Contents
Switzerland will once again compete with the Germans in Ostrava on Thursday. The national team lost the last important games.
It is often said that ice hockey players have to have a short memory, especially in the playoffs. What happened in the last game no longer matters. Only the next game counts.
The Swiss national team players seem to have internalized the “short memory” thing. Because in the game against Finland (3:1) they made no move to avoid a quarter-final against Germany (on Thursday at 4:20 p.m. in Ostrava). They played fully to win against the northerners, as if they really wanted to compete with the Germans again.
Co-statistics of horror against Germany
If the Swiss had studied past games too much, then they might have followed a different game plan. Because the most recent knockout games against the DEB selection all ended with a tournament out for the national team:
- World Cup 2023, quarterfinals: Switzerland – Germany 1:3
- World Cup 2021, quarterfinals: Switzerland – Germany 2:3 nP
- Olympics 2018, quarterfinal qualification: Switzerland – Germany 1:2 aet
- 2010 World Cup, quarter-finals: Switzerland – Germany 0:1
You have to leaf pretty far back in the statistics books to the last Swiss success against Germany in a knockout game at a major tournament: At the 1992 World Cup, the national team won the quarter-finals against their northern neighbors 3-1. The goalscorers at the time were Mario Brodmann, Felix Hollenstein and Roberto Triulzi. Perhaps a good omen: that game took place in Prague when Czechoslovakia was hosting the World Cup.
What was no longer counts.
Captain Roman Josi doesn’t know the feeling of a decisive defeat against Germany. The Nashville defender did not take part in the 2023 and 2021 World Cup tournaments. The NHL star expects a tight box. “It will definitely be a tough game. It’s always physical against the Germans because they are very strong. But we’re happy,” said Josi after the Finland game.
Kevin Fiala, who played against the Germans last year, once again appealed to his “short memory” and said: “We are very happy. What was is no longer important.”
DEB team a force in the power play
Germany went on a scoring spree in Group B in Ostrava and won all of their last 4 games. The DEB team scored no fewer than 34 goals in 7 games (Switzerland: 29).
The national team would do well to stay away from the penalty box in the quarter-finals. The Germans have the best power play of all teams with a success rate of over 35 percent, while Switzerland revealed weaknesses in the box play (67%).