In the 2021/22 season, Yanick Sablatnig is still playing in the third-highest league, now he is making his debut for the Swiss national team at the age of 25 in the 0:1 n.p. against Finland. His impressions.
07.02.2025, 00:22
07.02.2025, 07:14
SDA
"It was a very intense game in which we had the advantage. We can't blame ourselves much. We skated a lot, played with self-sacrifice, blocked shots, tried to get in front of the opponent's goal, but the puck just wouldn't go in," Sablatnig told the Keystone-SDA news agency.
The winger was called up by national team coach Patrick Fischer after numerous withdrawals due to injury or illness. The fact that this is the case shows how quickly things can happen in ice hockey. The former Rapperswil-Jona Lakers junior had already given up on his dream of playing in the National League when he landed with Chur in the third-highest league in 2019. In 2021, he moved to EHC Basel, with whom he was promoted to the Swiss League a year later. As Basel are the partner team of SC Bern, he caught the eye of the team's management. At the beginning of 2024, SCB gave him the chance to prove himself and he took it. In mid-December, he was traded to Biel in exchange for Elvis Schläpfer and has now made his debut in the national team.
"A lot has happened in the space of a year," says Sablatnig. "Just the fact that I was allowed to play in the National League last season was surreal. I'm trying to enjoy everything and take it step by step." How did he experience his first international match? "I was a bit nervous for the first few minutes, but the tension quickly subsided. The guys here are very sociable, which made it easy." It was still an ice hockey match anyway. He hadn't changed anything about his game. However, the level is already higher than in the National League. "It can take a lot less, you have to take a lot more care of the puck, otherwise it immediately goes the other way."
How is he looking ahead to the next game on Saturday in Stockholm against hosts Sweden? "If we play with the same intensity as today, I'm sure we'll have a chance then too."
