Switzerland, that plucky little country who falls outside the top-six (USA, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland and Czech Republic) of the hockey elite and the home of chocolate and army knives, is at times a Goliath slayer. Four years ago in Vancouver, the Swiss gave Canada (3-2 shootout) and the US (3-1 and 2-0 losses) all they could handle before falling to each and finishing eighth overall. In 2006, Switzerland beat Canada and the Czechs but fell to Sweden, the Gold Medal winners, in the quarterfinals. Recently, Switzerland rode strong goaltending and advanced to finals of the World Championships, but lost to Sweden and ended up with a surprising silver medal. It is that history of either posing or threatening the big upset along with a few other reasons I will note below that makes Switzerland a dark-horse candidate to make a run. Overall: Group: Switzerland gets away from the US and Canada, landing in Group C. Because of that, their main tormenters will be Sweden and the Czech Republic with Latvia in that group as well. While Sweden poses a major threat and Latvia a lesser one, the Czech Republic will play a big role in determining if the Swiss advance to the quarterfinals or head home earlier than anticipated. Chemistry: Switzerland has a mixture of local and NHL talent, with two-thirds of the lineup coming from the Swiss League. The advantage they will have over those six teams above them is the chemistry that exists with a good portion of the team having played together along with others having joined them in the World Championships. In addition, the squad are solid all-around players - ergo the army knife reference, since they are a jack-of-all trades but not exceptional at one. Blueline and Goaltending: While on paper, the Swiss rank in the middle of the pack defensively and between the pipes, I can easily see them playing above that pay grade. Jonas Hiller is having a fabulous season and should carry that forward to the Olympics. If he plays at that level, he easily could be the difference in a game or two. The defense has some recognizable names, and while Mark Streit should help the power play, Raphael Diaz has shown he can be a solid defenseman and Yannick Weber is decent, two names stand out to me. Roman Josi has shaken off his early-season doldrums and lately, has looked more like the defender everyone thought he could be in replacing Ryan Suter. Josi, who was the best d-man and tournament MVP in the 2013 World Juniors, will once again be the Swiss' best d-man while Severin Blindenbacher, a veteran of 60 games of international play, will be a steadying influence on the blue line. Roster: Forwards: Andres Ambuhl, Matthias Bieber, Simon Bodenmann, Damien Brunner, Luca Cunti, Ryan Gardner, Denis Hollenstein, Simon Moser, Nino Niederreiter, Martin Pluss, Kevin Romy, Reto Suri, Morris Trachsler and Roman Wick Wick-Cunti-Brunner (solid top line. Brunner will be counted on to score, Cunti is a good playmaker and Wick is having an excellent season in the NLA) Hellenstein-Romy-Niederreiter (all three can skate well and finish. Hellenstein and Romy will serve as facilitators and Niederreiter the finisher, but that is interchangeable) Suri-Ambuhl-Moser (each can play a two-way game and will be counted on for a strong forecheck with finishing ability. For Rangers fans looking for another team to root for, Ambuhl played 2009-10 with Hartford after signing with the Rangers as a free agent before returning to the NLA) Bonderman-Pluss-Trachsler (can contribute offensively, but will be counted on to be a shutdown fourth line and should be on the ice late to protect leads for the Swiss) Bieber and Gardner (No, not that Bieber and if the Swiss need a boost offensively, look for Gardner to be inserted in the lineup) Defensemen: Severin Blindenbacher, Rafael Diaz, Philippe Furrer, Roman Josi , Mathias Seger, Mark Streit, Julien Vauclair and Yannick Weber Josi and Furrer (I extolled Josi above while Furrer can play a physical game if need be but also skate well enough to thrive in an uptempo one) Streit and Diaz (Streit will be viewed as the leader of the team while Diaz should be fresh as to not seeing much icetime with Montreal before getting dealt to Vancouver and has international experience) Weber and Seger (Weber could see time on the power play point and will be counted on in games to go from defense to offense, as long as he doesn't make the red flag mistake in his own zone while Seger is a steady d-man with lots of international experience) Blindenbacher and Vauclair (Blindenbacher could replace Seger on the right side if necessary while Vauclair was a big reason why Switzerland made it to the World Junior finals, racking up points from the blueline) Goalies: Reto Berra, Jonas Hiller, and Tobias Stephan. (Hiller, who is the starter for Anaheim will reprise that role for the Swiss, Berra, who plays for Calgary will be the backup with Stephan the third goalie). Prediction: Switzerland will once again be a thorn in the side of the upper-echelon squads. They will finish second in the group, earning a decent position in the next round to decide the quarters, ultimately ending up in the quarter-finals. Once they get there, Hiller could steal a game, and it wouldn't shock me if he does so, but the lack of overall, top-shelf offensive talent will ultimately prove to be their undoing. But don’t be shocked if they make a long run.
Loading...
Loading...