In a 6-0 quarter-final romp over Austria, Switzerland's Ken Jager (#17, centre) gets congratulations from Michael Fora (#45) and Christian Marti (#54) after scoring a first-period goal.
photo: PHOTO: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / MATT ZAMBONIN
No fuss, no worries. Sparked by three first-period goals, Switzerland downed Austria 6-0 in Thursday’s early quarter-final at Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning. Playing dedicated two-way hockey, the Swiss outshot their underdog neighbours 40-13, and the result was never in doubt.
Kevin Fiala, the 2024 tournament MVP, and Ken Jager both stepped up with a goal and an assist. Christoph Bertschy, Timo Meier, Sandro Schmid, and Simon Knak also scored for Switzerland. Captain Andrea Glauser, Nino Niederreiter, and Tyler Moy chipped in two assists apiece. The dangerous Swiss power play clicked twice.
"We came out pretty hot," said Swiss assistant captain Jonas Siegenthaler. "We were skating for 60 minutes and playing simple hockey. I think if you do that consistently, you know your chances are going to come. Tonight, we just worked hard, and at the end, our skill took over. I think it was a pretty good night for us."
Veteran Swiss goalie Leonardo Genoni needed just 13 saves to record his tournament-leading third shutout. Meanwhile, his opposite number David Kickert was under siege with little help from his teammates.
"If you look at our seven games before this, we kept games close against some of the top teams in the world," said veteran Austrian defenceman Brian Lebler. "We battled and we competed. Tonight was a little bit different story. At the end of the day, I'm so proud of these guys. I just hope it brings a little more attention to Austrian hockey and gets some more kids to join up."
Advancing to Saturday's semi-finals in Stockholm without being seriously challenged could prove to be a positive or negative for Switzerland. But the main thing is getting the result.
"I thought we did a great job of limiting their chances today," Moy said. "We were working really hard and paying attention to the small details, and that made us successful."
The Swiss are hungry to improve on last year’s silver medal, as they fell 2-0 to the host Czechs in the final in Prague. In the modern era, they also captured silver in 2013 and 2018. At the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, Switzerland has a chance to make consecutive gold medal games for the first time ever.
Switzerland has enjoyed a balanced attack in Herning. Every skater except Bertschy had at least one point through the first seven games. Fischer engaged in some line juggling for this quarter-final, inserting the prolific newcomer Moy on the third line with Bertschy in search of more production.
The Swiss controlled the game from puck drop onward. At 6:38, Bertschy broke his hex when he rushed in to accept a neat back pass from Glauser and beat Kickert from the slot for a 1-0 lead.
The Austrians didn’t register a shot for more than eight minutes. But when it came, it was an excellent chance from the slot for Marco Kasper, and Genoni had to be alert to say no.
Knak praised the veteran Swiss netminder: "Incredible. He's our wall back there. We can do really good plays all over the ice, knowing that we have such a good goalie back there."
After Lukas Haudum tripped up Bertschy along the side boards, the Swiss power play kept the momentum going. Kickert sharply denied Sven Andrighetto by his left post, but relentless pressure and puck movement spawned Meier’s third goal of the tournament on a quick release from the right faceoff circle at 11:03.
When Jager swooped unimpeded into the Austrian zone, taking a Niederreiter pass inside the blue line and scoring with ease at 14:17, Austrian coach Roger Bader called his timeout to regroup. Alas, it was already too late to orchestrate a comeback.
Tempers flared when Glauser hit Austrian captain Thomas Raffl from behind into the boards. They exchanged shoves and angry words in the neutral zone. Austria garnered a two-minute power play, but couldn’t generate anything serious.
For the underdogs, things went from bad to worse in the last minute of the first period. Vinsenz Rohrer – who entered this game tied with Marco Kasper for the team lead in goals (four) – was ejected with a five-minute major for a needless cross-check on Schmid in open ice.
At 3:32 of the second period, Fiala made Austria pay for Rohrer's sin. The 2024 tournament MVP converted a loose puck off the back boards at the side of the net. Just over a minute later, Schmid followed up on Glauser's centre point shot for a 5-0 lead.
"It's good to know you have four lines that can score," Siegenthaler said. "We have pretty good balance here. We can play tough, and we have skill on the fourth line as well. We're all pretty good skaters, and I think that makes us really dangerous. If we play the right way, if we play fast, I think we're hard to beat."
Even when the Swiss relaxed enough to give Austria a two-man advantage for 1:05, there was nothing for the Austrian fans to cheer about. Veteran Peter Schneider hammered a drive off the post during another Austrian power play. The teams continued to exchange unpleasantries with the score out of hand.
Knak rounded out the scoring with less than nine minutes to play in the third period.
In total, the Swiss have cracked the final four on five occasions since the IIHF instituted the playoff system at the WM in 1992. Their loyal fans hope this is finally the year after decades of unfulfilled dreams of gold.
The only previous time Austria played in an Ice Hockey World Championship quarter-final was on 5 May, 1994 in Milan. The Finns hammered Austria 10-0 as Christian Ruuttu and Mikko Makela each scored twice.
