Switzerland men's national ice hockey team

Switzerland
Nickname(s) Eisgenossen
Association Swiss Ice Hockey Federation/Ligue suisse d'hockey sur glace
General Manager Raeto Raffainer
Head coach Glen Hanlon
Assistants John Fust
Thierry Paterlini
Captain Mark Streit
Most games Ivo Rüthemann (233)
Top scorer Jörg Eberle (79)
Most points Jörg Eberle (142)
IIHF code SUI
IIHF ranking 7 Steady
Highest IIHF ranking 7 (first in 2008)
Lowest IIHF ranking 9 (first in 2003)
Team colors               
First international
 Great Britain 3–0 Switzerland  
(Chamonix, France; 23 January 1909)
Biggest win
  Switzerland 23–0 Yugoslavia 
(Zurich, Switzerland; 4 February 1939)
Biggest defeat
 Canada 33–0 Switzerland  
(Chamonix, France; 30 January 1924)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances 66 (first in 1930)
Best result (1935, 2013)
European Championships
Appearances 8 (first in 1910)
Best result (1926)
Olympics
Appearances 14 (first in 1920)
Medals (1928, 1948)
International record (W–L–T)
515–615–118
Medal record
Olympic Games
Bronze 1928 St. Moritz Team
Bronze 1948 St. Moritz Team
World Championship
Silver 1935 Switzerland Team
Silver 2013 Sweden/Finland Team
Bronze 1930 Austria/France/Germany Team
Bronze 1937 Great Britain Team
Bronze 1939 Switzerland Team
Bronze 1950 Great Britain Team
Bronze 1951 France Team
Bronze 1953 Switzerland Team

The Switzerland men's national ice hockey team is a founding member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and is controlled by the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. As of 2014 the Swiss team was ranked 7th in the world by the IIHF. From a bronze medal at the 1953 World Championships until the silver medal of 2013, Switzerland did not win a medal at a major senior ice hockey tournament, coming close in 1998, when they finished in 4th place at the World Championships.

Before the 2013 IIHF World Championship, 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.

Statistics

Overview

Olympic Games

Year Result
1920 7th place
1924 8th place
1928  Bronze
1936 12th place
1948  Bronze
1952 5th place
1956 9th place
1964 8th place
1972 10th place
1976 11th place
1988 8th place
1992 10th place
2002 11th place
2006 6th place
2010 8th place
2014 9th place
Totals
Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
16 0 0 2 2

World Championship

European Championship

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

Team

2013 World Championships roster

Skaters

Number Position Player Club
77DWeber, YannickYannick Weber Canada Vancouver Canucks
5DBlindenbacher, SeverinSeverin Blindenbacher Switzerland ZSC Lions
10FAmbuhl, AndreasAndres Ambühl Switzerland HC Davos
12FCunti, LucaLuca Cunti Switzerland ZSC Lions
16DKukan, DeanDean Kukan Sweden Luleå HF
13FFiala, KevinKevin Fiala Sweden HV71
19FSchappi, RetoReto Schappi Switzerland ZSC Lions
23FBodenmann, SimonSimon Bodenmann Switzerland Kloten Flyers
24FSuri, RetoReto Suri Switzerland EV Zug
11FPlüss, BenjaminBenjamin Plüss Switzerland Fribourg-Gotteron
31DSeger, MathiasMathias Seger Switzerland ZSC Lions
24FStancescu, VictorVictor Stancescu Switzerland Kloten Flyers
40FFroidevaux, EtienneEtienne Froidevaux Switzerland Lausanne HC
51FRomy, KevinKevin Romy Switzerland Genève-Servette
54DSchlumpf, DominikDominik Schlumpf Switzerland HC Lugano
58DBlum, EricEric Blum Switzerland Kloten Flyers
70FHollenstein, DenisDenis Hollenstein Switzerland Kloten Flyers
6DRamholt, TimTim Ramholt Switzerland EV Zug
82FMoser, SimonSimon Moser United States Milwaukee Admirals
90DJosi, RomanRoman Josi United States Nashville Predators
91DGrossmann, RobinRobin Grossmann Switzerland HC Davos
92FBartschi, SvenSven Bartschi Canada Abbotsford Heat
96FBrunner, DamienDamien Brunner United States New Jersey Devils

Goaltenders

Number Player Club
20Berra, RetoReto Berra United States Colorado Avalanche
29Mayer, RobertRobert Mayer Canada Hamilton Bulldogs
63Genoni, LeonardoLeonardo GenoniSwitzerland HC Davos

U-20 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 the Netherlands, 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.

References

    External links

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