Switzerland finish Tournament with win, bid Sean Simpson goodbye

20 May 2014 | Andreas Reiner

Switzerland's pay back for the loss at the Olympics cost Latvia a ticket to the Quarterfinals.

The Swiss team already knew before the game that they had no chance of qualifying for the Quarterfinals but they wanted to bid head coach Sean Simpson good bye with a victory who's contract wasn't renewed and signed a job as head coach for KHL Team Lokomotive Jaroslawl where he will replace Dave King next season.

The Swiss started strong, firing 12 shots on goalie Kristers Gudlevskis while Reto Berra faced just 5 shots during the first period. Damien Brunner in the 9th minute scored the opening goal and just 2 minutes later at 10:49 it was newcomer Dominik Schlumpf who raised the score. Yannick Weber was responsible for the 3rd goal for the Swiss just 27 seconds into the second period. But at 21:57 a careless moment by the Swiss defense allowed Kob Jass to score the first goal for Latvia. It got a little tight in the last period when Zemgus Girgensons scored the 2nd goal for Latvia with little less than two and a half minutes left. As Gudlevskis left his goal, Reto Suri and Thomas Rüfenacht weren't able to score on a breakaway but it wasn't relevant anymore as Switzerland won the game 3:2 and finished 5th in Group B.

While it's surely a disappointment that Switzerland has not reached the Quarterfinals, there were a few obstacles in the way that didn't make things easier. There's the numerous players who called off their participation, around 10 players from last years silver medal team were "unable" to attend. There's the 2 goals that were blown off by the Linesmen against the USA that cost the Swiss three important points. But there was also the buggy defense that seemed insecure at times but got better as the tournament proceeded. Switzerland will be back, there's a number of young talents that had a chance to display their abilities like Kevin Fiala who many see as the next Swiss NHL-first round draft this coming June. There's Dean Kukan who's played a solid season with Lulea in the Swedish Hockey League. Rober Mayer and Dominik Schlumpf are just two others who will get a chance in the coming years.