The relationship between the league and the association in Swiss ice hockey is deeply troubled. The distortions also overshadow the coach’s work before the World Cup opener on Friday against Norway.
Patrick Fischer (front) looks to an uncertain future at the World Cup in Prague.
Manuel Geisser / Keystone
Switzerland starts the Ice Hockey World Championships in Prague and Ostrava against Norway on Friday (4:20 p.m., SRF 2). On the one hand, this match marks the Swiss’ next attempt to win a medal or even become world champion. On the other hand, the next chapter in the soap opera “Swiss Ice Hockey against the National League” also begins.
Since the league broke away from the association in 2020 in the middle of the corona pandemic, a bitter battle for power, influence and money has been raging between the two most important organizations in Swiss ice hockey. The focus of the latest episode of the soap opera is not only the performances on the ice, but also the protagonists in the leadership of the association: CEO Patrick Bloch, sports director Lars Weibel and national coach Patrick Fischer.
This trio will be under special observation by the leading Swiss clubs and therefore the league during the upcoming World Cup in the Czech Republic. Coach Fischer begins his tenth major tournament as head of the most important selection team. The 48-year-old from Zug took over the team from the unpopular Canadian Glen Hanlon in autumn 2015. Even back then there was some noise in the relationship between the league and the association.
The national team director at the time, Raeto Raffainer, actually wanted to sign Kevin Schläpfer instead of Fischer. But he gave up in tears because the EHC Biel had not given him permission. The fact that the association tried to poach the coach from a Swiss club was a unique occurrence up to that point. That was chapter number one in the soap opera between the league and the association.
Instead of Schläpfer, Fischer took over the team together with Felix Hollenstein and Reto von Arx. “Swissness” was the catchphrase of the moment. T-shirts and other fan items were decorated with crossbows and halberds. This gave the national team program a lot of pathos. Nevertheless, the Swiss missed the quarter-finals at the 2016 World Cup in Moscow. From the second year onwards, Fischer continued the program alone. The Swiss won World Cup silver in Copenhagen in 2018 in their fourth major tournament. In the final they were only defeated by the Swedes in the penalty shootout.
Fischer’s silver bonus has been used up
The coach still feeds off the silver euphoria to this day. Back then, Fischer had introduced a more offensive style to the team and, above all, a new set of expectations. They broke away from the usual goal of “quarter-final qualification” and instead talked openly about medals and the world championship title. The players followed their coach’s example and, supported by the growing number of NHL players, performed with un-Swiss self-confidence.
Recently, however, the results no longer kept up with the confident demeanor. Since the silver medal in Copenhagen, the Swiss have failed in the quarterfinals five times in a row. None of these defeats were more bitter than the one a year ago. Fischer’s team played a perfect group phase without defeat. But they were eliminated in the quarter-finals after a disappointing performance and a 3-1 defeat against Germany.
This defeat, the third in a row in a knockout game against the big rival, changed the perception of the coach and his program. Since then, Fischer and his rhetoric have been viewed more critically by the public. But Fischer is not one to let self-doubt consume him or cower in the face of a challenge. At the beginning of this week he said in an interview with the NZZ: “I know my qualities and trust them. In my playing career I have achieved most of the goals I strived for. That’s also my goal as a coach.”
However, Fischer’s team was seriously disappointing in the test matches last winter. There was defeat after defeat; a total of 13 in a row. Nevertheless, the association extended the contract with the coach in February, not least at the urging of his immediate superiors Weibel and Bloch, by two years until after the 2026 home World Cup in Zurich and Freiburg. “We are on the right track” became the slogan that became increasingly less convincing with every subsequent defeat.
The decision to extend Fischer’s contract early was met with some incomprehension not only by the public, but also in the National League. Why at this point? Why is it known before how the team performed at the World Cup? The association has secured itself with an exit clause. If Fischer and his team miss the World Cup quarter-finals this year, the contract should be able to be terminated without financial consequences for the association. But even a quarter-final qualification in Prague will not automatically be a free ticket for the coach and his staff into the future.
Peter Zahner, the CEO of the ZSC Lions, also sits on the board of directors of Swiss Ice Hockey as a delegate of the National League and is a member of the national team committee. Before his involvement in the ZSC, he was the association director and therefore the head of the national team program. Zahner says: “The results are not the only criterion, it is also about the way Fischer’s team performs in Prague.” The Swiss and their leadership can hardly afford a pale performance like a year ago in the quarter-finals against Germany.
The upcoming World Cup is not the only thing that concerns Zahner and his colleagues on the National Team Committee, or NTC for short. The eight-member committee only has an advisory function. However, it is not involved in decisions and therefore responsibility. Many see it as a shadow cabinet with no real influence.
Nevertheless, some of its representatives are anything but happy with various decisions made by Swiss Ice Hockey. An example of this is the way the association resolved the affair surrounding the talented defender Lian Bichsel. Because the 19-year-old recently did not make himself available for the U-20 national team twice and instead concentrated on his club career with the Swedish top team Rögle, Lars Weibel and Patrick Fischer excluded him from the national team until after the 2026 World Cup. The Olympic tournament in Milan in the same year is also affected by this measure.
The waiver of Bichsel, but above all the severity of the sanction against the NHL first-round draft, was controversially discussed within the association. The case is seen as evidence of how far the top of the association has separated itself from the grassroots. Zahner says he can’t understand why a player would be punished so harshly for a single offense. «Talents as great as Bichsel are rare in Switzerland. He could have been dispensed with for the upcoming World Cup and the matter could have been settled in the summer without slamming the door for two years.
Weibel is considered “unteachable” and “resistant to advice”
The national team director Weibel in particular is described by the increasing number of his critics as “irreducable” and “resistant to advice”. These are harsh accusations directed at the former top goalkeeper and an indication that the rifts that opened up after the league split from the association are anything but filled up. Last fall, Stefan Schärer succeeded Michael Rindlisbacher as association president. Schärer inherited the task of mediating between the association and the league from his predecessor. So far he has not succeeded in softening the fronts.
Schärer says the whole thing is a process that takes time. “There are certain legacy issues that we have to work through.” At the same time, he attached importance to the statement that the two parties have come significantly closer on important points. There is a new service agreement and regular exchange between the association CEO Patrick Bloch and the league director Denis Vaucher. Schärer does not want to comment on the terms of the contract with Patrick Fischer. “Now is not the time for that, and contract details are confidential,” says Schärer.
The conflict between the association and the league is anything but over. After more than three years of arguments and intrigues, it is difficult to imagine that the tensions with the current protagonists in leading positions can still be resolved. What is probably needed is what North Americans call “house cleaning,” a fresh start with new heads in key positions.
In this climate of suspicion and resentment, the Swiss and their coach start the World Cup in Prague. They are doing this with probably the best team that Fischer has had at his disposal in his almost nine years as national coach. In an interview with the NZZ, the coach said: “I try to concentrate on what my job is.”
When it comes to objectives, his tone has noticeably changed. Fischer speaks more defensively, no longer talks about medals and titles, but says that Switzerland is number 7 in the world rankings. There are six teams that are better ranked. “So we can’t just claim to win a medal.” Fischer now seems to have realized that he will be judged by the results that follow his words.
