Ten years after his appointment as national team coach, one thing is certain: Patrick Fischer is stepping down at the end of the season. This marks the end of an era that has shaped Swiss ice hockey like no other. His successor will be Jan Cadieux.
Whether it is a coincidence or a deliberate decision: Ten years to the day after Patrick Fischer was introduced as national team coach, the 50-year-old Zug native announced at a Swiss Ice Hockey Federation media conference on Wednesday that he would not be renewing his contract, which expires at the end of the season. The most successful era of a Swiss national team coach will thus come to an end in May 2026.
Fischer: "It is important to set new accents in order to move the team forward. My full focus is on the Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina and the home World Championships in Zurich and Fribourg. All that matters now is preparing the team in the best possible way and representing Switzerland successfully."
The successor is already in place: Jan Cadieux will take over. The 45-year-old is an in-house solution. He is the current U20 national coach and was one of Fischer's assistants when the team won silver at the World Championships this year. Cadieux led Genève-Servette to the first championship title in the club's history in spring 2023 and won the Champions Hockey League with the team a year later before being sacked at the end of December 2024.
Skepticism turned into a success story
When Patrick Fischer was introduced ten years ago, he was met with some skepticism. Just over a month earlier, he had been sacked by Lugano, his first stop as head coach. At the time of his dismissal, the Bianconeri were bottom of the table. Moreover, Fischer was not the first choice - that was Kevin Schläpfer, who was not given the go-ahead for the job by his then employer Biel.
The skepticism did not diminish when the Swiss missed out on the quarter-finals at the first World Cup under Fischer's leadership after defeats against Kazakhstan and Norway. However, Fischer is not one to doubt himself. He went to Canada alone at the age of 16 - and the North American attitude left its mark on him. When he said that Switzerland would one day become world champions, he was initially laughed at. Now nobody laughs anymore.
Under him as head coach, the Swiss reached the World Cup final in 2018, 2024 and 2025. Seven years ago, they only lost to Sweden on penalties after Kevin Fiala missed a top chance to win the gold medal in extra time. This year against the USA, the decision only went in the Americans' favor in overtime.
Architect of the team spirit
Fischer has managed to transfer his self-confident attitude to the players. And above all, he has established a climate in the national team in which everyone is happy to come - especially the NHL players after a long season. He is also extremely consistent, which is underlined by the case of Lian Bichsel, who was suspended until after the home World Championship.
Lars Weibel, Director of Sport at Swiss Ice Hockey, made no secret of the fact that Fischer alone decides whether he wants to continue or not. According to Fischer himself, he had already made this decision some time ago, but certain things still needed to be clarified. It is now clear that he will retire as national team coach. This step is somewhat logical, as there could hardly be a better time for him than after a season of Olympic Games with the NHL stars and the home World Championships in Zurich and Fribourg.
