NHL stars Kevin Fiala and Jonas Siegenthaler are with the Swiss team despite injuries and are actively supporting them. That speaks for the great cohesion in the team.
24.05.2026, 09:45
24.05.2026, 11:12
SDA
Kevin Fiala stands in a T-shirt and shorts in the mixed zone in the arena in Zurich. After the Los Angeles Kings team doctor gave the NHL forward the green light to travel to Switzerland on Wednesday morning local time, he immediately booked flight tickets for the evening. "I'm very grateful to be here," he says.
Fiala suffered a fracture in his lower left leg in the second preliminary round game against Canada at the Winter Olympics in February. However, he quickly looked ahead again, set himself new goals and worked hard to be able to make his comeback this season. Three days before the start of the World Championships on the Friday before last, he was still on the ice - "I was very close," he says.
When asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency whether he had wanted to play in the World Championship and the Kings had said no, he replied: "It's complicated, I don't want to go into details. But in the end it's for the best, it wasn't meant to be. I fought until the last week to make it to the World Cup, so it was even harder to accept it. A dream has been shattered, it was from one hundred to zero, so to speak."
This is not the first major setback for Fiala. Among other things, he lost an unborn child before the 2025 World Cup. This March, he became a father for the second time after all. "Acceptance is very, very important. I can't be sad for a month or two - especially not with two children."
Siegenthaler surprised by the findings
Jonas Siegenthaler traveled to Switzerland as quickly as possible after failing to qualify for the NHL with the New Jersey Devils and assumed that he would be able to take part in the World Championship at home. Although the results of an MRI examination were still pending, the 29-year-old defenseman did not expect to need neck surgery because he was able to play through the season despite the symptoms. It was a surprising finding. Siegenthaler explains that such an injury would have different consequences for others. He could not say when it happened, but it was also due to wear and tear.
Siegenthaler had the operation in the USA, returned on Friday and has been back with the team since then. The only thing visible is a plaster on his neck. "Everything went well, as planned, I now have a new neck," says the Zurich native with a laugh. He describes his current role in the Swiss team as follows: "I'm the man for everything. I don't have a specific function. I'm here to help the guys, the staff on and off the ice - I'm willing to do anything."
However, Siegenthaler is not staying with the team - as is Fiala, who is staying in another hotel with his wife and children. Andrea Glauser, who is also injured, is also supporting the team on site. This shows that the Swiss really are a team. "Some of them have known each other since their junior days," says Siegenthaler. "At the last World Championships, most of us had the same team. I think that speaks for itself, and that's why we injured players are here."
Fiala thrilled by the atmosphere
For him, the enormous team spirit is also one of the reasons why the players quickly found the right focus again after the turbulent days following the dismissal of Patrick Fischer as head coach in mid-April - a forged Covid certificate was his undoing. "They handled it very well," he says, paying tribute.
For Fiala, the national team is "one big family. It feels like we're getting even closer together every year. It was very, very important for me not to miss this home World Cup, even as an injured player. I don't know if it needs me. I just give my love, my energy, my power."
Against Great Britain on Thursday, Fiala cheered on his teammates for the first time in Zurich as a fan and was thrilled by the atmosphere: "I've been to many world championships and that was the best atmosphere I've ever experienced." Who knows, maybe the enthusiastic spectators are the missing piece of the puzzle to the title after four World Championship silver medals since 2013.
