Sports Expert believes Switzerland will fight for even the brightest medals in the World Hockey Tournament. The team has played twice in the 2010 World Cup finals, but the championship is still exhausting.
24.5. 06: 43 • Updated May 24. 06:44
Many rubbed their eyes on Saturday as they looked at the results of the World Hockey Championships. The reigning world champion was Canada after he had bowed to Switzerland for a 3-6 reading.
Where every movement of the Lions in the B-block played in Tampere has been closely watched, the events of the A-block have perhaps received less attention.
Canada, the most successful team in World Championship history, will not fight for the victory in the block to be played in Helsinki, but the block victory will be decided on Tuesday at noon. Toni Söderholm between Germany and Switzerland, which is challenging the top countries in the world.
The success of Switzerland has come as a surprise to some, but not to everyone.
– It is only surprising that we have always talked in Finland and elsewhere that Switzerland is a rather small hockey country. It has been on the side all along. Switzerland is going fast on medal games, Sport’s expert Ismo Lehkonen points out.
Switzerland last played in the World Cup final in Denmark in the spring of 2018. At that time, Sweden only took the win at the end of the shoot-out competition. The previous final was from the Helsinki and Stockholm joint competitions in 2013. Even then, the team’s fate was to be satisfied with the World Championship silver, when Sweden rolled into the World Cup gold with 5–1 numbers in front of the home crowd.
Although the country has been teasing its bigger ones for a while, the last step has yet to be taken.
Lehkonen compares the situation to Finland.
– It took us a while too, and then when we got it done in 1995, it made it easier. The first time I was taken was a painful pain and required a little even self-transcendence because of the intense pressure and stress. The state of tension is hard when you get close.
Lehkonen points out, however, that Switzerland’s success would require full performance.
Where does success come from?
One factor behind Switzerland’s success is the country’s high-quality series, the thirteen-team National League.
– There have been good coaches in Switzerland for a long time. To play in the Swiss Main Series, you have to be a really good player, young players have to grab a break into the lineup. Switzerland has an alien quota, which means the alien players in the series are really good. The salary budget is really high, Lehkonen lists.
– The lower division is also high quality, there are good teams trying up.
In addition, Switzerland has grown a large number of skilled players over the years.
– Switzerland has developed hockey into its own style at a steady pace. The country has marinated good players into the NHL, Roman Josi as a spearhead. Timo Meier is in the race now and of course the captain of the New Jersey Devils Nico Hirschierwho is already leading Devils at a young age, Lehkonen lists.
Also the team’s Swiss head coach Patrick Fischer receives praise.
– The team is well coached. Fischer is considered a guy who recognizes how he is doing at the World Cup. They have wanted to play their own kind of ice-skating hockey, where they attack and defend with high quality. However, they are a disciplined team, Lehkonen says.
Lehkonen describes the World Cup team this spring as a significant medal team.
– Of course it would have been nice to see Josi Nashville. But the team has NHL players and players who have been to the NHL. The players from the Swiss series are marinated, tough scorers on their own team.
– Switzerland has a good, skilled team that plays entertaining sluts. They have a clear mission and skill level to make a hard profit. Personally, I expect them to be a respectable team to go into the top four and even strive for a championship.
Although his puck should still be Switzerland as his little brother, Lehkonen reminds that at least the puckers themselves have recognized the country’s danger.
– All professional hockey players are aware of the quality of the Swiss series. The Swedes and Finns are proud of their own series, but we do know that the Swiss series is really tough. It’s a long way off, so not many people follow it, Lehkonen thinks.
In the future, the series will see potentially even better players, as few foreign players see KHL as a potential place to play.
– Switzerland is in the top series where players want to get to play. It is difficult for foreigners to get there to play because of the alien roof. Now there was an example Sami Vatanen, Harri Pesonen and Valtteri Filppula. They are our top players on the national team, Lehkonen reminds.