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 Patrick Fischer
Assistants Felix Hollenstein
Reto von Arx
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)
517–617–122
Medal record
Olympic Games
1928 St. Moritz Team
1948 St. Moritz Team
World Championship
1935 Switzerland
2013 Sweden/Finland
1930 Austria/France/Germany
1937 Great Britain
1939 Switzerland
1950 Great Britain
1951 France
1953 Switzerland

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

The head coach is Patrick Fischer.

Current roster

Roster for the 2016 IIHF World Championship.[1]

Head coach: Patrick Fischer

No. Pos. Name Height Weight Birthdate Team
6 D Weber, YannickYannick Weber 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) 89 kg (196 lb) September 23, 1988 Canada Vancouver Canucks
10 F Ambühl, AndresAndres Ambühl 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) 82 kg (181 lb) September 14, 1983 Switzerland HC Davos
13 D Du Bois, FélicienFélicien Du Bois 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 84 kg (185 lb) October 18, 1983 Switzerland HC Davos
15 F Hofmann, GrégoryGrégory Hofmann 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 80 kg (180 lb) November 13, 1992 Switzerland HC Lugano
16 D Diaz, RaphaelRaphael Diaz 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) 88 kg (194 lb) January 9, 1986 United States New York Rangers
20 G Berra, RetoReto Berra 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 89 kg (196 lb) January 3, 1987 United States Colorado Avalanche
22 F Niederreiter, NinoNino Niederreiter 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 92 kg (203 lb) September 8, 1992 United States Minnesota Wild
29 G Mayer, RobertRobert Mayer 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 89 kg (196 lb) October 9, 1989 Switzerland Genève-Servette HC
43 F Trachsler, MorrisMorris Trachsler 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 90 kg (200 lb) July 15, 1984 Switzerland ZSC Lions
56 F Wieser, DinoDino Wieser 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 83 kg (183 lb) June 13, 1989 Switzerland HC Davos
70 F Hollenstein, DenisDenis Hollenstein 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 90 kg (200 lb) October 15, 1989 Switzerland Kloten Flyers
82 F Moser, SimonSimon Moser 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 95 kg (209 lb) March 10, 1989 Switzerland SC Bern
85 F Andrighetto, SvenSven Andrighetto 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 83 kg (183 lb) March 21, 1993 Canada Montreal Canadiens
92 F Haas, GaëtanGaëtan Haas 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) 80 kg (180 lb) January 31, 1992 Switzerland EHC Biel
93 F Martschini, LinoLino Martschini 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) 65 kg (143 lb) January 21, 1993 Switzerland EV Zug
94 F Walser, SamuelSamuel Walser 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 95 kg (209 lb) June 5, 1992 Switzerland HC Davos
95 F Walker, JulianJulian Walker 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 94 kg (207 lb) September 10, 1986 Switzerland HC Lugano

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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