Switzerland men's national ice hockey team

Switzerland
Nickname(s) Eisgenossen
Association Schweizerischer Eishockeyverband/Ligue suisse d'hockey sur glace
General Manager Peter Lüthi
Head coach Sean Simpson
Assistants Manuele Celio
John Fust
Captain Mathias Seger
Most games Ivo Ruthemann (233)
Top scorer Jörg Eberle (79)
Most points Jörg Eberle (142)
IIHF code SUI
IIHF ranking 7
Highest IIHF ranking 7 (first in 2008)
Lowest IIHF ranking 9 (first in 2003)
Team colours               
Home colours
Away colours
First international
 Great Britain 3 - 0 Switzerland 
(Chamonix, France; January 23, 1909)
Biggest win
 Switzerland 23 - 0 Yugoslavia 
(Zurich, Switzerland; February 4, 1939)
Biggest defeat
 Canada 33 - 0 Switzerland 
(Chamonix, France; January 30, 1924)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances 60 (first in 1930)
Best result (1935)
European Championships
Appearances 8 (first in 1910)
Best result (1926)
Olympics
Appearances 14 (first in 1920)
Medals (1928, 1948)
International record (W–L–T)
499-604-117
Olympic medal record
Olympic Games
Bronze 1928 St. Moritz Team
Bronze 1948 St. Moritz Team
World Championships medal record
World Championship
Bronze 1930 Austria/France/Germany Swiss
Silver 1935 Switzerland Swiss
Bronze 1937 Great Britain Swiss
Bronze 1939 Switzerland Swiss
Bronze 1950 Great Britain Swiss
Bronze 1951 France Swiss
Bronze 1953 Switzerland Swiss

The Swiss men's national ice hockey team is a founding member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and is controlled by the Schweizerischer Eishockeyverband. As of 2010 the Swiss team was ranked 7th in the world by the IIHF. Switzerland has not won a medal at a major senior ice hockey tournament since a bronze medal at the 1953 World Championships, but they came close in 1998, finishing in 4th place at the World Championships.

The Swiss national hockey team scored two historic upsets at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, defeating the Czech Republic 3-2 and shutting out Canada 2-0 two days later. They finally fell to Sweden in the quarterfinals. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the Swiss nearly stunned Canada again in round-robin play, taking the heavily favored Canadians to a shootout, which they lost 1-0 for a narrow 3-2 loss.

Switzerland has a total of 26,989 registered players (0.35% of its population). Their coach is Sean Simpson.

Contents

Swiss Men's U20 Team

Switzerland made their U20 debut in 1977 at the A Pool championships held in Montreal. Their first game was an 18-1 loss to the Soviet Union. Switzerland was relegated to the B Pool, but were promoted back to Pool A after posting a 4-0 record with wins over Holland, Denmark, Italy, and France. This began a consistent cycle of relegation and promotion, and Switzerland did not win their first A Pool game until 1991 when they defeated Norway 2-1 to avoid relegation.

Switzerland's presence in the A Pool became more consistent after the IIHF changed its format to include a medal round after the round-robin in 1995. The new format allowed 2 new teams to join Pool A, which were Slovakia and Switzerland. In 1998, the Swiss won their first-ever quarter-final game over Sweden in a shootout, thanks to stellar play from goaltender David Aebischer. The team lost 2-1 to Finland in the semi-finals but rebounded to win the bronze medal with a 4-3 win over the Czech-Republic. In 2002, Switzerland upset Slovakia in a shootout in the quarter-finals on the back of great play from goaltender Tobias Stephan. Switzerland lost to Canada in the semi-finals, and faced Finland in the bronze medal match. The Swiss were optimistic, having recorded a 3-0 win over Finland in their opening game of tournament, but they lost the match 5-1 for a 4th place finish.

Switzerland was relegated in 2008 along with Denmark. Switzerland hosted the 2009 Div I tournament and were promoted back to Pool A.

