Tristan Scherwey is preparing to play his fifth World Cup with the Swiss team. Now 33 years old, the Fribourgeois is one of the important players in Patrick Fischer’s squad. RTSsport met him in the corridors of the Prague Arena.
Eliminated by Zug at the National League quarter-final stage, the CP Berne striker participated in the entire preparation phase. A true pillar of the Swiss team, Tristan Scherwey wore the white cross jersey in 11 of the 16 matches played this season.
With 107 selections and more than 10 years of activity under his belt, the Singinois is used to the incessant upheavals that make up the daily life of Patrick Fischer’s troop. Welcoming newcomers, particularly NHL players, is a challenge that he takes particularly seriously.
RTS Sports: Tristan Scherwey, you have been present in the Swiss team since the start of preparation. How do you feel?
TRISTAN SCHERWEY: Confident. The more the preparation progressed, the more new players arrived, the more we saw the level increase. And now the team is finally complete. We had two good training sessions in Prague and now we will focus on the start of the World Cup.
RTS Sports: There are only eight of you who have completed the entire preparation. How is this constant evolution managed?
TRISTAN SCHERWEY: It’s part of the business that new people arrive. Those who join us afterwards are often players who already know the national team, so we don’t have to do anything special to make them feel good. We are ready, the team spirit is there, we had a few days together where we had a lot of fun (editor’s note: the team did not return to Switzerland after the Euro Hockey Tour stop in Brno) and now all the attention is on the World Cup.
We want to show NHL players that they made a good decision by giving up their vacation to come on the ice with us
RTS Sports: What impact can NHL players have on the Swiss team?
TRISTAN SCHERWEY: It is not for nothing that they play in the best League in the world. In addition, these are players who have a lot of importance there. For us, their presence is a huge motivation, but also an opportunity to observe them a little and understand why they are there. This does not mean that we will rely on them. On the contrary, we want to show them that we are with them and that they made the right decision by giving up their vacation to come on the ice with us.
We have to put what happened at the club aside, there will be enough time to think about it during the summer or next season
RTS Sports: Has the arrival of many players in recent days also brought a different state of mind?
TRISTAN SCHERWEY: It’s clear. If you’ve been there since the beginning, it’s a sign that you got knocked out pretty quickly with your club and something didn’t work out. For their part, the Zurich residents arrived full of confidence. When you win the title at home in Act VII, I think you couldn’t end your season better. There is also the situation of the people of Lausanne, who arrive after having had a very good season, but who know that in the end they lacked so little to achieve better. They must regroup after such a defeat.
It’s up to us, those who experienced these weeks of preparation, to use this good energy that we managed to build to integrate them on board. Whatever happened, we have to put it aside, there will be plenty of time to think about it during the summer or next season. Now it’s the Swiss team, everyone is in the same boat and we will fight together.
From Prague, Bastien Trottet and Frank Rohrbasser
