Olympic men’s hockey playoff preview: Switzerland vs. Italy
SWITZERLAND (1-1-1-0) vs. ITALY (0-0-3-0): Feb. 17, 6:10 a.m. ET
Most observers could’ve predicted Team Italy would finish last in Group B and as the No. 12 seed heading into the knockout stage. But it came as a bit of a surprise when Team Switzerland finished as the No. 5 seed, ahead of the likes of Sweden and Czechia.
The Swiss team fell just short of clinching a bye to the quarterfinals. Wouldn’t that have been something? In any case, they should have a decent shot of getting there anyway after they take on their Italian hosts on Tuesday.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Team Switzerland is having one of its best Olympic showings in ages. The men’s team medalled twice in the first half of the 20th century, winning bronze on home ice in 1928 and 1948 (both in St. Moritz). But after their fifth-place finish in 1952, the Swiss team has not been particularly competitive in the decades since.
This year is different, and you can tell Switzerland is playing with a ton of pride. After kicking off their tournament with a 4-0 win over Team France on Thursday, they lost Kevin Fiala to a season-ending injury in their 5-1 defeat against Team Canada the following day. It would’ve been easy for the Swiss side to fold after that, but they rallied to beat Czechia 4-3 on Sunday to clinch the top seed in the playoff round.
Team Italy has not been as competitive, unfortunately. The hosts elected to bring a primarily foreign-born roster, in a similar vein to what we saw with Team China in 2022, and while it was probably the best option available to them, it hasn’t translated into any wins thus far.
If it’s any consolation, the Italians played Sweden and Slovakia relatively closely in their first two games of the preliminaries, but their 11-0 loss to Finland on Saturday was ugly. Italy will need a big-time boost to have much of a chance against Switzerland.
WHEN THEY LAST MET IN BEST-ON-BEST …
Believe it or not, Switzerland and Italy have already faced off against each other in an Olympic men’s hockey game this century. The Italians last participated in the tournament back in 2006, another year in which they automatically qualified by virtue of the games being held in Turin.
That time around, both nations participated in Group A, and they met in their final game of the preliminary round. Italy actually led that game late in the third period before conceding a tying goal to Ivo Rüthemann, after which the game ended in a 3-3 tie. Switzerland ultimately finished sixth in that tournament; Italy came in 11th, ahead of only Latvia.
TOP SCORERS
Switzerland
1. Timo Meier, F: 3 GP, 3 G, 1 A, 4 PTS
2. J.J. Moser, D: 3 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS
T3. Roman Josi, D: 3 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS
T3. Dean Kukan, D: 3 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS
5. Pius Suter, F: 3 GP, 2 G, 0 A, 2 PTS
Italy
1. Dustin Gazley, F: 3 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS
2. Matt Bradley, F: 3 GP, 2 G, 0 A, 2 PTS
T3. Phil Pietroniro, D: 3 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS
T3. Thomas Larkin, D: 3 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS
5. Luca Frigo, F: 3 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 PTS
SWITZERLAND
Without Fiala, this Swiss roster doesn’t have quite as much scoring punch as before, but there are still some very good players here. Timo Meier has been Switzerland’s offensive leader through the preliminary round, with three goals and four points, and Nico Hischier, Philipp Kurashev, Pius Suter, and Nino Niederreiter round out the group of NHL talent up front. And don’t discount Sven Andrighetto, a former Colorado Avalanche forward who collected two assists and 13 shots in three games during the preliminaries.
Switzerland’s strongest point might be its blueline, where Roman Josi and J.J. Moser lead a genuinely impressive crop of defenders. Jonas Siegenthaler is a solid shutdown option for head coach Patrick Fischer, while ex-Columbus Blue Jackets rearguards Dean Kukan and Tim Berni provide two-way upside. And in goal, Leonardo Genoni has picked up both of Switzerland’s wins, while Vegas Golden Knights backup Akira Schmid was between the pipes for the loss to Canada.
ITALY
There is precisely one NHL-affiliated player on this Italian roster: Damian Clara, an Anaheim Ducks goaltending prospect who has done everything he possibly can behind this undermanned team. Clara is just 21 years of age and is one of only a small handful of Italian-born players on the roster; most of the team is from Canada or the United States.
While plenty of the players on Team Italy have played extensively in North America, none of them has ever played in the NHL — and Clara is likely the only one who ever could. All told, it’s a pretty thin group. The five scoring leaders listed above? They’re the only players on this team with a single point. Only three different players on this team have scored goals, and Matt Bradley has two of their four tallies by himself.
BURNING QUESTIONS
Switzerland: When will Nico Hischier have his Olympic breakthrough? The Swiss alternate captain has just one point (an assist) through three games in the preliminary round. If Switzerland is going to take a serious run at winning its first medal in men’s hockey in 78 years, Nico needs to start chipping in on the scoresheet — and the same goes for Nino Niederreiter, who doesn’t have a single point in the tournament thus far.
Italy: Can they keep it close? It’s not like there’s no chance Italy pulls off the upset here, but they’ll need to play less like they did in their 11-0 loss to Finland and more like they did in their 3-2 loss to Slovakia. From a pure talent standpoint, this Swiss roster isn’t that much different from Slovakia’s, with a handful of legit stars surrounded by some non-NHL talent filling in the gaps. Italy will need to grind this one out.
PREDICTION
The Italians have had a remarkable run of things as the hosts of this year’s Olympics. As of Sunday night, Italy ranks second among all nations with 22 medals, including eight golds.
But this one is going to the Swiss. They’ve got a much stronger roster across the board, with legit NHL talent at every position. Italy won’t lose this one 11-0, but we’ll go ahead and pencil in a 7-1 win for Switzerland.
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