The bitterness of Patrick Fisher. Other than champagne hockey.

Visp – Switzerland is smiling again on the road to the World Cup in Riga. But it is a bitter smile, because apart from the victory – the first for the Red Cross in the preparation phase after the last two defeats. Weekend vs Slovakia – In the hallways of the Lonza Arena that lead to the Red Cross locker room, there’s nothing else you want to save. And it certainly wasn’t sent by Patrick Fisher to say it. Is this victory good for you? Yes and no. Because I’m not happy. Not even with the situation: someone might have thought it was easy against France, and instead it wasn’t ».

Indeed, Switzerland only occasionally remembers that it is the team to beat. And the only line that manages to always make itself more or less dangerous in the presence of a strong and determined opponent is the line led by the indestructible Andres Ampol, completed by Enzo Corvi and Tyler Moy. “I think there can be no excuses: we were simply not mentally prepared. We were already looking forward to a game of champagne hockey and instead found ourselves against France who played very hard and hard. And we have to admit it, in the end we won because we were lucky.”

In short: regardless of the result, it was a big step back compared to the two games against the Slovaks a week ago, as Switzerland showed good things in terms of play. “Let me be very clear, I’m not saying that everything has to be thrown away – explains” Vichy “-. I’m very happy with the work we’ve done during the week, the team showed a lot of good things in training, but this time, nevertheless, we gave One more thing. Having said that, I’m not worried: in a few hours, in Lausanne (as he says, referring to this afternoon’s rematch against the same opponent, Ed) I’m confident we’ll be able to respond and we’ll go back to playing as We know how. In other words, with a big heart, a lot of intensity and accuracy, even in front of goal.”

Last time he called Voodooise Arena

Also because today’s challenge on the ice at the Vaudoise Arena will be the last call for many of the players who make up this group. Also because as soon as the second friendly match with the French is over, exactly twenty days before the World Cup finals in Riga and Tampere, the national team will take off and go first to Latvia and then to Sweden and the Czech Republic, to finish their preparations. . “Obviously a lot of them will be hampered a little bit by the pressure, but on the other hand this is how things work in the world of professional sports. If you have a chance to prove yourself, grab it. Of course, that is a huge challenge for everyone. There are players in this dressing room who know it will be difficult for them to go to the World Series. But if they are cut off, it will not be a refusal: many of them are young and can only grow up, even dealing with this kind of pressure, and who knows, maybe next year or the next, they will also be able to Hope to play in the world. I understand that mentally it will not always be easy, but these guys must not forget that it is a great opportunity to play for the national team.”

For those who wonder if Patrick Fischer could really hide his intentions from the players before deciding whether to cut this or that player, the Red Cross coach responds in this way. “Of course not. Also because I still don’t know who I’m going to drop after the second friendly against the French… Surely, after this first match, there are some players who lost a few points, but in Lausanne it will be another day… »

Nahl guesses: ‘I know. But I don’t say

And then there’s the Nhl question: On paper, right now the only three players who can be approved for the national team are Janis Moser (Arizona), Tim Berney (Columbus) and Pius Sutter (Detroit), even if the latter is without a contract. In light of the upcoming season, so it is not yet clear if he will accept the risk of some injuries. «I know in my head who can come and who can’t – says, bluntly, ‘Boos’ -. But these are things that will be communicated in due course. And also out of respect for the guys who are here right now. In any case, yes, next week some players will arrive from North America and from the semi-finals of our tournament: the day after tomorrow you will know ». What is certain is that half of this team will not make it to the World Cup. “Yes, absolutely,” he concludes. “Even more.”