That’s extremely important,” said defenseman Janis Moser, who joined the team from the Arizona Coyotes. “In tournaments, the special teams often make the difference.”
Waiting for release
Three NHL players are currently confirmed as World Cup participants: Moser, Tim Berni and Nino Niederreiter, who arrives next week. More are still open. Denis Malgin of the Colorado Avalanche, who was one of the big assets in the Swiss team at last year’s World Cup, has been struggling with elbow pain lately, but according to Fischer things are looking good for him. As with Kevin Fiala and Roman Josi, the club’s approval is still missing.
Josi’s chances after his concussion should be small. “Kevin was recently injected fit and would like to sit on the plane for a long time,” reveals Fischer. So the ball is in his team, the Los Angeles Kings. That leaves the «New Jersey Heroes». Should the Devils fail in the quarter-finals, Akira Schmid, Jonas Siegenthaler and Nico Hischier would be freed up in one fell swoop: a goalie, a defender and a striker.
Switzerland will therefore travel to Riga on Wednesday with 25 players – three goalies and 22 field players – but will not report all of them at the start of the tournament to leave room for “latecomers”. That also fits in with the overarching plan of the Swiss. For the first time, the peak of form is deliberately targeted for the second week. The Swiss benefit from the fact that Slovenia, Norway and Kazakhstan are the three supposedly easiest group opponents in the program.
It is also clear that three to four players from the current squad still have to jump over the cliff. The last chance to qualify for the World Cup is on Sunday (4:00 p.m.) at the end of the Euro Hockey Tour.
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