At that point Friday, 20 minutes into the game, Canada led 2-0, and there would be no miracle this time; led by Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini, Canada went on to a 5-1 win.
Still, the Swiss (1-0-1-0), who defeated France 4-0 in their Group A opener on Thursday, can finish second in the group with a win against Czechia (1-0-1-0) on Sunday (6:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, CNBC, ICI TOU.TV, CBC Gem, SN, RDS) and advance to the quarterfinals, which begin Tuesday.
“Switzerland is no longer a hockey outsider,” Streit said. “The situation has changed over the past two decades. For me, it goes back to Ralph Krueger’s era. He changed Switzerland’s hockey program and culture.
“Twenty years ago we beat Canada in Turin. But our 2006 team was not as good as our 2026 team. Today we have NHL stars from Switzerland, like Josi, (Timo) Meier, (Nico) Hischier and (Kevin) Fiala. That’s incredible.”
Streit, who had 434 points (96 goals, 338 assists) in 786 NHL games with the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins from 2005-18 and won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2017, said he has one wish for his country.
“I would love to see more players from Switzerland in the NHL,” the 48-year-old said. “It would be great to have 20 NHL players on the national team, like Sweden and Finland. There are about 10 to 12 Swiss players in the League from one year to the next. It doesn’t vary much. But the quality of our players is more substantial today.”