Under the motto “Join our journey to Herning,” the men’s national team faces its World Championship 2025 mission parallel to the decisive phase of the National League playoffs. As was the case last year, Kloten will be the training base from which Switzerland will depart for scheduled test matches at home and abroad.
To kick off World Championship preparation, Patrick Fischer and his coaching staff have named three goalkeepers, nine defenders and 14 forwards from playoff and playout teams already eliminated.
With Leonardo Genoni, Romain Loeffel, Thierry Bader, Sven Senteler and Dario Simion, the lineup includes five players who were part of last year’s silver medal-winning team in Prague and Ostrava. Among them, Loeffel (156) and Genoni (132) are the two players with the most international experience and the most caps.
Rookies on the roster include Rodwin Dionicio, drafted by the Anaheim Ducks last June and recently playing in the AHL for the San Diego Gulls and Biel since late January 2025, 18-year-old Ludvig Johnson of EVZ, the youngest player summoned, and 21-year-old Mischa Ramel of Kloten.
Head Coach Patrick Fischer is looking forward to the highlight of the season and the upcoming World Championship preparations: “We have nominated an exciting mix of experienced players and promising prospects for the first week of preparations. In the coming weeks, it’s all about developing our game with hard work and full energy and anchoring our system in a targeted manner. Every player has the chance to recommend themselves for the next phases with commitment, passion and determination!”
Jan Cadieux, the new head coach of the U20 national team, as well as Marcel Jenni and Rikard Franzén – assistant coaches at Genève-Servette HC and most recently on the coaching staff at the U20 World Championship in Ottawa – will support Patrick Fischer as assistant coaches at the 2025 World Championship in Herning and Stockholm. Tommy Albelin is not part of the staff this time due to his commitment in the NHL with the New York Islanders.
In addition, Paul Di Pietro, former Swiss national player and Stanley Cup winner with the Montréal Canadiens, will be on the ice as a skills coach in the first few weeks. His focus will be in particular on the development of finishing strength and goal-scoring efficiency.
Preparation match schedule and tickets
In the first week of preparation, Switzerland will play two home games against Slovakia on Thursday, April 10, and Friday, April 11, 2025, in Herisau. This will be followed by two matches with France in Marseille in the second week, before two clashes with Latvia in Riga in the third week of preparations.
A special highlight awaits on Thursday, May 1, 2025, when the breakout game of the Czech Betano Hockey Games against Sweden will be played in the SWISS Arena in Kloten.
Switzerland’s preparation schedule is as follows:
Thursday, April 10, 2025, 19:45, Herisau: Switzerland – Slovakia
Friday, April 11, 2025, 19:45, Herisau: Switzerland – Slovakia
Friday, April 18, 2025, 20:00, Marseille (France): France – Switzerland
Saturday, April 19, 2025, 20:00, Marseille (France): France – Switzerland
Thursday, April 24, 2025, 18:30 CET, Riga (Latvia): Latvia – Switzerland
Friday, April 25, 2025, 18:30 CET, Riga (Latvia): Latvia – Switzerland
Betano Hockey Games (Euro Hockey Tour)
Thursday, May 1, 2025, 7:45 p.m., Kloten: Switzerland – Sweden (breakout game)
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 12:00 pm, Brno (Czech Republic): Switzerland – Finland
Sunday, May 4, 2025, 16:00, Brno (Czech Republic): Czech Republic – Switzerland
Tickets for the three games in Switzerland are available at www.sihf.ch/ticketmaster (breakout game from April 4, 2025). A small number of seats are now also available again for the preparation games in Herisau.
All of the Swiss national ice hockey team’s preparation games, including the Euro Hockey Tour, will be broadcast live as usual on the SRG channels (SRF, RTS, RSI).
The line-up for the first week in detail
Goalies (3): Stéphane Charlin (SCL Tigers), Leonardo Genoni (EVZ), Ludovic Waeber (EHC Kloten)
Defense (9): Iñaki Baragano (SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers), Tim Berni (Genève-Servette HC), Giancarlo Chanton (Genève-Servette HC), Rodwin Dionicio (EHC Biel-Bienne), Tobias Geisser (EVZ), Ludvig Johnson (EVZ), Roger Karrer (Genève-Servette HC), Romain Loeffel (SC Bern), Dario Wüthrich (HC Ambri-Piotta)
Forwards (14): Thierry Bader (SC Bern), Attilio Biasca (EVZ), Luca Fazzini (HC Lugano), Grégory Hofmann (EVZ), Marco Lehmann (SC Bern), Marco Miranda (Genève-Servette HC), Tyler Moy (SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers), Mischa Ramel (EHC Kloten), Fabian Ritzmann (SC Bern), Dario Rohrbach (SCL Tigers), Sven Senteler (EVZ), Axel Simic (EHC Kloten), Dario Simion (EVZ), Jonas Taibel (SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers)
