Last season, during the 4 Nations Faceoff, Kevin Fiala was not among the players participating. Fiala is from Switzerland, which has been one of the top-performance nations over the last two seasons as the World Championships, but they do not have enough NHL-based players to have participated.
Was that a struggle to be on the outside looking in?
“I would love to play in those tournaments,” he admitted. “Next year, it’ll be the Olympics and I am very excited to go, first time going for me. To represent my country, to play at the Olympics, I mean, that’s a dream come true.”
Now he gets his chance.
Similar to Adrian Kempe, Fiala was among the players who was announced over the summer, as a part of the first six players named for all 12 participating countries. There was never any doubt when it came to Fiala. He is one of the best Swiss-born players in the world and one of the top forwards in the NHL to ever come out of Switzerland. He’ll be a key player on a team that is perhaps not thought of as a medal favorite, although maybe they should be more than they are.
Switzerland won silver medals at the 2024 and 2025 IIHF World Championships and are third in the IIHF World Rankings. One thing that Switzerland has that most other countries do not is a core group of NHL players who go to the World Championships just about every year, when they can. They don’t have the depth or the number of options that some other nations have. But they should have more familiarity and more chemistry. In a short tournament, maybe that helps. There are only three games before single-elimination games and from that point on, it’s about winning one game. Without any time to gel together for just about every other team, the familiarity the Swiss group has built is a leg up.
“Whenever we can go, we go, it’s a big thing in Switzerland,” Fiala said. “We really enjoy playing with each other, we love each other, it’s a big family and we’ve known each other for a while now, we’ve done it for quite a long time. It’s always fun to go back and to compete with each other and try to win.”
In looking at the Switzerland roster, they might just go as far as Fiala can take them. Switzerland’s top end is impressive, with Fiala joined by Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Nino Neiderreiter among the forwards with a track record of producing in the NHL. They’ll likely be a top-heavy team and Fiala will play in the Top-6 for sure, as well as on the power play, likely alongside Hischier in both situations. How much those top-end guys can produce will likely be the difference for Switzerland. In a group with Canada and Czechia, they’ll have to win at least one of those games to be in contention for the bye to the quarterfinals and Fiala will play a bit role in that.
Of all the Kings players attending, Fiala is the most valuable to his team. All could and perhaps will play an important role, but Fiala is from a smaller country, with less around him in terms of established NHL players. He will not only play a top role but he will have to be a leader for his team on the ice. He has done that consistently at the World Championships and was selected as the tournament MVP in 2024. That’s the kind of performance his team will need and the type of performance he is capable of if he plays his best hockey. If Switzerland medals, Fiala will likely be a huge reason as to why.
Fiala/Switzerland Olympic Schedule
February 12 – Switzerland vs. France, 3:10 AM Pacific
February 13 – Switzerland vs. Canada, 12:10 PM Pacific
February 15 – Switzerland vs. Czechia, 3:10 AM Pacific
After those three games, all 12 participating teams will be seeded based on their point totals in group play. The group winners and the second-placed team with the most points advance directly to the quarterfinals. The teams ranked 5 – 12 will compete in the playoff round, with the winners also advancing to the quarterfinals. Participation for all Kings players will be determined by the performance of their teams in the preliminary round.
The playoff round begins on February 17, followed by the quarterfinals on February 18. The semifinals are all on February 20, followed by the bronze-medal game on February 21 and the gold-medal game on February 22.
