Great day for Swiss Hockey

[Canadienfan]

Beautiful thing happened today Sui 2-can 0.

[sstackho]

Now I'm really sick of the Swiss.

[jaydog2006]

To bad the game means very little.

[Canadienfan]

Damn! People were saying that Switzerland's last victory vs the Cze's was the biggest win in they're hockey history! I guess I'm drinking Swiss beer tonight. I'll get blasted and begin wishing for revenge.

[jaydog2006]

It very unlikely canada will play the swiss again.As of now the swiss fact off against the states in the quarter final.Things can chance yes but this is as of now.

[BC supporter]

I'm always glad to see true underdogs knock off a Millionaires Club -- even when the MCs are representing us.

[jaydog2006]

There are some questions about both italy and the swiss useing canadian players.Italy half there team is canadian.There are some who would like to see a stop but to this.

[canadiankick97]

Well, at least they are promoting hockey in those countries.

[TorontoInferno]

Its not like they are taking Luongo Bertuzzi etc.

They (Italy at least) are using players who are playing in their Serie A. The rule is that the players must have played in Italy for 2 years before they are eligible to play for the national team. Imo that is reasonable for Switzerland or Italy. Its not like Muzzatti or Di Pietro were going to challenge for a spot on Canada.

If they are beating the top nations, good on em. It just shows the bigger teams are not taking the games seriously enough

[sstackho]

My theory is that it's all because of those damn Nike cookie-cutter jerseys - just like they did in soccer.

There are only a few teams that refused to accept Nike's jerseys with the stripes down the side. Which teams? Sweden - whose women get an unprecedented victory over the Americans, and the Swiss - who get unprecedented victories over both the Czechs and Canada. I haven't noticed the Czech's jerseys yet, but I'm guessing they have the stripes too.

Why does Nike think that people want to see the same style of jersey on every team??


Yes, I'm bitter.

[Grizzly]

I think in the case of Switzerland only DiPietro is Canadian. The rest of the Swiss players are born in Switzerland with the exception of one Croatian. As far as I know DiPietro's only tie to Switzerland is playing there professionally so this probably should not be allowed. However, it is a stretch to claim we lost because of one guy who was a borderline NHL player and now plays in Europe. In watching Canada we do seem to lack the creative guys who can shine on the larger ice surface and I think it would be better if Spezza and Staal were not watching from the stands. Sometimes we do benefit however from a poor result which wakes up the team. Additionally, the B group is tougher meaning wherever we finish in the A group we are going to get a tough team in the next round.

[Ed]

Good for the Swiss. It's impossible for me to cheer for a team with Bertuzzi and Heatley on it. Our international reputation has taken a hit.

[Gian-Luca]

I wonder if Janet & Rick had a wager on this match.

[River City]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

I wonder if Janet & Rick had a wager on this match.
:D

[Dante79]

Congradulations to the Swiss! good thing for hockey to see a small team beating a world power! too bad that they had to beat us but they deserved it! hopefully more contries will progress and make international hockey more interesting

[Grizzly]

We are seeing a strengthening of some of the 2nd tier teams. Latvia tying the US. Kazahkstan losing to Russia by only one goal and of course the Swiss. Italy also tied Germany 3-3 and seem to have at least added another team to the 2nd tier. This is the first time we have had 12 teams without any team being an embarrassment. Belarus and Austria are also decent enough teams so in total there are 14 countries that can at least field a decent team. Even France and Poland are not so far from entering the 2nd tier. I am not surprised with the Swiss improvement because hockey is a very prominent sport there. Unlike Germany where it is more of a cult sport (a small number of very dedicated fans) in Switzerland it is not uncommon for hockey stories to be on the front page of the sports section and for major stories to be on the newspaper front page.

[john tv]

Very bad day for Canadian hockey.I forecaasted this to happen 25 years ago or in 1979.Anyone who wants to see the articles in the Star about my forecast let me know. It's all about soccer.

[Andrew W]

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

As far as I know DiPietro's only tie to Switzerland is playing there professionally so this probably should not be allowed. However, it is a stretch to claim we lost because of one guy who was a borderline NHL player and now plays in Europe.

DiPietro's wife is Swiss and he received his Swiss passport last year.

It is a stretch to say Canada lost because of one guy, but it would be mainly down to the one between the pipes. Gerber was sensational and beyond sensational. Stopping 49 shots without a hiccup is very rare at any level of hockey.

True test is tommorrow against the Finns who look very strong.

[Grizzly]

I still don't think you should be able to play for a country because of your wife whether it is hockey or soccer. On the other hand although DiPietro had the game of his life the full blames goes on our team. We didn't lose because of one mediocre Canadian turned Swiss player and a Croatian turned Swiss. We lost because we sucked today regardless of the shot totals.

[jaydog2006]

Its not really funny but there are reports that a couple swiss fans bit the tips off there fingers.How you may ask they got over excited whistling.