It’s been eleven years since Switzerland last hosted the World Championship and a lot of things have changed since then. Back in 1998, Team Switzerland had just qualified itself back to the top division, after a decade of being in the elevator between the top division and Division I. We were approaching the Y2K, times were uncertain, and Ralph Krueger was the head coach of Team Switzerland.

Well, maybe things haven’t changed that much after all. Except that Switzerland has taken - under coach Krueger - strides towards the upper half of the top division. In the ten tournaments between the two Swiss tournaments, Switzerland has only missed the quarterfinal three times.

Home-ice curse may have kept other nations from winning the gold, but it didn’t stop Switzerland making the semifinal the last time around, so why would it stop them now?

Goal

Martin Gerber has had a rough 14 months or so. Coming to the 2008 World championships in Quebec City, he was the Ottawa Senators starting goalie. Between last May and entering the 2009 World Championships in Berne, the 34-year-old has been playing with the Senators, sent to the minors, put on the waiver list, picked up by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and got suspended for trying to run over a referee.

Gerber’s numbers weren’t great with the Senators (GAA 2.86), and maybe the chaotic season had something to do with the fact that the numbers didn’t improve in Toronto (GAA 3.23)

In Quebec, Gerber got the nod five times, including the crucial quarterfinal. And maybe that’s when his rough patch began. Maybe it was Alexander Semin’s 1-0 through Gerber’s five-hole that started the avalanche. If it was, there’s no better way for Martin Gerber to get his mojo back than to come home and become a hero.

Coach Krueger hopes that “Darth Gerber” - nickname he got in Ottawa for his black goalie mask - has the force with him like in the 2006 Winter Olympics, when he made 49 saves in Switzerland’s 2-0 victory over Canada.

A red-hot Jonas Hiller from Anaheim wouldn’t make coach Krueger to pull his hair out.

Defence

The team’s biggest star is listed as a defenceman, but he’s also the one that will probably pack in the best offensive punch. Last season, Mark Streit quarterbacked the Montreal Canadiens powerplay and collected 62 points in 81 games, third in league scoring among defensemen.

Having signed with the New York Islanders as a free agent, Streit collected 56 points in 74 games this season, earning him a spot in the NHL All-Star game in January.

Severin Blindenbacher will then have to stay at home and take care of the dirty work.

An interesting player to follow is SC Bern’s 18-year-old Roman Josi who will now don the Team Switzerland sweater in front of his home fans. The Berne native is one of the biggest talents to come out of Switzerland. He was voted Best defenseman in the Division I world junior championship.

Coach Krueger may miss Davos’s Beat Forster who’s out of the lineup due to an injury.

Offence

For Ryan Gardner, the Canadian-born second-generation hockey player, it will be a memorable first World championship. Gardner got his Swiss passport about a year ago, and will now represent the country for the first time, on home ice. The towering winger was the leading Swiss scorer in the National League A, with his 25+28=53 points in 50 games. He also showed in the Champions Hockey League that he has the speed and hockey sense to compete on an international level.

Martin Plüss returns to the national team after a two-year absence. The 32-year-old represented Switzerland in the Turin Olympics and the Riga World Championship but hasn’t made the cut since. This year, his play with SC Bern convinced coach Krueger.

The Swiss offence has speed, size and brashness (in diminutive Andreas Ambühl, the player who spent most minutes in the sin bin in NLA) to make things happen.

Coach

Eleven years behind the Swiss bench - and giving speeches and promoting hockey - is a testament to Ralph Krueger’s smarts, hockey and otherwise. During his tenure, Swiss hockey has become a regular in the playoff stage of the World championships, but the next hurdle has thus far been too high.

A master motivator, Krueger knows how to use the home ice - and the energy of the notoriously enthusiastic home crowd - to his team’s advantage.

Projected result

Switzerland’s schedule is perfect and a quarterfinal berth is the least to expect. In a cruel playoff system like the one in the World Championship, it all comes down to one game.

If Krueger can keep his room happy, focused, and united, and if Lady Luck smiles on the Swiss by giving them a suitable quarterfinal opponent, it may be déjà vu all over again for the Swiss.

RISTO PAKARINEN