The Swiss national ice hockey team finishes the third Euro Hockey Tour tournament of the season in 3rd place. They showed a lot of good things, but once again failed to score goals.
09.02.2025, 19:29
09.02.2025, 20:54
SDA
February is always a difficult time, as the National League playoffs start in March. This time, in addition to injuries, the flu epidemic made things even more difficult. National coach Patrick Fischer was confronted with eight withdrawals at short notice. He made a virtue of necessity and nominated three newcomers. In total, five players made their national team debut.
In view of the team's inexperience, the performances were more than respectable. The Swiss were the better team against Finland (0:1 n.p.). They won the game against the strong hosts Sweden (2:1 n.V.) after trailing 1:0. Only against the Czechs (0:3), who also fielded a younger team, did they lack something, even though the Eastern Europeans' last two goals were "empty-netters".
The Swiss had already finished the first two tournaments of the current season in the Euro Hockey Tour with one win and two defeats. Only the Czechs were unable to overcome them. It was their second success against the Swedes, who on paper looked strong, after their 4:3 n.p. win in Helsinki in November, following 16 consecutive defeats against the Scandinavians. The Swiss have never managed three wins in the first three tournaments of the Euro Hockey Tour. In their first season in this illustrious circle, they won two of their first nine games, and none in the second.
The Swiss also proved that their defense works even with an inexperienced team, and Fischer praised their spirit. They don't have to worry about the goalie position anyway. Sandro Aeschlimann was only beaten once in his two appearances against Finland and the Czech Republic, and 21-year-old debutant Kevin Pasche also underlined his potential despite a blunder in the 1-0 defeat to Sweden. Fischer should be spoiled for choice when it comes to goalkeepers for the World Championship from May 9 to 25 in Stockholm and Herning.
However, the efficiency was once again inadequate. The lack of cold-bloodedness without the players from the NHL has long been an issue. Very few Swiss players in the National League have the killer instinct required at international level. For Fischer, scoring goals is a matter of will, which is why every shot counts in the national team's training sessions. Push-ups have to be done if the goal is not scored. So far, this has not brought the desired success.
In addition, the example of Luca Fazzini shows that a gifted shot-stopper in the National League does not necessarily perform on the international stage. The Lugano striker has already scored 20 times in the current championship, making him number four in the league in this statistic. In his two appearances in the Euro Hockey Tour, however, Fazzini remained pale. He is one of the losers of the tournament. There are some winners for Fischer, but he did not want to name any names. Of the inexperienced players, the physically strong Nicolas Baechler and Simon Knak are certainly among them. They definitely recommended themselves for further call-ups.
"Considering the circumstances we had due to the many absences, it was very positive," said Lars Weibel, Director of Sport at Swiss Ice Hockey, assessing the team's performance in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. "It's always extremely difficult in February. But we are constantly developing, which makes me optimistic not only for the upcoming World Championships, but also for 2026 (when the home World Championships will take place). We have players coming through who are showing incredible passion."
