Direct consequence of the six foreigners: too few young talents – Nati cancels prospect camp

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The prospect camp took place for the first time in the summer of 2017. Your basic idea: It should be easier for young players under the age of 25 to move from the junior squads to the senior national team. They must get to know the game system of coach Patrick Fischer (47) and be able to deepen it and get to know each other better.

NHL stars like Nico Hischier (24), Timo Meier (26) and Jonas Siegenthaler (26) used the prospect camp again and again to train with a team on the ice as part of their pre-season training. Of course, for the young Nati newcomers, being on the ice with their role models and taking direct object lessons from them was an added motivation boost.

Only three players qualified

But that’s over for now. Swiss Ice Hockey has canceled this year’s prospect camp. Nati Director Lars Weibel (49) explains: “There are currently three players from all potential candidates who have about 10 minutes of ice time. We can also integrate these three players into the existing national programs next season. Everyone else is currently running far too little ice time in their clubs. The leap to install them here and prepare for the World Cup is too big. Competition practice is essential.”

It is a clear alarm signal that a year after the number of foreign players in the National League was increased from four to six, the prospect camp had to be canceled due to a lack of young talent. “It makes sense that there’s a causal relationship,” says Weibel. Still, it is important for him to emphasize that the prospect camp will not be abolished, but only suspended for this year. “It’s a very important program for us. But we have to wait and see how things develop and find another vehicle that is credible and logical.” For example, he thinks of a camp at U20 level.

Setback three years before the World Cup at home

The Prospect Camp was also launched in 2017 with the idea of ​​integrating talents into the national team with a view to the 2020 World Cup at home. As is known, this had to be canceled due to the pandemic. But the Prospect Camp remained, held under difficult conditions even in the Corona summer of 2020 and grew into a traditional date. There were a total of six events in a row. First at the Postfinance Arena in Bern, later at the OYM in Cham ZG. The fact that the event will not take place three years before the next scheduled home World Cup in 2026 in Zurich and Freiburg can be seen as a major step backwards.

Source : Blick