These Zug players will be in the national team next week

Vom 12. bis 15. Dezember spielt die Schweizer Männer-Nati in Fribourg an den SWISS Ice Hockey Games. Zur gleichen Zeit ist auch das Frauen-Nationalteam an der Women’s Euro Hockey Tour in Tampere (FIN) im Einsatz.

The 27 players nominated for the Beijer Hockey Games include a goalkeeper and a striker who have never worn the jersey of the senior national team before.

Head coach Patrick Fischer has announced his squad for the third tournament of the Euro Hockey Tour 2024/2025, which will take place from February 6 to 9, 2025, and has nominated Kevin Pasche and Dario Rohrbach for the first time alongside experienced players. Luca Fazzini, who last played for the senior team in the 2021/2022 season, has also been called up again for some time.

Kevin Pasche of Lausanne HC is the goaltender who has celebrated the most shutouts (eight) and the most wins of all National League goaltenders this season and has the second-highest statistical value behind Reto Berra with 2051 minutes played. At almost 22 years of age, he is the second youngest player in the Swiss line-up after Nicolas Baechler. The 26-year-old Dario Rohrbach is the SCL Tigers’ third-highest scorer. In 41 games so far, he has scored eight goals and contributed 16 assists. Luca Fazzini, who is currently Switzerland’s top scorer in the league with 19 goals, has also attracted attention with his strong performances in the national championship.

Jan Cadieux, who was still under contract as head coach at Geneva-Servette until the end of 2024, and Luca Gianinazzi, who was head coach at Lugano until recently, will join the coaching team as assistant coaches in the upcoming move.

 

Breakout-Game in Langnau

 

The Swiss national team will meet in Kloten on Tuesday, February 4, where they will take part in several training sessions before the breakout game against Finland in Langnau two days later. On Friday, February 7, 2025, the Swiss delegation will then travel to Stockholm, where it will play the two remaining games of the Beijer Hockey Games against hosts Sweden (February 8, 2025, 4:00 p.m.) – with Zug’s Lukas Bengtsson, Gabriel Carlsson and Fredrik Olofsson – and the Czech Republic (February 9, 2025, 12:00 p.m.) at the Avicii Arena.

“It’s a great pleasure to play with the senior national team in Langnau again after more than 35 years. The enthusiasm in the Emmental is palpable, and we can hardly wait to play in front of this unique backdrop,” says Lars Weibel, Director of Sport at the SIHF, looking ahead to the breakout game. Head coach Patrick Fischer adds: “The upcoming EHT tournament will provide us with additional valuable insights that will further advance our development process on the way to the 2025 World Championship.”

A few tickets are still available for the breakout game at this link.

All of the Swiss national team’s matches will be broadcast live on SRF, RTS and RSI.

 

The line-up in detail

 

Goalies (3): Stéphane Charlin (SCL Tigers), Kevin Pasche (Lausanne HC), Ludovic Waeber (EHC Kloten)

 

Defense (9): David Aebischer (HC Lugano), Iñaki Baragano (SCRJ Lakers), Tim Berni (Genève-Servette HC), Giancarlo Chanton (Genève-Servette HC), Dominik Egli (Frölunda HC / SHL), Michael Fora (HC Davos), Tobias Geisser (EV Zug), Sven Jung (HC Davos), Romain Loeffel (SC Bern)

 

Offense (15): Nicolas Baechler (ZSC Lions), Christoph Bertschy (HC Fribourg-Gottéron), Enzo Corvi (HC Davos), Luca Fazzini (HC Lugano), Ken Jäger (Lausanne HC), Simon Knak (HC Davos), Mike Künzle (EV Zug), Tyler Moy (SCRJ Lakers), Marco Müller (HC Lugano), Théo Rochette (Lausanne HC), Dario Rohrbach (SCL Tigers), Tristan Scherwey (SC Bern), Sandro Schmid (HC Fribourg-Gottéron), Justin Sigrist (ZSC Lions), Calvin Thürkauf (HC Lugano)

Head coach Colin Muller has put together his squad for the third tournament of the Women’s Euro Hockey Tour in Liberec, Czech Republic. The 22 players include one debutant.

