2004 Switzerland National Team Martin Gerber Jersey

Born on this date in 1974, Martin Gerber played three seasons for SC Langnau Tigers of the Swiss League from 1998-99 to 2000-01. During this time he also made his debut for Switzerland at the 2000 World Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Following the 2000-01 season, Gerber was drafted in the eighth round by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and subsequently played for Farjestads BK in the Swedish Elitserien, where he would lead them to the regular season and playoff championships. 2002 would also see him play for Switzerland at both the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and again at the World Championships in Sweden.

The following season he would migrate to North America and being his NHL career, first with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons.

Switzerland would call on him again for the 2004 World Championships in the Czech Republic before a busy 2004-05 campaign would see him return to Europe where he split his time between previous clubs SC Langnau Tigers in Switzerland and then Färjestads BK in Sweden followed by a successful Olympic Qualifying tournament and the 2005 World Championships for Switzerland held in Austria.

With the resumption of play in the NHL in 2005-06 Gerber would now tend goal for the Carolina Hurricanes who obtained him in a trade with the Mighty Ducks. Gerber would post a 38-14-6 record with the Hurricanes, but would be replaced by his regular season backup Cam Ward in the first round of the playoffs, who would lead the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup, making Gerber only the second Swiss player to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup after David Aebischer in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche.

Gerber and Aebischer would also share the goaltending duties for Switzerland at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy, where Switzerland would post memorable wins against the Czech Republic by a 3-2 score, followed by a stunning 2-0 win over Canada two days later with Gerber making 49 saves for the shutout for perhaps the greatest 48 hours in Swiss hockey history.

Gerber would sign as a free agent with the Ottawa Senators, where he would play the next two seasons, 2006-07 and 2007-08, going 45-27-7 and making another appearance for Switzerland at the 2008 World Championships in Canada. He would start the 2008-09 season with Ottawa and then move to the Toronto Maple Leafs after being claimed on waivers followed by his seventh trip to the 2009 World Championships, this time hosted by Switzerland.

For the 2009-10 season, Gerber signed with Atlant Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League, where he went 15-6-6. He would also help Switzerland to a fine 5th place finish at the 2010 World Championships, his best career result to date at the Worlds.

It was back to North America for the 2010-11 season, playing 42 games for the Oklahoma City Barons of the AHL as well as 3 games with their parent club, the Edmonton Oilers for his most recent NHL appearances.

Gerber returned to Sweden for two seasons, beginning by spending 2011-12 with the Vaxjo Lakers before moving to Rogle BK for the 2012-13 season.

Following the conclusion of the Swedish regular season, Gerber once again joined the Switzerland National Team for his ninth World Championships. Switzerland was placed in Group S, the "S" standing for Stockholm, as the tournament location was shared with Helsinki, Finland. Switzerland shocked the hosts by defeating Sweden 3-2 in their opening night game. They next raised eyebrows by defeating Canada 3-2 in a shootout, with Gerber stopping 7 of 8 Canadian attempts.

Next to fall was the Czech Republic, who they put away with 3 third period goals on their way to a 5-2 win. Now through the toughest part of their schedule and full of confidence, the Swiss rolled through Slovenia 7-1, Denmark 4-1, Norway 3-1 and Belarus 4-1 to win the group undefeated with 6 wins and an overtime win for 20 points, two ahead of the Canadians.

In the playoff round, they again faced the Czech Republic, coming out on top 2-1. They advanced to play the United States, easily defeating the Americans 3-0 to guarantee themselves a medal and advance to the championship final. There, they met Sweden, who they had defeated in their opening game, but, playing again in Stockholm, the Swiss fell 5-1 in the final but earned a terrific silver medal for Switzerland and Gerber, who went 4-2 in the tournament with a 1.81 goals against average and a 92% save percentage. It was the best Swiss result at the World Championships since their only other previous silver medal back in 1935, a span of 78 years and their first medal of any kind in 60 years!

