Earlier today, Switzerland lost to Sweden in the gold medal game of the IIHF Men’s World Hockey Championships. In front of the home crowd in Stockholm, the Swedish team took home gold with a 5-1 victory. They did it while wearing some shiny gold helmets (pictured), almost something out of the University of Oregon’s wardrobe catalog.
The Islanders’ Nino Niederreiter finished the tournament with five goals and eight points in 10 games, including a goal and assist against the United States to send Switzerland to the final against Sweden.
The gold medal game was the only loss of the tournament for Switzerland, and it was a tough pill to swallow for Niederreiter.
“It’s a big success for… Switzerland,” Niederreiter told iSport, referring to the tournament as a whole. “But it’s hard to think of it that way. Maybe we will in a few hours, but now we really feel empty and [it's hard to describe].”
The only Bridgeport Sound Tiger to forgo the call-up to skate around with the big club during the playoffs, Nino Niederreiter took the call from his country and headed to the IIHF Men’s Hockey Championship in Scandinavia. In six games so far, Niederreiter and his countrymen have impressed and are second in Group S out of eight teams, behind only Canada. The Swiss are also the only team in the tournament that hasn’t lost yet, with five regulation wins and one in overtime.
Niederreiter leads the Swiss team in goals with four, tying him with NHLers such as Matt Duchene and Paul Stastny in goals during the tournament (Russia’s Ilya Kovalchuk leads all scorers with eight). The Islanders prospect is helping lead Switzerland’s top line along with Martin Pluss and Simon Moser.
“We have a good team and great chemistry,” Niederreiter said to Martin Merk reporting for the IIHF. “Moser and me are kind of new here but we both [have] the same style of a power forward while Plüss has lots of experience.”
The Swiss team may have a certain advantage over other teams in the tournament. Many of the teams were quickly created with mostly NHLers whose seasons had just ended. For the Swiss, they had been playing and training together for weeks, adding only Niederreiter and Nashville’s Roman Josi at the end of the NHL regular season.
Niederreiter spent the entire 2012-13 season in Bridgeport, notching 28 goals and 50 points in 74 games. In an interview at the World Championships with RTS Sport, he expressed that he would have liked to have been called up by the Islanders this season.
“Yes, especially as I had a very good start in the farm club in Bridgeport and I competed in the All-Star Game in AHL. But not everything is in my control, it’s like that.”
Today team Switzerland opened up play at the World Championships against Sweden, one of the host countries. Rather than hang around Long Island working out, Nino Niederreiter suited up for Switzerland and had a heck of a first game earlier today. He scored the second of three goals for Switzerland — they won 3-2 — and did it in slick fashion. The broadcast attributes the goal to Victor Stancescu but it’s obviously Nino wearing #22 in red. Niederreiter was named player of the game.
The Islanders have announced that Brock Nelson, John Persson, Ryan Strome, Johan Sundstrom, Matt Donovan, Calvin de Haan, Aaron Ness and Anders Nilsson have been recalled from Bridgeport. After the trade deadline, teams have unlimited rosters so the Islanders can carry as many players as they like. This will give some of their young prospects a chance to be around the team during playoff time. None of these players are likely to play in a playoff game.
Nino Niederreiter will join the Swiss National team for the 2013 World Championships. The tournament starts on May 3rd and is being jointly hosted by Sweden and Finland.
The Islanders have announced that University of Denver defender Scott Mayfield has left college early and signed a three-year entry level contract with the team. Mayfield, a second round pick of the Islanders in 2011, decided to leave school after completing his sophomore year. To read more of this story, click here
VIDEOS — Anders Lee and Ryan Strome Both Score in First Pro Games
Kevin Schultz , Islanders Point Blank:
Tonight both Anders Lee and Ryan Strome made their professional debuts for the Islanders organization; Lee at the Coliseum and Strome in Bridgeport. This will be a particularly memorable night for both players, as they each scored their first pro goal.
Islanders 2011 first round pick Ryan Strome has officially been assigned to Bridgeport. According to Mike Fornabaio, Strome is skating on a line with Brock Nelson and Nino Niederreiter this morning.
In Niagara this year, Strome had 94 points and 34 goals in 53 games.
Are Ryan Strome, Andrey Pedan and Scott Mayfield Headed East?
Kevin Schultz , Islanders Point Blank:
Tonight, three of the Islanders’ 2011 draft picks were eliminated from their respective post-season tournaments. That could pave the way for all of them to head east to either Long Island or, most likely, Bridgeport.