The 16-year-old defender Laure Mériguet, who plays with the boys at Genève Future Hockey in the U17-Elit, has been called up to the senior national team for the first time. “Laure put in a strong performance at the U18 World Championships in Finland. Despite her young age, she is very mature, has a good physical presence and is particularly impressive in defense. We are excited to see how she will prove herself at this higher level,” said head coach Muller about the nomination.

The 19-year-old Elena Gaberell from EV Zug is also back in the Swiss squad, having already made four appearances in the 2022/2023 season. Alina Müller also returns to the team after having to cancel her December call-up due to injury. The experienced forward with 154 international caps, who plays for Boston in the North American women’s professional league PWHL, will play her first game for the national team since the 2024 World Cup.

“We’re looking forward to the upcoming WEHT tournament in the Czech Republic. We want to use it to continue our development and gain valuable insights into which players can recommend themselves for the World Championship in April,” says Colin Muller.

 

As Sweden is taking part in the qualifiers for the 2026 Winter Olympics at the same time, only hosts Czech Republic and Finland will be represented at the tournament from February 6 to 8, 2025, alongside Switzerland. Zug’s Annika Fazokas and Leonie Kutzer are also taking part in the Olympic qualifiers with Austria.

The match schedule at a glance

Switzerland is in Group A with hosts Finland and the USA. World champions Canada, the Czech Republic and Sweden have been assigned to Group B.

Switzerland will play its two matches as follows:

 

Thursday, February 6, 2025, 5:30 p.m. 
Switzerland – Finland
 
Saturday, February 8, 2025, 3:00 p.m. 
Switzerland – Czech Republic
 
The line-up in detail

 

Goalie (2): Talina Benderer (Hockey Grischun Sud), Saskia Maurer (SC Bern)

 

Defense (8): Alizée Aymon (SC Bern), Alessia Baechler (HC Davos), Lara Christen (SC Bern), Elena Gaberell (EV Zug), Laure Mériguet (Genève Servette HC), Alena Lynn Rossel (SC Bern), Lucie Tenenbaum (HC Davos), Stefanie Wetli (HC Davos)

 

Offense (12): Leoni Balzer (HC Davos), Rahel Enzler (EV Zug), Naemi Herzig (EV Zug), Sinja Leemann (GCK/ZSC Lions), Lena-Marie Lutz (EV Zug), Alina Marti (GCK/ZSC Lions), Alina Müller (PWHL Boston / USA), Kaleigh Quennec (SC Bern), Noemi Ryhner (EV Zug), Lisa Rüedi (GCK/ZSC Lions), Lara Stalder (EV Zug), Ivana Wey (EV Zug)

Some Zug players will also be on the road with their national teams at the junior level over the next few weeks. The line-up for the U20 5 Nations Tournament in Chomutov (CZE) includes defensemen Mischa Geisser and Ludvig Johnson as well as forwards Robin Antenen, Kevin Haas and Loris Wey. Goalie Matia Birchler, defenders Flavio Andri and Dorian Moret and forward Lars Bruckbach will travel with the U18 team to the 5 Nations Tournament in Ängelholm (SWE). For the U17s, a 5-nation tournament in the Finnish capital Helsinki is on the program first, for which forward Yanis Lutz is the only Zug player to be nominated. After the tournament, the U17s will take part in the European Youth Olympic Games in Bakuriani (GEO) – with defender Jan Daron also taking part. Five EVZ juniors will be taking part in the U16 home tournament in Romanshorn: goalie Robin Bausch, defenders Daniel Fuchs and Nicolas Hasler and forwards Nicolas Kaufmann and Sam Neff.