Switzerland will face Canada in the fifth group match of the World Cup in Finland on Saturday. This is the first duel since the dramatic quarter-finals that took place three years ago.
After 4 out of 7 group games, Switzerland is participating in the Ice Hockey World Championships in Helsinki. Whether with the handbrake in the opening win against Italy, in gala mode against Denmark or with a lot of struggle in the 5:3 win over Slovakia: Patrick Fischer’s team has always found a way out and has already scored 12 points in 4 games. standing with. Almost certainly in the quarter finals.
How good the current Swiss selection really is will be shown for the first time on Saturday. At 3:20 p.m., the team competes against favorite Canada. Like Switzerland, the “Maple Leaves” are the ones with the most points; like the Fischer team, the world champions still have room to improve after the first week of the World Cup. It took a long time to beat Kazakhstan in vain on Thursday before the North Americans claimed a 6-3 victory.
legend:
Does Switzerland also celebrate against Canada?
Nico Hisier and Timo Meier.
Imago Images / Action Images
bad memories of 2019
The memories of the last encounter with the Canadians inevitably come to mind, before the duel with the 27-time world champion. Switzerland missed a much-quoted 0.4 second to reach the semi-final against Canada in Slovakia in 2019. After Leonardo Genoni conceded the equalizer just before the siren, Mark Stone shoots the Swiss to their destruction.
Three years later, the national team finally has a chance for revenge. However, although the opponents have the same name, Switzerland face a practically completely different team on Saturday.
Only three players from that time are still on the team, with Thomas Chabot, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Damon Severson. The latter is nonetheless very familiar to at least two Swiss peoples. Like Nico Hisier and Jonas Siegenthaler, Severson has a contract with the New Jersey Devils in the NHL.
If the Swiss want to retaliate late, they will also have to keep an eye on Dubois. The Winnipeg Jets forward has the same number of goals and two assists after four games. In the top scorers list, he currently has only two famous Switzerland players before him: Czech Lakers forward Roman Cervenka (2T/7A) and Denis Malgin (4/4) of Switzerland.
