Following a public vote in 1993, it was made an official holiday in 1994 and is celebrated each year with paper lantern parades, bonfires, hanging strings of Swiss flags and fireworks.
The Swiss National Ice Hockey Team is a founding member of the International Ice Hockey Federation which is headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. While not considered one of the elite hockey nations when it comes to gold medals and championships, the Swiss are a knocking on the door of being in the top echelon and are currently ranked 7th in the 2014 IIHF rankings, ahead of Slovakia, Latvia, Norway and Germany.
Despite not having won a medal in the World Championships since 1953, they are not a team one dares to overlook, as they defeated the Czech Republic 3-2 and shutout traditional hockey power Canada 2-0 two days later during the 2006 Olympics in Turin, making it as far as the quarterfinals.
More recently, they put together a great performance at the 2013 World Championships and defeated Sweden, Canada, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Denmark, Norway and host Belarus to win Group S before defeating the Czechs again and the United States before falling to Sweden in the final to earn the silver to earn their first medal since 1953 and equal their best ever finish, which came back in 1935.
The Swiss celebrate at the 2006 Olympics
More recently, they put together a great performance at the 2013 World Championships and defeated Sweden, Canada, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Denmark, Norway and host Belarus to win Group S before defeating the Czechs again and the United States before falling to Sweden in the final to earn the silver to earn their first medal since 1953 and equal their best ever finish, which came back in 1935.
The goaltender for Switzerland during their 3-2 win over the Czechs in 2006 was former Colorado Avalanche netminder David Aebischer, one of the best known players ever from Switzerland, along with goalies Martin Gerber and Jonas Hiller, forward Nino Niederreiter and defenseman and Swiss National Team captain Mark Streit.
Aebischer was chosen 161st overall by Colorado in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft while playing for HC Fribourg-Gottéron in the Swiss National League A. He played a couple of seasons for the Hershey Bears of the AHL before moving up to join the Avalanche in 2000-01 where he would have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup as a backup to Patrick Roy. He would become the Avs #1 goalie for the 2003-04 season, following the retirement of Roy after the 2003 playoffs, and have a fine season, finishing with a 32-19-9 record and a goals against average of 2.09.
Following the lockout season of 2004-05, when Aebischer played for HC Lugano of Switzerland, he would return to the Avalanche for the 2005-06 season, only to be traded to the Montreal Canadiens at the trading deadline. He would play one full season in Montreal before signing a free agent contract with the Phoenix Coyotes, only to lose out in the crowded goaltending battle and find himself briefly in the AHL before returning to HC Lugano on loan, where he has now played two seasons.
In Switzerland, SC Bern traditionally leads all of Europe in attendance figures, last season averaging 16,164 fans per game, with no other club over 14,250 and only six over 10,000. The next highest Swiss club is ZSC Lions at #7 with 9,331. SC Bern has lead all of Europe in attendance for nine consecutive seasons. The Swiss National League A as a whole ranks third in the world and first in Europe with an average of 6,762, behind only the NHL and the Big Ten and ahead of the top leagues in Germany, Russia, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Today's featured jersey is a 2006 Switzerland National Team David Aebischer jersey as worn in the 2006 World Championships in Riga, Latvia. This jersey was originally purchased with "Swiss" wordmark logos on the shoulders as worn in 2005, but we instructed our customizers to create the Swiss flag patches out of twill (seen here more clearly on a white jersey). We also added some of our custom made "Tissot" sponsorship patches to give it the look of a sponsored World Championship jersey. The IIHF new logo patch on the rear hem completes the look of one of our favorite jerseys in our collection.
Some of our other favorite elements of this jersey are the retro feeling of the lace-up neck collar and the distinctive number font used by only Switzerland and Finland during this time period.
Today's video selections begin with highlights of Switzerland's victory over Canada at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy.
Next up is a highlight video Switzerland from the 2008 World Championships, including their 4-2 win over Sweden. Be sure to notice their throwback jerseys from the first game versus France.
Here is an impressive display by the Swiss fans prior to a game in where else but Bern, prior to a game vs. Germany in the 2009 World Championships hosted by Switzerland chanting "Hopp Schwiiz! Hopp Schwiiz!", the traditional Swiss fans cheer of support.
Here is a highlight video of some spectacular saves by David Aebischer while playing for not only Colorado, but also HC Lugano and Switzerland.
Nice little presentation, but the flag (first picture) is actually wrong, as it is a square flag, not rectangular. ;)
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