Gerber then returned to his native Switzerland for the first time since 2004-05 when he signed with the Kloten Flyers of the Swiss National League A, posting winning records for each of his first two seasons with the Flyers.

Today's featured jersey is a 2004 Switzerland National Team Martin Gerber jersey as worn in the 2004 World Championships held in the Czech Republic. This jersey features custom made Tissot sponsorship patches on the shoulders, as well as the International Ice Hockey Federation patch on the lower back.

This jersey style arrived back in 1998 and remained in use through the 2004 World Championships.

Our first video highlight is a player profile on Martin Gerber from his time with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Here is Gerber making an astounding, if not controversial, save against Rick Nash of Canada during his shutout of the Canadians during the 2006 Olympics.

This next highlight is Switzerland's second goal of the game against Canada by Paul DiPietro.

And finally, the last minute of the game as the Swiss players celebrate their upset victory.

2004 Switzerland National Team Martin Gerber Jersey

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy the 12 teams were placed in two groups of six, with the top four in each group advancing to the Medal Round.

Switzerland was not among the top eight ranked teams in the 2004 IIHF World Rankings, and therefore did not have a reserved a place in the tournament, forcing them to participate in the Qualification Tournaments for the chance to earn one of the four remaining spots in the field of 12.

The Swiss were placed in Group A with Japan, Denmark and Norway, and completed their group schedule with a 3-0 record to advance to Torino.

Once in Italy, they found themselves in Group A with #1 ranked Canada, #4 the Czech Republic, #5 Finland, #8 Germany and hosts Italy.

The Swiss opened their tournament with a resounding loss to Finland by a score of 5-0 on February 15. The very next day, they pulled off a stunner, defeating the Czech Republic by a score of 3-2. Switzerland opened the scoring at 5:11 of the first period on a goal by Thomas Zigler, but Jaromir Jagr tied the game for the Czechs at 2:55 of the second. Switzerland again took the lead at the midway point of the second on a shorthanded goal by Theirry Paterlini and the period would finish 2-1.

One minute into the third the Czechs pulled level on a goal by Marek Zidlicky. NHLer Mark Streit would score on the powerplay for Switzerland just under six minutes later. After killing off a penalty with nine minutes remaining, the Swiss held off the Czechs behind the goaltending of David Aebischer to complete the upset victory.

Switzerland held off the Czechs for a surprising win

Two days later, on this date in 2002, the Swiss would face off against the top ranked Canadians.

Sixty minutes later, the greatest Olympic upset in Swiss hockey history was complete.

Paul DiPietro scored the first goal at 18:19 after Canada had gone 0-5 on the powerplay during the first period.

The second goal came while Canada was down two men after penalty calls just 47 seconds apart. DiPietro capitalized on the golden opportunity just 10 seconds into the two man advantage at 8:47 of the second to put the Swiss up by two, but with the crowd still expecting the Canadians to come roaring back at any moment.

DiPietro's second goal eludes a desperate Brodeur

The Swiss started the third having to kill off a Canadian powerplay three minutes into the period, which they did successfully. Then Martin Gerber's controversial save on Rick Nash while on the powerplay prevented Canada from not only scoring their first goal that many felt was inevitable, but also robbed Canada of some much needed momentum that a goal would have certainly generated.

Martin Gerber

Canada would have an opportunity to go on the powerplay one final time with exactly two minutes remaining, only to have a penalty called against them just seven seconds later, negating Canada's last, best chance.

The frustrated Canadians would finish the game 0-11 on the powerplay and, as hard as the shutout loss was for the Canadians to grasp, what made it worse was that the goal scorer DiPietro was born in Canada! Gerber had 49 saves for the Swiss, who fielded a team with just two NHL players on their roster and managed only 18 shots in the victory, which would be ranked as the #87 story in the IIHF 100 Top Stories of the Century.

