The light figure Roman Josi cancels for the Ice Hockey World Championship for family reasons. Nevertheless, the contingent of players committed overseas is large – and allows Switzerland to once again dream and talk about a medal.
Family comes first: Roman Josi.
Shortly before the start of the World Cup on Saturday afternoon in Helsinki against Italy, national coach Patrick Fischer received a little happy news: Roman Josi, the best Swiss ice hockey player in history, canceled his participation because his partner Ellie is expecting their second child together. “The decision was not easy for me, but the timing of the World Cup is very unfavorable in my current personal situation. I don’t want to leave my heavily pregnant wife alone right now,” said the defense chief and captain of the Nashville Predators. Josi, 31, just had a season of eternity in the NHL, with 96 points in 80 games before Nashville was unable to win against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs.
With his class, Josi would have lifted the squad into another sphere, Switzerland should have been one of the favorites for the title with him. His understandable rejection changes the perspectives of the team, but the ambitions remain as high as ever. National team director Lars Weibel said at the beginning of the week that Switzerland is aiming for a medal at the World Cup, the first since silver in Copenhagen 2018.
The Kevin Fiala option
The foundation for this is there. With defensemen Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey Devils), Dean Kukan (Columbus Blue Jackets), Janis Moser (Arizona Coyotes) and Tobias Geisser (Hershey Bears / AHL) and forwards Nico Hischier (New Jersey), Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks ), Pius Suter (Detroit Red Wings) and Philipp Kuraschew (Chicago Blackhawks) eight players dedicated to North America are available. In addition, attacker Kevin Fiala, who was one defeat away from the end of the season with the Minnesota Wild, could move up this season. A year ago in Riga there were only five players; Switzerland failed in the quarter-finals in a penalty shootout against a German team of manageable quality.
Team Switzerland for the #IIHFWorlds 2022! ? ??
L’équipe de la Suisse pour les Mondiaux 2022, the squadra svizzera per i Mondiali 2022! ?Tobias Geisser and Philipp Kurashev are new, Frick and Eggenberger have to leave the team.
Thank you Lukas + Nando for everything! ? pic.twitter.com/lEJ87Rxs28— Swiss Ice Hockey (@SwissIceHockey) May 12, 2022
Geisser and Kuraschew, who has just recovered from a corona infection, joined the team on Thursday, but with striker Nando Eggenberger (Rapperswil-Jona Lakers) and defender Lukas Frick (Lausanne), two players had to give way, who had been in the preparation program for almost a month had found.
The absence of Russia
The war-related exclusion of Russia plays into the hands of the Swiss collective in Finland. Russia would have been a group opponent for Switzerland in Helsinki and were replaced by France, coached by long-time National League striker Philippe Bozon. In the other group, Austria takes the place of Belarus – with the Austrians, legendary coach Arno Del Curto is assisting Swiss head coach Roger Bader.
The road to group victory seems wide open for Switzerland, especially since the eternal favorites Canada have already provided stronger squads. In view of the weak competition, it must be a matter of form for the Swiss to advance – Fischer should be able to use the seven group games to fine-tune with a view to the big quarter-finals.