In the 2010 tournament Switzerland earned a spot in the quarter-finals against a heavily favored Russia. The Swiss pulled off a major upset by beating the Russians 3-2 in overtime. Nino Niederreiter scored twice in the game, including the OT winner. Switzerland lost 6-1 in the semi-finals to Canada and then 11-4 to Sweden in the bronze medal match for a 4th place finish, their highest since the 2002 tournament. The lopsided score was the highest margin of victory in a medal game since the new format took place in 1995. In an interesting twist, Switzerland was originally to host the 2010 tournament, but withdrew their application due to fear of being relegated based on their poor performance in recent tournaments. The host city was rumored to be Bern or Lugano.

It has been rumored that Switzerland is considering applying to host the 2014 World Junior Hockey Championships.

2011 WJC roster

Roster for the 2011 World Junior Championships:

Pos. No. Player Team
GK 1 Benjamin Conz SCL Tigers
GK 20 Remo Giovannini HC Davos
D 5 Romain Löffel HC Fribourg-Gottéron
D 6 Nicholas Steiner Kloten Flyers
D 7 Luca Camperchioli ZSC Lions
D 8 Dominik Schlumpf Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
D 17 Dario Trutmann Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
D 28 Samuel Guerra HC Davos
D 32 Ramón Untersander HC Davos
F 9 Reto Schäppi - A ZSC Lions
F 10 Tristan Scherwey - A SC Bern
F 11 Gaëtan Haas EHC Biel
F 13 Gregory Hofmann HC Ambrì-Piotta
F 15 Sven Bärtschi Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
F 16 Inti Pestoni HC Ambri-Piotta
F 19 Ryan McGregor GCK Lions (Elite Jr. A)
F 21 Renato Engler HC Davos (Elite Jr. A)
F 22 Nino Niederreiter - C Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
F 23 Benjamin Antonietti Genève-Servette HC
F 24 Samuel Walser Kloten Flyers
F 26 Joël Vermin SC Bern
F 27 Yannick Herren Kloten Flyers

2010 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships roster

# Pos. Player Team
26 GK Martin Gerber Atlant Moscow Oblast
52 GK Tobias Stephan HC Geneve-Servette
79 GK Daniel Manzato Rapperswil-Jona Lakers
3 D Julien Vauclair HC Lugano
4 D Patrick Geering ZSC Lions
6 D Timo Helbling HC Lugano
13 D Félicien Du Bois Kloten Flyers
31 D Mathias Seger ZSC Lions
33 D Steve Hirschi HC Lugano
42 D René Back HC Davos
57 D Goran Bezina HC Geneve-Servette
90 D Roman Josi SC Bern
9 F Paul Savary HC Geneve-Servette
10 F Andres Ambühl ZSC Lions Zurich
18 F Thomas Deruns HC Geneve-Servette
20 F Morris Trachsler HC Geneve-Servette
21 F Nino Niederreiter Portland Winterhawks
25 F Thibaut Monnet ZSC Lions
28 F Martin Plüss SC Bern
30 F Marcel Jenni Kloten Flyers
32 F Ivo Rüthemann SC Bern
37 F Björn Christen EV Zug
46 F Paolo Duca Ambri-Piotta
67 F Romano Lemm HC Lugano
88 F Kevin Romy HC Lugano
96 F Damien Brunner EV Zug

2010 Olympic roster

Pos. Player Team
GK Martin Gerber Atlant Moscow Oblast
GK Jonas Hiller Anaheim Ducks
GK Tobias Stephan HC Geneve-Servette
D Goran Bezina HC Geneve-Servette
D Severin Blindenbacher Färjestads BK
D Rafael Diaz EV Zug
D Roman Josi SC Bern
D Luca Sbisa Anaheim Ducks
D Mathias Seger ZSC Lions
D Mark Streit - C New York Islanders
D Yannick Weber Hamilton Bulldogs
F Andres Ambühl Hartford Wolf Pack
F Thomas Deruns HC Geneve-Servette
F Hnat Domenichelli HC Lugano
F Sandy Jeannin HC Fribourg-Gotteron
F Thibaut Monnet ZSC Lions
F Thierry Paterlini Rapperswil-Jona Lakers
F Martin Plüss SC Bern
F Kevin Romy HC Lugano
F Ivo Rüthemann SC Bern
F Raffaele Sannitz HC Lugano
F Julien Sprunger HC Fribourg-Gotteron
F Roman Wick Kloten Flyers

Olympic record

European Championship record

World Championship record

External links