Paul DiPietro shakes hands with Martin Brodeur following

Swtizerland's memorable upset victory

Today's featured jersey is a 2004 Switzerland National Team Martin Gerber jersey as worn during the 2004 World Championships. This particular style of jersey was first worn by the Swiss in 1998 and would remain in use through 2004 with only a minor change to the collar for 2001, going from a v-neck to a yoke style. 

Gerber began his career with several seasons in the Swiss league and one in Sweden before joining the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for the 2002-03 season. After two seasons there and the lockout season of 2004-05, Gerber would join the Carolina Hurricanes for 2005-06, where he would get his name engraved on the Stanley Cup, the second Swiss player after fellow goaltender Aebischer to earn that honor.

In the 2008-09 season Gerber would move to the Ottawa Senators for two seasons. During the third season in Ottawa, Gerber would be traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. For 2009-10, Gerber signed a contract with Atlant Moscow of the Russian KHL but would return to North America in 2010-11 to close out his career with 42 games with the Oklahoma City Barons of the AHL and three final NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers.

Internationally, Gerber would play for Switzerland ten times, beginning with the 2000 World Championships, his first of eight, with the remaining two being the 2002 and 2006 Olympics. He would finish with a 20-24-2 record in 46 games with a 2.37 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.

Here is Gerber making an astounding, and controversial, save against Rick Nash during his shutout of the Canadians during the 2006 Olympics.

And finally, the last minute of the game as the Swiss players celebrate their upset victory, something they will be looking to repeat in Vancouver.

2006 Switzerland National Team David Aebischer Jersey

Today is Swiss National Day, first celebrated in Bern in 1891 on the 600th anniversary of the Federal Charter of 1291, also known as the Letter of Alliance, which documented the union of three "cantons" in what is now central Switzerland, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden. The three regions allied for defense purposes and eventually grew into modern Switzerland.

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.

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.

2006 Switzerland National Team David Aebischer Jersey

Today is Swiss National Day, first celebrated in Bern in 1891 on the 600th anniversary of the Federal Charter of 1291, also known as the Letter of Alliance, which documented the union of three "cantons" in what is now central Switzerland, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden. The three regions allied for defense purposes and eventually grew into modern Switzerland.

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.

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 16,172 fans per game, with no other club over 13,800 and only five over 10,000. The next highest Swiss club is Champions League winners ZSC Lions at #12 with 7,720. SC Bern has lead all of Europe in attendance for eight consecutive seasons. The Swiss National League A as a whole ranks second in Europe with an average of 6,073, second only to Sweden's Elitserien's 6,260 and ahead of the top leagues in Germany, Russia, 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.

2004 Switzerland National Team Martin Gerber Jersey

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy the 12 teams were placed in two groups of six, with the top four in each group advancing to the Medal Round.

Switzerland was not among the top eight ranked teams in the 2004 IIHF World Rankings, and therefore did not have a reserved a place in the tournament, forcing them to participate in the Qualification Tournaments for the chance to earn one of the four remaining spots in the field of 12.

The Swiss were placed in Group A with Japan, Denmark and Norway, and completed their group schedule with a 3-0 record to advance to Torino.

Once in Italy, they found themselves in Group A with #1 ranked Canada, #4 the Czech Republic, #5 Finland, #8 Germany and hosts Italy.

The Swiss opened their tournament with a resounding loss to Finland by a score of 5-0 on February 15. The very next day, they pulled off a stunner, defeating the Czech Republic by a score of 3-2. Switzerland opened the scoring at 5:11 of the first period on a goal by Thomas Zigler, but Jaromir Jagr tied the game for the Czechs at 2:55 of the second. Switzerland again took the lead at the midway point of the second on a shorthanded goal by Theirry Paterlini and the period would finish 2-1.

One minute into the third the Czechs pulled level on a goal by Marek Zidlicky. NHLer Mark Streit would score on the powerplay for Switzerland just under six minutes later. After killing off a penalty with nine minutes remaining, the Swiss held off the Czechs behind the goaltending of David Aebischer to complete the upset victory.

