Timo Meier scored twice in the third period to seal it, after goals from Damien Riat and J.J. Moser in the first three minutes of the game gave the Swiss a comfortable lead to get started.

“Timo is all-around a great player,” said Nico Hischier, Swiss forward and Meier’s Devils teammate. “Not just the goals he scored. Also, the forecheck he did [sic] and the backcheck. He was very present in this game. He’s all-in for the team.”

While official ice-time is not tracked in boxscore, expect captain Roman Josi to play a lot in this afternoon’s game.

If nothing else, handing the French a bagel with a blueline that consists of just three NHLers generates some momentum before the toughest task of their tournament.

Genoni & Schmid

Similar in calibre to the Czechs, there’s some terrific NHL talent on this team. You can add Kevin Fiala, Nino Niederreiter, and Pius Suter to the list of names already mentioned above.

Like Czechia, Switzerland will need elite goaltending, and it’s worth giving netminder Leonardo Genoni some respect. During Switzerland’s run to the final at the 2025 World Championships, and eventual silver medal, Genoni won the Most Valuable Player award.

That’s back-to-back silver medal showings for Switzerland at the Worlds. Last year, Genoni (who plays with EV Zug) put together a dominant 5-0-2 record, with a 0.99 goals-against average, .953 save percentage, and four shutouts in seven games.

“He has shown it for decades now on an international level,” said Moser post-game.

Despite an unimpressive eighth-place finish at the last Olympics in Beijing, the veteran Genoni put up huge numbers again with a .961 save percentage in his appearances. The pedigree of a two-time Spengler Cup and three-time World Championship silver medallist will be tested.

“Confident and very sure that he does not get the credit that he deserves just because he never played in the NHL. But on the international level, he has been one of the best goalies over the last decade, for sure, and he showed that today,” said Moser.

If they elect to rest Genoni, they can throw Akira Schmid of the Vegas Golden Knights to the wolves. It’s been a rollercoaster season for Schmid, who’s acted as the mainstay between injuries to one-time Canada hopeful Adin Hill and Carter Hart.

Schmid in 29 appearances with VGK this year: 16-6-6, 2.53 goals against average, and .895 save percentage.

‘We don’t have to be scared’

Switzerland knew the task at hand when the country drew a group with the gold medal favourite Canada.

They are looking for similar luck to 2006 in the group stage. The Swiss upset Canada 2-0 on the backs of a fabulous 49-save performance from Martin Gerber, and two goals from Paul DiPietro.

Can that magic repeat itself 20 years on?

“We know what we can do,” Nino Niederreiter told reporters before the tournament began on Sunday.

Niederreiter has been a consistent fixture for his nation, but arguably his shining moment was in the 2010 World Juniors, where the Swiss upset Russia in the quarterfinals, before an eventual loss in the semi-finals and bronze games. He had ten points in that tournament.

Its experience like this – he was a flag bearer for his country too – that Swiss fans hope can slow Canada down.

“We want to poke the bear. We know Canada is going to be the heavy favorites, but we know we don’t have to be scared of being out there,” he said.

Hischier agrees.

“I feel like we just have to go out there and try our best, compete and believe…believe that we’re a good team,” said Hischier. “I know everybody is excited for it. I trust these guys completely in the locker room. We’ve got a great group of guys and we know what to do. It’s just about trying to perform.”

Canada’s done alright since that upset loss in 2006. They’ve won 14 of their last 16 best-on-best games. Czechia’s own Tomas Hertl may have summed up Canada best after the 5-0 drubbing they suffered.

“They probably have the most talent in the tournament, some of the best players in the world,” said Hertl.

International history

Olympics:

2022 Beijing: 8th
2018 PyeongChang: 10th
2014 Sochi: 9th
2010 Vancouver: 8th
2006 Turin: 6th
2002 Salt Lake City: 11th
1998 Nagano: Did not participate

World Championships:

2025: Silver
2024: Silver
2023: 5th
2022: 5th
2021: 6th

Projected line combinations

Switzerland

Kevin Fiala-Nico Hischier-Calvin Thurkauf

Sven Andrighetto-Denis Malgin-Nino Niederreiter

Philipp Kurashev-Pius Suter-Timo Meier

Damien Riat-Ken Jager-Christoph Bertschy

Roman Josi-Andrea Glauser

Jonas Siegenthaler-Dean Kukan

J.J. Moser-Michael Fora

Christian Marti-Sandro Schmid

*Leonardo Genoni

Akira Schmid

Reto Berra

*No starting goalie has been announced at the time of writing.

Notes:

Andrighetto played 216 NHL games with Montreal and Colorado before jumping to the KHL after the 2018-19 season. This is his sixth season playing for Zurich SC, and he’s produced 35 points in 35 games.
Projected linemate Denis Malgin is on the Zurich Lions as well. Together, they’ve won back-to-back league championships. Former Jack Adams award winner Marc Crawford was coaching that team until December 30, before stepping away due to health reasons.
Calvin Thurkauf was a seventh-round pick by Columbus in 2016, but only played three NHL games.
Genoni’s shutout makes him the oldest player (38) to record an Olympic shutout with NHL player participation. That beat USA’s Mike Richter record (35), who blanked Germany at the 2002 games.
Timo Meier became the first active NHL player to record a multi-goal game for Switzerland at the Olympics.
Philipp Kurashev is only a year and a half removed from a 54-point NHL season in 2023-24 with the Chicago Blackhawks. He has 17 points with the San Jose Sharks currently.
Switzerland vs France was more physical than most expected. Does that carryover? SUI went 1/5 on the power play and 4/4 on the penalty kill.

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and has been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, he also collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues.

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