The Ice Hockey World Championship ended with a setback for Switzerland. After a 0:2 defeat in the final against the Czech Republic, they still managed to take silver. And yet there was one big winner: coach Patrick Fischer.
Once again there was no World Cup gold, and once again the Swiss were only the first to congratulate. Switzerland lost the World Cup final on Sunday evening against the hosts by a very narrow margin. NHL star David Pasternak scored the game-changing goal in the 50th minute in the evenly matched, controversial match. It was the 30th shot that flew at the goal of the once again flawless Leonardo Genoni. The final decision was only made 19 seconds before the end in the empty Swiss goal.
As in 2013 in Stockholm and 2018 in Copenhagen, the Swiss ice hockey players are once again left with only silver. But as bitter as this verdict is, Swiss ice hockey performed brilliantly in the Czech Republic like never before. When Patrick Fischer was introduced as the successor to the unpopular and unlucky Canadian Glen Hanlon as national ice hockey coach in November 2015, he surprised observers by saying that he wanted to become world champions with the Swiss. People in Switzerland were not used to such bold tones. The mood was shaped by the years of constant ups and downs, in which modesty and restraint dictated the appearance and tone of conversation.
Simon Schenk, who was responsible for the team for a total of seven years in two terms between 1985 and 1997, used to warn the nation about the tasks ahead by saying: “They’re not made of rubber.” There was an almost submissive respect.
It was only under Ralph Krueger that the Swiss began to appear more confident. Under the German-Canadian, the national team reached the last four in the first World Cup tournament in 1998 in Zurich and Basel. But this result was due less to a leap in performance than to the unusual conditions. A last-minute win against France was enough to advance to the decisive phase of the tournament. There, the Swiss first defeated Russia and then held the Slovakians to a celebrated draw.
Fourth place was a positive outlier that even Krueger could never confirm in his 13 years at the helm of the team. But that phase triggered a development from which all of his successors benefited. Patrick Fischer was a young player in Krueger’s team at the time who was relaxed about his ambitions. He always aimed for the best. As a slightly ridiculed outsider, the Zug native made it to the NHL with the Phoenix Coyotes and even convinced the great Wayne Gretzky with his winning style.
Fischer’s appointment was accompanied by skepticism
Fischer’s appointment as national coach nine years ago was accompanied by major reservations. This was also due to the association’s unfortunate nomination process, which first publicly advertised Kevin Schläpfer and only then switched to Fischer when EHC Biel refused to release the preferred candidate.
Fischer has accepted that he will have to overcome resistance. But never before has it been as fierce as before this World Cup in Prague. After the quarter-final disappointments at the last World Cup tournaments and a series of 13 friendly defeats in a row, doubts grew about his ability to take this team further. He himself once said: “If the team under me doesn’t manage to take the next step, then someone else has to try.”
For a long time, he lived off the silver medal at the 2018 World Cup in Copenhagen and, not least, from the self-confidence with which he stuck to his course despite all the criticism. Although he changed the tone of his statements, he did not deviate from his goal of leading Switzerland to the world championship title.
The association reacted countercyclically to the emerging doubts and extended his contract in February until after the 2026 World Cup in Zurich and Freiburg. The NZZ also expressed its reservations about the move and headlined: “A contract extension at the wrong time.” The “Blick” newspaper raised the question: “Is national team coach Fischer becoming a lame duck?”
Fischer was at least outwardly unaffected by the criticism. In an interview with the NZZ before the start of the World Cup, he said: “I know my qualities and I trust in them. In my career as a player, I have achieved most of the goals I have striven for. That is also my aim as a coach.” One of Fischer’s greatest qualities is that he does not take himself, or what is said and written about him, too seriously.
Now Patrick Fischer has won his second medal at his ninth World Championship and after two Olympic tournaments. Like six years ago in Copenhagen, it is a silver medal. That is not an outstanding result, especially considering the improved prospects. Fischer benefited from the fact that he has a new, strong generation at his disposal with outstanding individualists such as Nashville’s Roman Josi, New Jersey’s Nico Hischier and Los Angeles’ Kevin Fiala. His numerous predecessors could only dream of such players.
Fischer has not reinvented ice hockey. He is not a tactical genius who can see things that others cannot. And he has not even made outstanding contributions to promoting young talent. But he is an excellent communicator who is well received by the public. And his greatest achievement is probably that he has implemented a way of thinking in and around the national team that allows them to think of big things and also say them. In doing so, he has created an atmosphere in the national team in which the players enjoy competing.
Proud of the team and also a little of yourself
When Fischer appeared before the media after the penalty shootout victory in the semi-final against Canada, he said how proud and grateful he was to be the coach of this team. “And I would say the same if we had lost this game.” The Swiss did not lose it, but they did lose the game on Sunday evening for World Cup gold. It is a bitter disappointment after the euphoria that has spread in Prague and Switzerland in recent days.
But a silver medal is still a success for Swiss ice hockey, even if it is the third in the past eleven years and gold seems long overdue. Internationally, not only the Czechs, but also the Canadians, the Swedes, the Americans and the Finns are still significantly more well positioned than the Swiss.
No one will be more hurt by Sunday’s defeat against the Czech Republic than Fischer. Nevertheless, he confirmed that his mantra of being on the right path was more than just a euphemistic slogan of perseverance. At the World Cup in Prague, he earned the right to continue his work with the national team until the World Cup at home in two years. No matter how long the losing streak will be next winter without NHL players.