Switzerland held off the Czechs for a surprising win

Two days later, on this date in 2002, the Swiss would face off against the top ranked Canadians.

Sixty minutes later, the greatest Olympic upset in Swiss hockey history was complete.

Paul DiPietro scored the first goal at 18:19 after Canada had gone 0-5 on the powerplay during the first period.

The second goal came while Canada was down two men after penalty calls just 47 seconds apart. DiPietro capitalized on the golden opportunity just 10 seconds into the two man advantage at 8:47 of the second to put the Swiss up by two, but with the crowd still expecting the Canadians to come roaring back at any moment.

DiPietro's second goal eludes a desperate Brodeur

The Swiss started the third having to kill off a Canadian powerplay three minutes into the period, which they did successfully. Then Martin Gerber's controversial save on Rick Nash while on the powerplay prevented Canada from not only scoring their first goal that many felt was inevitable, but also robbed Canada of some much needed momentum that a goal would have certainly generated.

Martin Gerber

Canada would have an opportunity to go on the powerplay one final time with exactly two minutes remaining, only to have a penalty called against them just seven seconds later, negating Canada's last, best chance.

The frustrated Canadians would finish the game 0-11 on the powerplay and, as hard as the shutout loss was for the Canadians to grasp, what made it worse was that the goal scorer DiPietro was born in Canada! Gerber had 49 saves for the Swiss, who fielded a team with just two NHL players on their roster and managed only 18 shots in the victory, which would be ranked as the #87 story in the IIHF 100 Top Stories of the Century.

Paul DiPietro shakes hands with Martin Brodeur following

Swtizerland's memorable upset victory

Today's featured jersey is a 2004 Switzerland National Team Martin Gerber jersey as worn during the 2004 World Championships. This particular style of jersey was first worn by the Swiss in 1998 and would remain in use through 2004 with only a minor change to the collar for 2001, going from a v-neck to a yoke style. 

Gerber began his career with several seasons in the Swiss league and one in Sweden before joining the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for the 2002-03 season. After two seasons there and the lockout season of 2004-05, Gerber would join the Carolina Hurricanes for 2005-06, where he would get his name engraved on the Stanley Cup, the second Swiss player after fellow goaltender Aebischer to earn that honor.

In the 2008-09 season Gerber would move to the Ottawa Senators for two seasons. During the third season in Ottawa, Gerber would be traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. For 2009-10, Gerber signed a contract with Atlant Moscow of the Russian KHL but would return to North America in 2010-11 to close out his career with 42 games with the Oklahoma City Barons of the AHL and three final NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers.

Internationally, Gerber would play for Switzerland ten times, beginning with the 2000 World Championships, his first of eight, with the remaining two being the 2002 and 2006 Olympics. He would finish with a 20-24-2 record in 46 games with a 2.37 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.

Here is Gerber making an astounding, and controversial, save against Rick Nash during his shutout of the Canadians during the 2006 Olympics.

And finally, the last minute of the game as the Swiss players celebrate their upset victory, something they will be looking to repeat in Vancouver.

2014 Olympic Hockey Preview - Switzerland

The Switzerland National Hockey Team is currently ranked 7th in the IIHF World Rankings, equaling their highest ranking in their history, and is not a team to be overlooked, having defeated both the Czech Republic 3-2 and Canada 2-0 in the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy. Based on their status as one of the top nine ranked countries, Switzerland was automatically entered in the 2014 Olympic tournament, allowing them avoid the qualification process for teams outside the top nine.

The Swiss have participated in the Olympics in ice hockey 15 times since 1920, with their best results being a pair of bronze medals in 1928 and 1948. Most recently, they placed 8th in the last Olympics in 2010.

The Swiss are regular participants in the World Championships, having first participated in 1930, where they won a bronze medal, the first of four bronzes they would win throughout the 1930's. Their highest finish at the World Championships came in 1935 when, as hosts of the championships they placed second to capture the silver medal. The Swiss also had a period of competitiveness following World War II, winning bronze medals in 1950, 1951 and 1953, again as the host country.

