Recently, the national ice hockey team has been disappointing with a record-breaking series of defeats. Before the World Cup in Prague, national coach Patrick Fischer said that he and his team were still on the right track.
Says he likes to be the favorite: Patrick Fischer, the coach of the Swiss national ice hockey team.
Robert Hradil/Getty
Patrick Fischer, you and your team suffered 13 defeats in a row in the test matches this winter. The black streak ended in the last two weeks, but your team didn’t really find its footing until the end. How do you explain that?
We work through all the games and draw our conclusions from them in order to develop further and grow as a team. At this point in time, as preparations for the World Cup are in their final phase, these defeats are no longer of great relevance. There are explanations for them, but these games are a thing of the past. We are concentrating on what lies ahead and what we can influence, and that is the World Cup preparation and the World Cup.
If you say that this series of defeats no longer interests you at the moment. Then why not let these games be the same?
That’s not what it is about. Logically, I don’t like losing 13 times in a row either. Ultimately, it’s about drawing the right conclusions from all these defeats and learning from them, especially those against the best nations. But you’re right: we weren’t where we’d like to be in these games against the best. Nevertheless, they helped us a lot in our development process last year and have helped us make further progress this year thanks to the right conclusions.
And what are the main takeaways from these games?
Our goal is not only to defend, but also to create something on offense. At the World Cup we are playing a different type of ice hockey, one that is offensive and focused on possession. We basically dominated the games against the Czechs, the Slovaks and the Canadians at the last World Cup. The bottom line is always the same: We show our best ice hockey when we run a lot and play fast. We have to keep working on that.
In parallel to the discussions about the defeats, there were also discussions about extending your contract this season. From the outside you sometimes got the impression that all the discussions had annoyed you a bit.
Annoyed is the wrong word. The discussions began in December, and ultimately I was happy when they were completed in February and the focus was exclusively on sport again. Whether you have a contract or not, a lot changes quickly in sports. If we are not successful at the World Cup, the media discussions about me will begin again. I completely feel the trust from the management, but also from the players.
A year ago you said in an interview with the NZZ that at some point the team under you would have to take the next step. Otherwise she would have to try under another trainer. Shortly before the start of the World Cup next Friday, what gives you the certainty that you are still the right coach to take this step and win medals?
I know my qualities and trust in them. In my playing career I have achieved most of the goals I strived for. This is also my goal as a coach. We are on the right track, but we have not yet managed to play our game even when we are the focus, the pressure is very high and everyone is watching us. This is also the most difficult hurdle in sports. Development is progressing gradually and in the right direction, and we now compete on an equal footing with the world‘s best. That wasn’t the case four years ago.
You may be favorite to lose the quarterfinals today, but you still lose them.
We must not forget where we come from and where we are in the world rankings. We have never been favorites in the quarterfinals in our history. Either we didn’t achieve this at all, or if we did, then we were the underdog. Going into a match as favorite makes a huge difference. All eyes are on you and you have something to lose. And we haven’t been able to deal with that yet. But honestly: What’s better, being in this role or being the outsider again? I say clearly: I like to be the favorite. Dealing with this role and showing performance even when under pressure is what separates real champions from supposed ones.
At some point you just have to win this quarterfinal.
Look at the statistics: Switzerland has only made it past the quarterfinals three times in the last thirty tournaments. The way we play naturally creates higher expectations. The Swedes have also not made it past the quarter-finals since 2018 and once even failed to reach them. So again, we are world number 7. There are six teams ahead of us that are currently better than us. Therefore we cannot simply claim to win a medal.
They have fielded 45 players during the current friendly season. Not all of them are real World Cup candidates. Without NHL players the level drops significantly. How wide is the base in Swiss ice hockey actually?
I don’t think 45 players are that much, considering that a team needs 25. We have a core that we know we can rely on at the World Cup. But there are always players who present themselves very well and surpass themselves. The 28 and 29 year olds are now in the lead. We will build the team around them. At the same time, our goal is to broaden the basis for the future and thus strengthen both the breadth and the top.
In principle, you should now win the medal or title. Russia is banned because of the war, and there are unusually large gaps in the squads of Canada and the USA. How important is the World Cup still?
Although everyone wishes that the best players would once again take part in a major event, which has never been the case since 2014, these tournaments are always very well attended. Even if the Canadians or Americans don’t bring in their top guys, they still have 25 NHL players on the roster. In comparison, we usually have five or six NHL players in the squad.
So far it is known that NHL players Nico Hischier, Jonas Siegenthaler, Akira Schmid and Philipp Kurashev will be at the World Cup. Roman Josi and Nino Niederreiter are likely to join the team. How many players from the NHL do you expect to play in Prague?
Lars Weibel (the sports director) and I visited our candidates overseas. Everyone is extremely motivated and, as always, wants to be there as long as they are in good health and their contractual situation has been sorted out. Kevin Fiala will become a father this spring. Let’s see how soon the child comes. We have received positive signals from Roman Josi that he will be at the World Cup.
Two years ago, when the National League increased the number of foreigners from four to six, you were, so to speak, ex officio one of the harshest critics of this measure. Based on the experience of the first two years, do you think there are any positive effects from this measure?
The main argument for the increase was the costs, which should decrease. Others will have to judge whether that is really the case. The fact that the sporting standard in the league has increased cannot be explained away. Teams with fewer financial resources in particular benefited from the increase. But I also see foreigners in the league who are definitely no better than the Swiss and are taking places away from them. The young talents here certainly suffer from this increase.
The atmosphere between the association and the league has been extremely bad in recent years. To what extent has your work suffered as a result?
I try to concentrate on what my job is. My contacts in the league are the coaches, Lars (Weibel, the sports director) mainly communicates with the GM.
But there is obviously a lack of a league at the interface between young talent and elite sport, from which the league and the national team could benefit.
In my opinion, there is a lack of well-trained coaches. In Sweden, for example, the youth teams already have five coaches on the ice in every training session. We have to find solutions and platforms together to advance Swiss ice hockey as a whole.
During the contract negotiations, did you never actually think about whether you would like to return to a club again? You are still a relatively young coach.
Of course there are occasional requests. But I always answer the same: moving away from the national team back to a club is not an issue for me at the moment. I’m full of energy and looking forward to the upcoming World Cup.