Thanks to record man Ampol: Switzerland at the Ice Hockey World Cup

After a 4-2 victory over the Czech Republic, the Swiss were the first winners of Group B and can therefore stay in Latvia for Thursday’s quarter-finals against the fourth-placed team – Germany or Denmark.

In the current form and configuration, the Swiss could dream of more. After Canada, they also dominated the next big group with the Czech Republic – again after losing 0-1. The way coach Patrick Fisher’s team dealt with these setbacks quickly and in a calm manner shows sophistication and self-confidence.

Rapperswil-Jonas Roman Cervenka put the Czech national team, who also definitely has a ticket to the quarter-finals, ahead in the seventh minute after a foul by Dario Simeon. In the match of the first majority, Romain Lovell equalized with an accurate shot from the blue line – cleared by Nico Hischier and with Gaetan Haas, who completely blocked the goalkeeper’s vision.

Another record for an ampoule

After a balanced start in third place, the Swiss really lit the turbo in Division Two, led by 39-year-old Andres Ampol. After another powerful play, the Davos veteran hit the crossbar, and five minutes later he brilliantly deflected Kevin Fiala’s pass into the goal. With 144 points scorer (in 313 matches, 53 goals), Ampol is now the all-time leading scorer in Swiss international history, ahead of Jörg Eberle.

It got hot again after former Ambri star and tournament top scorer Dominic Kubalek pulled one back to 2:3 with an energetic direct acceptance. Robert Mayer, who was born in the Czech Republic, could not be defeated in front of the Swiss goal, and Tanner Richard explained everything with a score of 4: 2 (56).

Switzerland meets Latvia in the final group match on Tuesday. Group victory is already certain, but the home team is still fighting for qualification to the quarter-finals.

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