The match, in fact, marked the third time in League history that a combined five Switzerland-born players were in the lineup for a game. The previous two incidents also occurred between the Devils and Predators.
On Thursday, Nashville won 4-3 in overtime with Switzerland-born captain Roman Josi and forward Nino Niederreiter in the lineup. New Jersey countered with captain Nico Hischier, defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler and backup goalie Akira Schmid in the lineup.
"It does make me proud for sure and it makes the Swiss guys happy," Hischier, born in Brig, said. "We're a small country but we're doing a good job with developing ice hockey players right now. It's just getting better there, and you can feel the hype back home in Switzerland. We definitely be game we'll talk about when we see each other. There's not a lot of Swiss players in this League so it's great to see."
There are currently 10 active Switzerland-born skaters and one goalie (Schmid) in the NHL, so Thursday's match accounted for 45 percent of the League's active Switzerland-born players.
On Dec. 15, 2018, there were five active Switzerland-born skaters playing when the Predators won 2-1 in a shootout against the Devils at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville (Devils forward Hischier, defenseman Mirco Mueller; Predators forward Kevin Fiala; defensemen Josi, Yannick Weber). It happened again with the same five players on Oct. 25, 2018, when Nashville won 4-3 in a shootout at New Jersey.
Hischier is happy to discuss the fact the game also featured two Switzerland-born captains. Hischier and Josi played against each other in an NHL game for the eighth time Thursday. Each had an assist in the game and Josi is now 7-0-1 in eight games vs. Hischier for his career.
Josi now has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in eight NHL games against Hischier. Hischier has five points (two goals, three assists) against his fellow countryman, who was born in Bern.
"He's obviously a great player," Hischier said. "I was able to skate with him my first year because he's from Bern, where I work out and skate. He was already in the League for a while so just practicing with him made me better. He's just unbelievable guy. Growing up, for me, he was always a great player. I remember watching him when I was younger, and he was playing in Bern as an 18-year-old."
Nashville coach John Hynes has coached Hischier (2017-19) and now Josi. He witnessed first-hand the impact each player had in their country while serving as coach for the Devils at the 2018 NHL Global Series with Hischier and for the Predators at the 2022 Global Series with Josi.
"I had the opportunity to coach both players and have been to Bern twice for the Global Series so you know where they come from and, to me, experiencing that with Nico and Josi was fantastic," Hynes said. "The impact those guys have on youth hockey in Switzerland ... the NHL is so far for those kids. But I'm sure there's going to be more Swiss born players coming to the National Hockey League because of what all these guys are doing."
