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The Swiss left mixed impressions in the tournament. They scored 3 goals in each game and were pretty close to victory in all of them, but in the end they finished 3rd in the group stage and 6th in the final standings after the defeat against Team Finland. Though they were in the lead in this one, they lost again. Always smiling, head coach of the Swiss team Manuele Celio assessed the performance of his players in the whole tournament.
Today you were in control of the game again but, for the third straight game, lost in a shootout. How would you explain that?
We took some stupid penalties again. One of them cost us a goal to make it 3-2. We relaxed too early in the game. It´s a mental thing. We have to get professional and stay in the lead. Everybody wants to shoot for himself. They just want to do more but it´s not the right time.
You had 7 penalty shots in total at your disposal in the tournament but didn´t turn a single one into a goal. How come?
It´s the same as in the game--the players try to pass instead of shoot. Consequently, they are missing that one man against goalie situation. Maybe we are not good enough, not ready to execute as many penalty shots as not being ready to finish the game off.
How do you rate the performance of your team throughout the tournament? Despite having ended up 6th you put up a good performance in every game, do you agree?
For sure. In terms of effort, we are really happy. We had a chance to win every game. I think we are right where we want to be. However, the team is missing some maturity. I want our players to grow, learn to play at that level. Every game is so important and makes a difference. We played well, although we could have fine-tuned a couple of details. It´s good to play these kinds of games and earn some experience so that we can finish the next games off – score one more goal and not let our opponent go for the equalizer.
Can you pinpoint one name, one player that you think played really well? As far as I´m concerned, Kevin Fiala posed some threat to opponent whenever he was on the ice. Do you think he was the leading player on your team?
He should have been, but he wasn´t. He may have had one good game against Canada. The last game he took stupid penalties again. He is not ready to sacrifice for the team. He could be the best, but not yet because he is not mature enough, not man enough. Well, he is still a kid. The boy´s got a lot of talent. He needs time to develop. I hope he will grow up soon.
I think 10 years ago we started to take action to get closer to the top hockey nations. At the last World Championship we won the silver medal, so it shows we are on the right way. We have good basics, a good program. However, every nation works hard, your opponent never sleeps. We might have improved a lot but need to take another step forward and be even better. We should never get satisfied. If you are happy with what the current state you don´t get anywhere.