Beginning in 1961, the Swiss would play in Pool B for the majority of next three decades. Twice they would drop down to Pool C, only to return to Pool B at the first chance in 1969 and 1974. When the World Championships expanded to 16 teams in 1998, Switzerland was promoted to the Top Division, and finished a magnificent fourth in a tournament where they defeated Russia 4-2. More recently, Switzerland has finished 7th, 8th or 9th every year since 2001 through 2009. In 2010 they rose to 5th which included winning Group B, highlighted by a 4-1 win over Canada.

After slipping to 9th in 2011 and 11th in 2012, they reversed course in a stellar run to an improbable silver medal in 2013 in Sweden. They won Group S with consecutive wins over Sweden, Canada, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Denmark, Norway and Belarus to go undefeated in group play. They then ousted the Czechs and the United States to reach the gold medal final before their gold medal dream was spoiled by the host Swedes.

Switzerland celebrates their shootout win over Canada
at the 2013 World Championships

Switzerland enters the 2014 Olympics with eight NHLers on it's roster, up from three in 2010, including Jonas Hiller of Anaheim, Mark Streit of Philadelphia, Raphael Diaz of Montreal, Roman Josi of Nashville, Yannick Weber of Vancouver, Damien Brunner of New Jersey and Nino Niederreiter of Minnesota. The remainder of the Swiss roster draws heavily from the Swiss National League A, with 14 players from the home league and one from the American Hockey League.

Jonas Hiller

With the format for this year's Olympics calling for the top four teams after the Preliminary Round to receive byes into the quarterfinals, the key for Switzerland will be winning their opening game as expected against Latvia on February 12th and then taking at least a point out of their game against Sweden two days later. If they can manage that, then defeating the Czech Republic on February 15th, especially in regulation for the full 3 points, could give the Swiss a shot at one of the byes directly into the quarterfinals. While that is a best case scenario, the reigning World Championship silver medalists have shown they are capable giant killers and should at least expect to be one of the higher ranked teams in the Qualification Playoffs, drawing the likes of Austria or Latvia and then reaching the Quarterfinals is a very realistic goal.

The goaltending of Hiller, supported by four NHL defensemen, should allow the Swiss to remain competitive against any team in the tournament. Additionally, they have a capable offense and should play an entertaining brand of hockey, rather than looking to eek out 2-1 wins like some overmatched European sides often adopt as their best hope for a win.

Today's featured jersey is a 2010 Switzerland National Team Mark Streit jersey as worn during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. This jersey reprises the classic vintage red jersey worn by Switzerland once in the 2008 World Championships as part of the IIHF Centennial Celebrations, which in turn were based on the jerseys originally worn by Switzerland in 1928 when they won the bronze medal, their best Olympic result in their history.

Here is a look at the jerseys that Switzerland will be wearing in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. These jerseys The white jersey in particular is very sharp, with it's bold red band across the chest adorned by the traditional white cross. While there is something striking about the simplicity of the white jerseys, the red jerseys are too stark, with just the white cross on the upper left chest, leaving it looking too much like a practice jersey.

Today's first video selection highlights Switzerland's silver medal performance at the 2013 World Championships.

Finally, an impressive display by Swiss fans prior to a game at the 2009 World Championships, hosted by Switzerland, chanting "Hopp Schwiiz! Hopp Schwiiz!", the traditional Swiss fans cheer of support.

The Giant Killers - 2013 IIHF World Championship Report

In Helsinki, Finland's Group H of the 2013 IIHF World Championships, both Russia and the United States have taken their first two games, with Russia defeating both Latvia and Germany as expected. Meanwhile, the United States has avoided any unforeseen troubles with workmanlike wins over Austria and Latvia to tie Russia with 6 points in the standings. Finland gave away a point in the standings when they opened in front of their home fans with a nervous 4-3 win in overtime against Germany and then defeated Slovakia 2-0 for 5 points.

