| 10 February 2010
Alright, Hexy. Let's do this. Team Switzerland Preview Go Time.
EINS...ZWEI...DREI...
Switzerland, a sovereign state located in Western Europe is a landlocked country whose territory is divided between the Alps and the Jura Mountain range. Its population of 7.7 million people are most centrally located in the cities of Zurich and Geneva, and enjoy high rankings in both quality of life and gross domestic product. In the winter of 2010, this nation, whose motto is Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno, has chosen to send a delegation of hockey players to the Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. This preview will rationally evaluate the pros and cons of the team and hope to ascertain an-
Sanka Coffie: Ah, will you shut up about the damn Swiss!
Hextall454: It is coming off a bit stiff, isn't it?
Sanka: It was all that eins zwei drei nonsense that got you all nervous in the first place.
Hextall454: I was just trying to get this Olympic Hockey Blog preview off on the right foot.
Sanka: Well the right foot for you is not the Swiss foot. You can't be copying anyone else's style. You have your own style.
Hextall454: While kissing an egg is no kind of style, let's try this again after the jump.
Hey people say you know you can't believe
Switzerland has a hockey team.
They've gotta a one Mark Streit and a one Hiller,
Gerber Baby and Sbisa
The fastest of the fast of Swiss hockey players
Go to compete for Switzerland.
Despite only having a minimal influx of NHL-level talent on their roster, the Swiss come into these Olympic Games ranked 7th in the IIHF, just ahead of the likes Belarus, Latvia, and Slovakia. What allows them to be considered the best of the pretenders? Two things, really.
First, they have a well defined national hockey league system, which three different tiers of play dominating the nation's sports pages throughout the winter. National League A has 12 teams, and like many European leagues, only a handful have the resources to compete for the title on an annual basis. HC Davos has won four of the last five years, and currenly dress former Chicago Blackhawk Reto Von Arx. According to the team website, he gets 8 out of 10 stars in Geschwindigkeit. I couldn't agree more.
Second, a refusal to consume cheese product that lacks a abundance of holes. Does wonders for the endurance.
Despite Davos being a club-level powerhouse, they failed to land a single roster spot on the Swiss National Team. 16 other players from the domestic league did, however, and they include players with ties to the NHL. Forward Roman Wick is property of the Senators, but despite numerous training camp tryouts has yet to make the club. Defenseman Roman Josi is playing for SC Bern despite being an '08 1st round pick of Nashville, and Hnat Domenichelli not only played for Flames, Thrashers, and Wild, but was a draft pick of the Hartford Whalers. This makes him awesome both in name and origin.
Apropros of nothing, defenseman Severin Blindenbacher.
But Swiss games will not be won and lost by the likes of these men. Nay, they will be won and lost because of the talent they have currently toiling in the National Hockey League (and its minor league affiliates.) Starting in goal will be Anaheim's Jonas Hiller, a man in which the Ducks have so much confidence that they recently willingly made Vesa Toskala his back-up. And anchoring the blueline will be Mark Streit, the Islanders' lone Olympian. Streit's hobbies include making pocketknives, being on time, and laughing all the way to the bank ($4.1 mil a year, Garth? Really?)
In the minors, the Swiss have a few more players who prefer eating at Americatown over more damn chocolate. Luca Sbisa, part of the Pronger deal, is with the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. Yannick Weber has posted strong numbers in Hamilton, but has yet to catch on in Montreal. Andres Ambühl is filling out the roster for the Hartford Wolfpack. But then again, so is the ancient Mathieu Dandenault, so that gives you an idea of the skill level of the players on which Swizterland will so heavily rely.
Predictions? You want Predictions? I'll give you predictions.
1. Switzerland beats Norway 3-1
2. Switzerland ties USA 2-2
3. Switzerland loses to Canada 3-1
4.Total record: 1-1-1 with 6 GF, 6 GA
5. All 20 players to see ice time will have a plus/minus of 0.
6. They will have the most precise line changes in the entire tournament.
7. Cool Runnings jokes in every Swiss OHB recap post.
Peace be the journey.
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