Swiss European Hockey Tour Preview

The Swiss national ice hockey team hopes to celebrate its first home win on the European Hockey Tour in Freiburg. The first opponent is Sweden at 7:45 pm on Thursday.

The Swiss won their first ten games on the European Hockey Tour in 7 minutes and 23 seconds. All eight games against Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic were lost in front of home fans, three of which were overtime and one on penalties. This time, there is confidence that things will be different.

National team coach Patrick Fisher has called up 11 players for May's World Cup silver medal match in Prague and Ostrava. Tristan Scherwey and Gaëtan Haas are missing due to concussion, and Romain Loeffel is missing due to personal matters. There is also defender Dominik Egli, who has been playing for Frölunda Göteborg in Sweden since this season and plays a top role there.

Goalkeeper in good condition

In goalkeeping, Fischer relies on 24-year-old Stéphane Charlin and Ludovic Waeber, who is four years older than him. Challin, who plays for the SCL Tigers, currently has the highest defensive rating of 95.21% among all goalkeepers in the National League who have played at least one game. Weber, who returned from North America, is an important puzzle piece for the rise of fifth-ranked EHC Kloten. While Leonardo Genoni has suffered a long-term injury and has made just three appearances this season, 37-year-old Reto Vela has not been considered for the club's home fixtures despite his performances.

Goalkeeper Reto Berra is not in the current lineup.Image: trapezoid

“We're in a good goaltending situation right now, much more optimistic than we were two or three years ago,” said Fisher, who stressed that Vela's door remains open. Swiss Hockey Director of Sport Lars Weibel added: “We know what he can do. It is very important to develop the successor by providing as many boys as possible with the opportunity to continue to gain top-level experience.” This is the man in charge of the 2026 Home World Cup personnel strategy. 21-year-old Attilio Biasca is also in the squad, as he was for the Karjala Cup in November.

But Fisher also always takes the club into consideration when making nominations and bets. ZSC Lions and Genève-Servette will face off in the second leg of the Champions Hockey League quarterfinals next Tuesday. Davos and Friborg-Gautron will take part in the Spengler Cup at the end of the year. “There are no guidelines, we can choose if we think it's right, but we know it can only work together and the energy of the players has to be taken into account because a season is long,” Weibel said.

World Cup silver medal brings calm

Fisher and company will deliver a successful World Cup. “This medal brings calm to our environment. We can now focus on what's important,” Fisher said. “At the same time, it also motivates us more. We now hope to learn to win more games during the year. Good results are very important.”

At least a win came in the first game of the European Hockey Tour this season, against Sweden (4:3 nP). They had suffered 16 consecutive defeats against Scandinavian teams. Facing tournament champion Finland, the Swiss gave up a 2-0 lead in the final third and lost in overtime. Against the Czech Republic (2:5), there wasn’t much synergy, also because of the key four of Sven Andrigetto, Dennis Malkin, Dean Kukan and Christian Marty. Players are sent home early for the Championship Hockey League.

In November, Switzerland defeated Sweden.Picture: www.imago-images.de

It’s finally time to report on the success of the European Hockey Tour’s home games. After Thursday's first game against Sweden, Switzerland will face world champions Czech Republic on Saturday (6pm) and Finland on Sunday (3:30pm). “The team has the potential to win all three games,” Fisher was convinced. (Ritz/SDA)