World Cup preparations – On Tuesday, 24 players from all the finished National League clubs will be in Cham to prepare for the Ice Hockey World Championship in Riga (from 21 May). Bern captain Simon Moser is missing from the squad.
The 32-year-old Simon Moser, who has competed in seven World Championships and twice the Olympic Games with Switzerland and has played a leading role as an assistant to a captain since 2015, voluntarily decided not to appear. Moser will become a father for the second time in the coming weeks.
One of the deciding players in the National League this season, Dennis Malagin is also missing from the first line. The Swiss Association has not yet received approval for Malagin from the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. Toronto qualified for the NHL playoffs as the strongest Canadian team at the moment. Malin will be nominated as soon as it is approved by Canada.
Even without Malagin and Moser, the Swiss are already building a competitive team this week. In the first line, with which Switzerland will face Russia twice on Friday and Saturday, there are at least nine players who took part in the last World Cup two years ago: Retto Berra, Michael Fora, Lucas Fricke, Romi Loeffel, Janis Moser , Andres Ambuhl, Christoph Bertsky, Vincent Pruplan and Tristan Shirve.
The Swiss national team will be in a bubble at the Jug Training Camp (OAM) for full preparation for the World Cup. Switzerland will play their first three preliminary international matches in Bile, followed by two against Russia (on 30 April and 1 May). The last two Tests in Switzerland will take place on 7/8 before leaving for Riga. May be against France in Freiburg.
