Jonas Siegenthaler opens the NHL season on Friday with the New Jersey Devils in Prague against the Buffalo Sabres. Beforehand, the 27-year-old defenseman talks to the Keystone-SDA news agency.
In the interview, Siegenthaler looks back on the World Championship in Prague and the past season, talks about the summer and why it will work this time with the playoff qualification.
Jonas Siegenthaler, first a brief look back at the successful World Championships. Were you the epitome of a team in Prague?
Yes, definitely. Many of us already knew each other from the junior national teams. We became very close in such a short time and were able to play our best field hockey as a team. It was a very special time.
Silver is of course a great success, but very little was missing to win the title. How upset were you about that?
I was very sad after the tournament. Second place is a good result, we are aware that we made the nation proud. But in the final (0:2 against the Czech Republic, the 0:1 was scored in the 50th minute) we didn't get it right. It was time to bring the World Cup trophy back to Switzerland.
Nino Niederreiter warned after the tournament that too few young players were coming through. Do you have a similar view?
Yes, the 1990 to 2000 age group is pretty strong. But now there's a hole, which is underlined by the last NHL drafts, in which not many Swiss players were drafted. But I've heard that there are a few talented players in the next few years. That is necessary. The goal in Switzerland has to be to consistently produce players for the National League or the NHL.
Despite the tough time, you spent the summer training children at a camp in Thailand and four times in Zurich. Your career will hopefully go on for a long time, but could you imagine working as a coach later on?
I haven't given much thought to what I'll do after my career. The question in about ten years' time will be whether I want to see and experience something else. But staying active in ice hockey is definitely an option.
What is the most important thing for you to be able to recharge your batteries in the summer?
It was important for me to take time for myself, my family and my colleagues to get my mind off things. I also really enjoyed being back in Switzerland, in Zurich. That was very important mentally. A season in the NHL is sometimes a bit monotonous, so it's nice to have something else to do.
Did you focus on anything in particular during summer training or is it more or less the same every year now?
I did the summer training in Altstetten again. The program was the same as in the last few years. One focus is always on speed. Speed can never be trained enough. The forwards in the NHL are getting faster every year, so as a defenseman I have to be able to keep up with them. The last two weeks in Switzerland I trained with the ZSC to get the feeling of team training again.
The Devils did make some changes in the summer. How do you see the team set up?
Our general manager (Tom Fitzgerald) was already pretty active, we strengthened every position. Now it's up to us to put the puzzle together, have fun on the ice as a team and play dominant field hockey. We have the prerequisites for this. I'm very confident in us and I'm really looking forward to the season.
What can you take away from last season's disappointment of missing out on the playoffs?
Of course we had different expectations, but it wasn't a huge disappointment. There wasn't much missing for the playoffs. I think every experience is important. Whether you win or lose, you always have to learn from it in order to take the next step.
What are your personal goals?
Of course I want to play as solidly and consistently as possible. However, it's more important to me that we do well as a team.
You start the season in Prague. This involves a long journey and jet lag. Does that make sense for you?
I think it's great that the NHL is also coming to Europe. It's very special for us Europeans. It's also cool that we're close to Switzerland and that many of our family and colleagues can be there. Jet lag isn't a problem for me, as we've been here since Monday. We are also used to traveling. And yes, this trip makes a lot of sense to me. It's a new experience that brings the team together.
SDA