This was the fourth straight Swiss WM win over Austria. The Austrians last defeated Switzerland 4-3 on 2 May, 2015 on Konstantin Komarek’s shootout winner. Dating back to 1930, the all-time Swiss WM record versus Austria improves to nine wins, two losses, and three ties.
Kevin Fiala, the 2024 tournament MVP, and Ken Jager both stepped up with a goal and an assist. Christoph Bertschy, Timo Meier, Sandro Schmid, and Simon Knak also scored for Switzerland. Captain Andrea Glauser, Nino Niederreiter, and Tyler Moy chipped in two assists apiece. The dangerous Swiss power play clicked twice.
"We came out pretty hot," said Swiss assistant captain Jonas Siegenthaler. "We were skating for 60 minutes and playing simple hockey. I think if you do that consistently, you know your chances are going to come. Tonight, we just worked hard, and at the end, our skill took over. I think it was a pretty good night for us."
Veteran Swiss goalie Leonardo Genoni needed just 13 saves to record his tournament-leading third shutout. Meanwhile, his opposite number David Kickert was under siege with little help from his teammates.
"If you look at our seven games before this, we kept games close against some of the top teams in the world," said veteran Austrian defenceman Brian Lebler. "We battled and we competed. Tonight was a little bit different story. At the end of the day, I'm so proud of these guys. I just hope it brings a little more attention to Austrian hockey and gets some more kids to join up."
Advancing to Saturday's semi-finals in Stockholm without being seriously challenged could prove to be a positive or negative for Switzerland. But the main thing is getting the result.
"I thought we did a great job of limiting their chances today," Moy said. "We were working really hard and paying attention to the small details, and that made us successful."
The Swiss are hungry to improve on last year’s silver medal, as they fell 2-0 to the host Czechs in the final in Prague. In the modern era, they also captured silver in 2013 and 2018. At the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, Switzerland has a chance to make consecutive gold medal games for the first time ever.
Switzerland has enjoyed a balanced attack in Herning. Every skater except Bertschy had at least one point through the first seven games. Fischer engaged in some line juggling for this quarter-final, inserting the prolific newcomer Moy on the third line with Bertschy in search of more production.
The Swiss controlled the game from puck drop onward. At 6:38, Bertschy broke his hex when he rushed in to accept a neat back pass from Glauser and beat Kickert from the slot for a 1-0 lead.
The Austrians didn’t register a shot for more than eight minutes. But when it came, it was an excellent chance from the slot for Marco Kasper, and Genoni had to be alert to say no.
Knak praised the veteran Swiss netminder: "Incredible. He's our wall back there. We can do really good plays all over the ice, knowing that we have such a good goalie back there."
After Lukas Haudum tripped up Bertschy along the side boards, the Swiss power play kept the momentum going. Kickert sharply denied Sven Andrighetto by his left post, but relentless pressure and puck movement spawned Meier’s third goal of the tournament on a quick release from the right faceoff circle at 11:03.
When Jager swooped unimpeded into the Austrian zone, taking a Niederreiter pass inside the blue line and scoring with ease at 14:17, Austrian coach Roger Bader called his timeout to regroup. Alas, it was already too late to orchestrate a comeback.
Tempers flared when Glauser hit Austrian captain Thomas Raffl from behind into the boards. They exchanged shoves and angry words in the neutral zone. Austria garnered a two-minute power play, but couldn’t generate anything serious.
For the underdogs, things went from bad to worse in the last minute of the first period. Vinsenz Rohrer – who entered this game tied with Marco Kasper for the team lead in goals (four) – was ejected with a five-minute major for a needless cross-check on Schmid in open ice.
At 3:32 of the second period, Fiala made Austria pay for Rohrer's sin. The 2024 tournament MVP converted a loose puck off the back boards at the side of the net. Just over a minute later, Schmid followed up on Glauser's centre point shot for a 5-0 lead.
"It's good to know you have four lines that can score," Siegenthaler said. "We have pretty good balance here. We can play tough, and we have skill on the fourth line as well. We're all pretty good skaters, and I think that makes us really dangerous. If we play the right way, if we play fast, I think we're hard to beat."
Even when the Swiss relaxed enough to give Austria a two-man advantage for 1:05, there was nothing for the Austrian fans to cheer about. Veteran Peter Schneider hammered a drive off the post during another Austrian power play. The teams continued to exchange unpleasantries with the score out of hand.
Knak rounded out the scoring with less than nine minutes to play in the third period.
In total, the Swiss have cracked the final four on five occasions since the IIHF instituted the playoff system at the WM in 1992. Their loyal fans hope this is finally the year after decades of unfulfilled dreams of gold.
The only previous time Austria played in an Ice Hockey World Championship quarter-final was on 5 May, 1994 in Milan. The Finns hammered Austria 10-0 as Christian Ruuttu and Mikko Makela each scored twice.
This was the fourth straight Swiss WM win over Austria. The Austrians last defeated Switzerland 4-3 on 2 May, 2015 on Konstantin Komarek’s shootout winner. Dating back to 1930, the all-time Swiss WM record versus Austria improves to nine wins, two losses, and three ties.
Switzerland vs. Austria - 2025 IIHF WM
OF