Charlin favorite in Genoni with the Nati?

The coach Patrick Fischer has two very good goalkeepers: Genoni (left) and Charlin.Image: keystone

Switzerland begins its world championship this Friday (4:20 p.m.) against the Czech Republic in Herning (Denmark). Stéphane Charlin can already establish himself as goalkeeper number 1.

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Patrick Fischer has been in office for almost ten years. He was appointed national coach on December 3, 2015, after the moving renunciation of Kevin Schläpfer.

So far, he has never been able to go to a World Cup without worry. The most successful coach in the history of the nati has always been considered controversially. It may surprise. But he has never acquired cult status as a club coach, and in Switzerland, the one who dares to speak openly about the supreme objective (becoming world champion) provokes reactions.

However, it is precisely this new way of thinking, brought by this non-conformist, which transformed our mentality into hockey and which has become a key success factor.

Patrick Fischer can approach the World Cup more serenely than usual. image: Keystone

A national coach is of course never completely freed from any concern. This is due to the unpredictable nature of this sport. The concerns linked to its players, to the operation of the team, to the composition of the lines, accompany a coach daily.

A look back allows you to understand why The current situation is still largely serene: A year ago, Patrick Fischer’s position was questioned. A World Cup failed in Prague in 2024 – a quarter -final year – would have cost him his post, despite a current contract until the world championship at home in 2026. He was just enough time to prepare a successor for the event of Zurich and Friborg. The Prague before pressure was maximum.

But the success was up to the task: Switzerland reached the final against the Czech Republic. Since then, Patrick Fischer’s position has been concreted: He is for the first time, at least on the “federal political” level, the most powerful man in Swiss hockey and the most influential national coach in our history.

On the other hand, the president of the Federation (Swiss ice Hockey), Stefan Schärer, who had publicly questioned the coach, was ousted from his post thanks to a spectacular intrigue orchestrated by the sports department. Since then, all the leaders of the Federation openly declare themselves admirers of Fischer. In the space of a year, he went from a candidate on the bowl with ahead: Patrick Fischer no longer has to worry about his post.

A lot less pressure that usually

He can focus entirely on work with his team and on the first match – the revenge of the final against the Czech Republic on Friday at 4:20 p.m. Since the introduction of the current format of the World Cup (2 groups, 7 group games), Switzerland has never faced, at least on paper, such modest opponents: only Czech Republic, the United States and-a notch below-Germany are among the titans of world hockey.

Denmark, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Norway have – to look at it – a status of “operetta” and will celebrate the slightest point against the Helvetians as a global medal. A fourth place is enough to reach the quarter -finals. Whatever the outcome of this tournament, its results will not have any consequences anyway.

Jonas Siegenthaler, Nico Hischier and Timo Meier (from left to right) have enough to be confident before this World Cup. image: keystone

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In the event of failure, this World Cup will be easily reclassified, from a psychological point of view, in the preparation tournament for that of next spring in Switzerland: only the future would count. Even a non-qualification for the quarterfinals-which would be the greatest humiliation of “the Fischer era”-would hardly cause a slight swirl in a glass of water.

All criticism would be swept away with a back of hand with the argument that you should not be mean and you have to keep an overall vision. And even if Switzerland had to lose everything, it could not be relegated: as a host country, it is automatically qualified for 2026.

A good preparation

With Roman Josi (injured) and Nino Niederreiter (if Winnipeg reached the second round of the play-offs), the two figures of the bow of the finalist teams of 2013, 2018 and 2024 will miss the call. Despite this, the Nati is closer to its first world title than a failure in the quarter -final.

The team is at least as talented as the Swiss silver medalist training in 2013, 2018 and 2024. Never the results in the final preparation phase for the World Cup had been so promising (8-2 against Finland, 5-3 against Czechia). The good results in preparation matches do not mean everything, but They give an overview of the team potential.

Even without its superstar Roman Josi, the nati can dream of a title.Image: IMAGO/justpictures.ch

The National League is now considered one of the best world championships. When a selection made up of players from this league is reinforced by NHL stars, the best league on the planet, Switzerland can face any opponent with equal arms.

Already the turn of Charlin?

There remains a question to which the 2025 World Cup could provide an answer: Is there a successor to Leonardo Genoni? Since 2018, each world expedition has been based on the fate of the goalkeeper seven -time champion National League. In August, he will celebrate his 38th birthday. During the last play-offs with Zug, he for the first time finished with a percentage of stops less than 90 %. Eleven goalkeepers used in the quarter-finals of the play-offs have displayed better statistics.

Leonardo Genoni lived complicated play-offs in Zug’s cage. Image: KEYSTONE

Apart from Akira Schmid (absent, because engaged with Las Vegas in NHL), A single doorman has the size, the style, the calm and therefore the potential to become the next Leonardo Genoni on the international scene: Stéphane Charlin (24 years old). In three years, he went to Langnau of the rough genius at the best Swiss goalkeeper in National League. It appears for the first time in the workforce chosen for the World Cup. He will have the opportunity to become number 1.

It will be Patrick Fischer’s first experiment with another goalkeeper than Genoni since he chose in 2023, for the quarter -final against Germany, to align Robert Mayer instead of Zugois. The best news that this 2025 World Cup could deliver? A convincing Stéphane Charlin, and everything would (almost) well.

Stéphane Charlin can already become a number 1 guard during this World Cup. image: keystone

But beware, the devil never sleeps – especially in hockey – and Charlin may not be available in 2026 at home. Because, despite his five-year contract with Geneva-Servette, he could join the NHL.

Adaptation in French: Yoann Graber