Host Finland was taken to overtime by Germany

Slovakia opened the competition on Friday with a 6-2 win over France, who in turn rebounded with a 3-1 defeat of Austria to equal the Slovaks with 3 points in the standings, but thanks to their win over France, Slovakia currently holds the 4th and final playoff spot.

Germany faced a tough go in their first two games by drawing Finland and then Russia, so things should be somewhat less intimidating going forward and they should be satisfied with having taken a point off of Finland. A defeat of Slovakia in their next game would go a long way toward moving up into the playoff positions and they should be favored in three of their final four games.

Both Austria and Latvia have begun their tournament with 0-2 records and their head to head meeting on Tuesday could determine which country will be relegated for 2014 if they cannot manufacture some additional points against Germany or France.

Now, if Group H has gone strictly to form, Stockholm, Sweden's Group S has been the opposite in many ways.

The first game started off innocently enough with the Czech Republic defeating Belarus 2-0, but then Switzerland shocked the home team Sweden by defeating the tournament hosts not only 3-2, but in regulation time to take the full 3 points in the standings.

Switzerland surprised many by defeating host Sweden

Last year's breakout team, Norway, then opened play on Saturday with a 3-1 defeat of Slovenia followed by Canada earning the full 3 points in a 3-1 victory over Denmark, a game many expected to be much more lopsided. Sweden then rebounded with a 2-1 regulation win over the Czech Republic.

Sunday's action saw Belarus state their intentions to avoid relegation with a 4-3 win over Slovenia followed by Switzerland turning heads by first taking Canada to overtime and then defeating the Canadians in an epic eight round shootout as Mike Smith and former NHLer Martin Gerber dueled round after round, making 13 saves on 16 combined attempts.

Martin Gerber held fast in the Swiss goal

Aside from Gerber, the hero for Switzerland was Reto Suri, who scored both of the Swiss goals in the shootout. Gerber meanwhile, stopped Jordan Eberle, Claude Giroux, Steven Stamkos, Matt Duchene (who had scored in the third round), Eberle again, Matt Read and finally Duchene for a second time to give Switzerland the win.

Hopp Suisse!

The final game on Sunday saw Norway thrill their fans in attendance with a tougher than they would have liked 3-2 win over fellow Scandinavians Denmark 3-2 after the Danes scored twice within five minutes to tie the game at 2-2 before Norway got the regulation game winner with 2:32 left to play to move to a shocking lead all by themselves at the top of the group!

Norway enjoying life at the top

Noway's two regulation wins give them the full 6 points, one more than Switzerland's 5 points, which has come against the toughest competition in Group S. Canada's 4 points see them in a strong position to advance as expected, while the Czechs and Swedes are tied with Belarus at 3 points each in the scramble for the final playoff position. Meanwhile Slovenia and Denmark are winless after two games and their head to head meeting on Tuesday could seal the fate for the losing side, as any additional points for either team will be difficult to come by at best.

Today's featured jersey is a 2004 Switzerland National Team Martin Gerber jersey as worn during the 2004 World Championships. Gerber wears he unusual for an NHL goaltender jersey #26. His career began with the SCL Tigers in first the Swiss National League B before the club was promoted to the National League A. He then spent a season in Sweden before making his NHL debut with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 2002-03. He played a second season with the Mighty Ducks, one with the Carolina Hurricanes, three with the Ottawa Senators and then the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He then spent a year in the KHL with Atlant Moscow Oblast before returning to North America and spending a year in the AHL with Oklahoma City, which included 3 games with the Edmonton Oilers before spending the last two years back in Sweden's Elitserien.

Internationally, Gerber has appeared for Switzerland in now nine World Championships (with a best of 5th in 2010) and two Olympics, the highlight of which was a 2-0 shutout of Canada at the 2006 Olympics in Italy.

Today's video section begins with Switzerland's shock win over Canada.

Next up are highlights of what could be the Cinderella story of the 2013 Worlds, Norway and their victory over Denmark.