Silver Triple Club

It's a wrap... 

It all began so well. 

Relatively early the New Jersey Devils and the Winnipeg Jets were eliminated from the playoffs. Good for us, meaning Nico Hischier, Jonas Siegenthaler, Akira Schmid and Nino Niederreiter were going to join our national team. 

What about Timo Meier? We heard he had to undergo shoulder surgery and wasn't able to play in the Worlds. Sadly the Chicago Blackhawks didn't even participate this season, and we knew we could count on Philipp Kurachev. 

About a week before the Worlds were about to start, Roman Josi's Nashville Predators dropped out, and us fans were hoping the franchise - and the insurance company - would give him the go-ahead, which they did. Yay!

Now the last puzzle piece  for our broad-based squad was Kevin Fiala. However, his wife Jessica was pregnant with their first baby, and her due date was pretty much during the World Championship. Talk about bad timing. Or not? 

Can you believe it, their baby girl Masie-Mae knew her Dad had places to go and she brought forward her date of birth to Mother's Day, May 12, allowing Kevin to pack his bags and catch his flight. On the afternoon of May 13, he was picked up from the airport by his grandmother, who lives in Prague, and by the evening he was already on the ice for the third group game, oh, and he scored one of the two necessary penalty shots!

But let's not get ahead or ourselves. Here's the order:

5: 2 win against Norway, 5: 6 win against Austria, 

2 : 1 win after shootout against Czech Republic, 

3:0 win against Great Britain, 

0 : 8 win against Denmark, 

2 : 3 loss against Canada - Kevin Fail got a game misconduct penalty, and during these five minutes, the Canadians scored twice, Ouch. 

We went back on track and won 

1 : 3 against Finland and moved on to the quarter finals, where we overcame the curse and won

 3 : 1 against Germany, which felt great!

Semi-Finals, here we come, but wait, it's against Canada, can we do it?

Not least thanks to an incredibly strong performance by our goalkeeper, we managed to win 2:3, what a satisfaction to reach the final again after 2013 and 2018!

Can I just mention that this very goalie is "our" Leonardo Genoni, and with our I mean EV Zug's goalie, our team where Colin plays.

So, the gold medal called our name. Or didn't it. I thought our team played super well, but so did the opponent. 

Our guys didn't manage to score. Until the 50th minute the Czechs didn't either, but then David Pastrnak, who arrived just after the Boston Bruins dropped out, scored. Our guys unsuccessfully tried to tie the game. Our brilliant goalie was pulled, and yes, it happened. Instead of equalzing the game, we got an empty netter and lost.

The players were devastated.Three of them, Reto Berra, Nino Niederreiter and Roman Josi went through this for the third time, they probably suffered the most. 

This all happened Sunday night. We got word that there was going to be an official reception for the team on Monday afternoon. I postponed an appointment, and Colin and his lovely friend used "bonus points" to take the afternoon off school.

We were among the 1,500 people who made their way to the arena closest to Zurich Airport, and we gave our players a warm welcome. 

I think while there were still extremely bummed about not winning gold, they were really touched about the enthusiastic supporters who came on a workday through the rain to cheer them up.. 

They weren't too keen to give interviews on stage, but once the official part was over, one after the other approached the crowd and signed the fans' caps and jerseys and patiently smiled into people's cameras.

For Roman Josi it's always a special time to come and play with the Swiss teammates in Europe.

Back in 2022 his Nashville Predators played against SC Bern (which is his home town in Switzerland) in the NHL Global Series Challenge at the sold-out PostFinance Arena, and he was so proud to show his team the Swiss fan culture and to know his family and friends came to watch him play.

Now after the 2024 Worlds he felt so very sorry for the fans. "I really wanted to bring the trophy home", he said. "Since I've lived in North America, the World Cup has always been a connection to Switzerland and its people, and I want to thank the fans in Switzerland for their support."

Roman's Mom Doris, her partner and Roman's brother drove all the way from Switzerland to the Czech Republic in their RV to attend Roman's games. "We were optimistic and booked the pitch until May 27," Mom Josi mischievously explained at the beginning of the tournament. She was to be rewarded for her foresight!

Kevin Fiala, who was named MVP of the tournament, even though he couldn't wait to get back to his wife and newborn, flew to Zurich to meet the fans, and only then he was going to return to Los Angeles, where he plays for the Kings.

Kevin's parents have roots in the Czech Republic. His Mom was happy to witness her son's success."It's wonderful, it's very special. I'm enjoying it. When Kevin was still a child, the Fiala family often visited Prague." Renate said.

Nico Hischier is the third player to be named best player of the tournament. The captain of the New Jersey Devils regularly invites his (Swiss) teammates to fondue dinners in Newark. 

His Mom, wo usually gets up in the middle of the night to watch her son play on TV, was happy to be in the same time zone and in the same arena for a change. She said she was very nervous for the finals, and now we know why... 

At the reception the player's families were invited to enjoy some snacks and sit down with their player in the background, so we didn't get to meet the Hockey Moms, but they were definitely there. 

It was hard enough to meet the players. in true Swiss fashion, no designated lines were marked to wait your turn. People kept squeezing in, shouting their idol's name, waving the (insert item) he was supposed to sign, not giving a d*** about other people who had been patiently waiting. It was hot, it was loud, the D.J. was playing crappy music, and I wanted to get the h*** out of there. 

But Colin's friend was on a mission. She wanted to meet every player and get their autographs. I think she scored about a dozen, and she was very happy and hyper. Usually a soccer girl, I think come next season we will convert her!

At some point we had to leave because Colin had practice later that afternoon. We had to park a bit outside, and our way led us through the railroad underpass. We couldn't believe out eyes. 

If I had to guess how the players and their families were getting home, I would have said, transportation was being provided by the Swiss ice hockey federation or something. Like a minivan taking them from point to point. But no. 

The players and their families obviously were on their own. They took the train like the regular folks. It was so humbling to witness them with their huge bags, and they didn't mind to sign our Swiss flags before catching their train.

Andrea Glauser and Patrick Bertschy (who saved our butt in the Germany game) basically grew up together and went through their junior training at the same club. Andrea is married to Christoph's sister, and one is the other one's kid's Godfather. 

So now I hope they get to sleep on it a few times, enjoy a relaxing break from hockey, spend fun times with their families and friends and at some point realize what an absolutely amazing performance they have put in. I mean, beating Germany and Canada, one after the other. Maybe they could have even beaten Sweden this time? Just kidding.