The Swiss national team starts the new season on Thursday at the Karjala Cup in Helsinki. Their first opponents will be hosts Finland.
06.11.2024, 07:05
06.11.2024, 07:10
SDA
Before leaving on Monday, head coach Patrick Fischer takes time for an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency, in which he looks back on the World Championship, talks about developments in Swiss ice hockey and the current line-up.
Patrick Fischer, a year ago you had to explain another disappointment. Then you showed the critics with the World Championship silver medal. How great is the satisfaction?
"I'm just very happy that it turned out like this. We've recently struggled to deliver our performance when it counts. We tackled this problem. That's why we brought in performance coach Stefan Schwitter, who helped us to always stay in the moment. We dealt with this issue throughout the season. We put pressure on the players, which then increased further due to the series of defeats. I'm all the more grateful that we proved in the quarter-final against Germany that we can do it. We also showed our potential in the semi-final and final. That did us good."
Hand on heart. How much pressure did you feel yourself?
"It was no secret that it would probably have been the end for me if we hadn't managed a good campaign. Nevertheless, the pressure didn't slow me down and it wasn't as if I couldn't sleep. A big compliment to my partner and those closest to me, they helped me enormously. After winning in the quarter-finals, however, a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and I was enormously relieved."
World Championship silver is of course a great success. However, very little was missing for the title. How long did that bother you?
"It was extremely painful and echoed for a long time. I've never had the opportunity to coach a team with such spirit. Roman (Josi) was an incredible captain. Everyone put themselves at the service of the team, there was no envy. That's what made it so special. We felt ready for the title. Many may never get that chance, or not for a long time. The great disappointment was palpable on the flight home. There was no comparison with the defeats in the final in 2013 and 2018. Now we have to take the momentum with us and continue to improve, because we still need more."
Speaking of which, more is needed. What did the post-season analysis reveal?
"The positive thing was that we were able to build on a lot of good things before last season. We didn't have to change the framework, we knew that we could be successful at the World Championships. Now we also managed to focus on the moment. That is the be-all and end-all. The next step is to win regularly during the season. We want to continue to dictate the rhythm of a game, but we need to switch gears more quickly when possible. Another point is regeneration. The statistics say that 80 percent of the time, the team that wins the final is the one that played the semi-final on Saturday afternoon. So we have to think about what we can optimize in order to be successful when we play in the evening."
In terms of scoring, the team was hugely dependent on the NHL players at the World Championships.
"So are the other teams. The Czech Republic had almost all of their top players with them this year, and Sweden, Canada and the USA also fielded very strong teams. Then you need that extra quality."
Despite the success, Nino Niederreiter has warned that he is worried about the lack of talent to put pressure on the established players. Switzerland had the second-oldest team at the last World Cup. Niederreiter said in an interview, among other things, that he had the feeling that they weren't as good as they thought they were. How do you see that?
"It's been an issue for a while how we can train the younger players better, how we can get them into the league, how they can get important ice time there. We have to work on producing the absolute top shots again, the players who make it straight to the NHL. We haven't managed to do this as we would have liked in recent years. That's where we at the association, together with the clubs, are putting our foot down. There is only one way: even better coaching, even more professional coaches for young players, even better structures. That increases the chances of developing good players."
Is the main problem that there is not enough expertise at the lowest levels, the so-called golden learning age, and that clubs are not prepared to invest enough money there?
"That's a big issue. But we must never forget where we come from. In 1997, we were third in the B group. A lot has happened since then. More money has slowly been invested, and Ralph Krueger (national coach from 1998 to 2010 - editor's note) was a big driver. Before I took over as national team coach (at the end of 2015), I was an assistant coach at Lugano, which was already a top team at the time. Nevertheless, we didn't have a goalkeeping coach, an athletics coach or a video coach. We don't even want to talk about the situation with young players. That was about twelve years ago."
And now?
"Now it's not just Lugano that's completely different, there are also various professional coaches in the youth ranks, simply at U15 to U20 level. So there is a positive development, but we are still lagging behind the top nations in this respect. The quality and quantity of coaches at the lowest levels is not yet satisfactory. In Sweden, for example, there are five or six coaches on the ice, and consequently they produce more good players. The direction in Switzerland is right, and that's what you have to see. It's actually incredible what has happened in a positive sense in ice hockey in this country over the last 25 or 30 years."
Back to the national team. You've already mentioned that you lost eleven of the twelve games in the Euro Hockey Tour last season. What gives you confidence that things will turn out differently this time?
"Our problem last season was scoring goals. What gives me confidence is that we are growing. The goal this season is to even out the results, because we're on a par with the top nations."
The squad for the Karjala Cup includes 41-year-old Andres Ambühl. Why don't you give a younger player more of a chance to gain experience at this level?
"The performance principle applies. Ambühl showed again at this year's World Championship how important he is. Although things aren't going according to plan for him with Davos at the moment, he deserves another call-up, just like other World Cup participants."
With Nicolas Baechler and Giancarlo Chanton, you have included two newcomers. What can you say about them?
"I like the development of both of them. Chanton is physically strong and a good skater, he's very calm on the puck. We need players who can compete physically at this level. That's also the case with "Bächi". He's strong, robust and a good team player. I already liked him at the prospect camp. Now the time has come to reward them."
The World Cup will be held in Switzerland in 2026. To what extent does that already play a role for this season?
"There was already a phase after the 2022 Olympic Games in which we rejuvenated the team, specifically at the right defender position, where Yannick Weber, Raphael Diaz and Ramon Untersander played at the time. We are now benefiting from that. But we certainly won't nominate players just because they're younger, they have to have the necessary level. But if two of them are similarly good, then it makes more sense to go for the younger player in terms of the future. Our aim is to gradually introduce the next generation to the senior team and give them plenty of international ice time at the EHT tournaments."
