The Swiss national ice hockey team wants to celebrate its first home win of the Euro Hockey Tour in Fribourg. First opponent on Thursday at 7.45 pm is Sweden.
The Swiss have a record of 7-23 wins in their first ten tournaments on the Euro Hockey Tour. All eight games against Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic were lost in front of a home crowd, three times in overtime and once on penalties. This time there is great confidence that things will turn out differently.
National coach Patrick Fischer has called up eleven players who were in action at the World Championships in Prague and Ostrava in May when they won the silver medal. Tristan Scherwey and Gaëtan Haas are missing due to concussions, Romain Loeffel due to a personal matter. Defenseman Dominik Egli, who has been with Frölunda Göteborg in Sweden since this season and plays a top role there, will also be present.
Good situation with the goalies
In goal, Fischer is counting on 24-year-old Stéphane Charlin and Ludovic Waeber, who is four years older. Charlin, who plays for the SCL Tigers, currently has the best save percentage of all goalies in the National League who have played at least one full game, at 95.21 percent. Waeber, who returned from North America, is an important piece of the puzzle for EHC Kloten, which is currently 5th in the standings. While Leonardo Genoni was injured for a long time and has only played three times this season, the 37-year-old Reto Berra was not considered for the home tournament in his club's arena despite solid performances.
"We currently have a good situation with the goalkeepers, much rosier than two or three years ago," says Fischer, who emphasizes that the door is still open for Berra. Lars Weibel, Director of Sport at Swiss Ice Hockey, adds: "We know what he can do. It is important to build up successors by continuously giving as many youngsters as possible the chance to gain experience at this top level." This is the strategy of those responsible with regard to the 2026 home World Championship. 21-year-old Attilio Biasca is in the squad, as he was at the Karjala Cup in November.
But it is also the case that Fischer is always considerate of the clubs when it comes to nominations and assignments. The ZSC Lions and Genève-Servette will play the second legs of the quarter-finals in the Champions Hockey League next Tuesday. Davos and Fribourg-Gottéron will take part in the Spengler Cup at the end of the year. Weibel says: "There are no guidelines, we can select if we feel it's right, but we are aware that it only works together, that the players' energy has to be taken into account because a season is very long."
World Championship silver brings calm
Fischer and Co. will benefit from the successful World Championships. "The medal has brought calm to our environment. We can now concentrate on the important things," says Fischer. "At the same time, it motivates us even more. We now want to learn to win more games during the year. Good results are extremely important."
At the first tournament of the Euro Hockey Tour this season, they at least managed one win, and that was against Sweden (4:3 n.p.). They had previously suffered 16 consecutive defeats against the Scandinavians. Against tournament winners Finland, the Swiss gave up a 2-0 lead in the final period and lost in overtime. Not much came together against the Czech Republic (2:5), also because four key players - Sven Andrighetto, Denis Malgin, Dean Kukan and Christian Marti - returned home early for the Champions Hockey League.
Now there should finally be some success stories at a home tournament of the Euro Hockey Tour. After the opening game against Sweden on Thursday, the Swiss will face world champions the Czech Republic on Saturday (18:00), followed by Finland on Sunday (15:30). "The team has the potential to win all three games," Fischer is convinced.
