Looking for a nation that could shock one of the traditional hockey powers? Look no further than the Swiss team announced Monday.
They’ve got a goalie that can get hot and carry a team in Jonas Hiller of the Anaheim Ducks, a sprinkling of other NHL players on defense and a recent string of optimistic results.
Switzerland and Latvia are the only nations outside the power seven to reach each of the last four Olympics. The Swiss have certainly had more success than the Latvians.
The Swiss beat Canada and the Czech Republic at the 2006 Olympics and forced Canada to a shootout at the 2010 Olympics before losing to the U.S. in a close quarterfinal.
Olympic hockey rosters: U.S. | Canada | Russia | Sweden | Finland | Czech Republic | Slovakia | Switzerland | Latvia | Norway | Austria | Slovenia
They won a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships without Hiller, ending a 50-year medal drought. Switzerland was the only nation to go undefeated in pool play and beat the U.S. in the semifinals.
In front of Hiller is the young-and-old defense tandem of four-time Olympian Mark Streit and Roman Josi, who was MVP of the 2013 World Championships and has learned from Shea Weber with the Nashville Predators.
Here’s the full Switzerland roster:
Goalies
Reto Berra -- Calgary Flames
Jonas Hiller -- Anaheim Ducks
Tobias Stephen
Defensemen
Raphael Diaz -- Montreal Canadiens
Roman Josi -- Nashville Predators
Mark Streit -- Philadelphia Flyers
Yannick Weber -- Vancouver Canucks
Julien Vauclair -- former Ottawa Senators player
Severin Blindenbacher
Philippe Furrer
Mathias Seger
Forwards
Damien Brunner -- New Jersey Devils
Nino Niederreiter -- Minnesota Wild
Andres Ambuhl
Matthias Bieber
Simon Bodenmann
Luca Cunti
Ryan Gardner
Denis Hollenstein
Simon Moser
Martin Pluss
Kevin Romy
Reto Suri
Morris Trachsler
Roman Wick